The purpose of this paper is to consider the meaning and usage of the imperfect form without a prefix in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Mainly based on examples found in an Egyptian play, Kumidiya 'Udīb: w-inta (i)lli 'atalt il-waḥš, this study compares the unmarked imperfect form with the bi-imperfect form and the active participle form, which are also deeply related to the present tense.
First, in contrast with the bi-imperfect form which expresses concrete actions and states, the unmarked imperfect forms like yimūt, yimši, nirūḥ, tišrab, basically shows irrealis. Several usages derive from this:
(i) showing something universal and not dependent on time per se,
ex. il- 'insān yimūt. (Man should die.)
(ii) denoting some abstract action/state,
ex. bi-yimši=he walks; yimši=it proceeds,
(iii) used just like infinitives,
ex. ṣa'ab nirūḥ hināk. (It is difficult for us to go there.) and
(iv) telling something uncertain, which relates to some modal usages and future tense.
ex. tišrab 'ēh? (What would you like to drink?)
Second, the active participle form suggests that the result of a certain action remains until the present, that is, its expression is indirect. Thus it sometimes has a slightly vague or abstract meaning and its actuality is also lower than the bi-imperfect form. However, it never expresses non-actuality as the unmarked imperfect form does.
But this paper does not deal with conditional sentences. The perfect form and the ḥa-imperfect form are not explained enough, either. We must consider about the verb kān 'to be' as it forms compound tenses together with other forms of the verbs, and the verb ba'a which seems to have an important function, too.