A. The pronoun as subject

In Lebanese we use only 8 pronouns (not 14 like in Arabic):

Hooe (he)
Hye (she)
Henne (they – in Arabic, this is the feminine "they")
Enta (masculine you)
Ente (feminine you)
Ento (they)
Ana (I)
Ne7na (we)

The subject pronouns are not necessary; the conjugation of the verb makes it very clear who the subject is, and therefore they can be omitted. When used, usually for emphasis, they always precede the verb (unlike subject nouns, which follow it).

Note: Sometimes men ignore enta for men and just use the feminine form ente for everyone. It’s understood but very idiomatic, and I believe only local males can get away with it without sounding as if they were making a grammatical mistake.

B. The pronoun as object

When a personal pronoun is the object of a verb, it is appended to that verb as a suffix.

Let's take the sentence "he saw him" and conjugate it entirely:

In the left column you have the conjugated verb shéf, and in the top row you have the suffix forms of the pronouns. Most of the entries are very simply the pronoun stuck to the end of the verb. The entries in bold represent instances where an extra transformation is required. While he, she, male you, and I are perfectly straightforward, the other persons create variations. These are the ones that may give you a hard time, but they are not actually exceptions – they follow an alternate pattern that you can learn and apply to all verbs. I will go over the "exceptions" above and explain why and how they occur.

They

The -o ending in shéfo is actually an informal pronounciation of the sound -oo that is the real ending of this conjugation. When the –o ending is followed by another sound, the original -oo resurfaces to create a better-sounding, clearer transition.
Shéfooh: shéfo -oh -> Two o's turn into oo.
Shéfooa: shéfo –a -> The o turns into oo.
Shéfúon: shéfo –on -> The o turns into oo, here noted ú so as not to have three o's in a row.
Shéfook: shéfo –ak -> The k is enough to identify the pronoun so the o turns into oo and the a is discarded.
Shéfooke: shéfo –ik -> The i migrates right after the k when the o turns into oo, as "ooik" is hard to hear.
Shéfookon -> The o turns into oo.
Shéfoone -> Ditto.
Shéfoona -> Ditto.

Female you

The short -e of the ending must be strengthened into an -ee (easier to hear) anytime something is appended to it.
Shefteeh: shefte -oh -> The e turns into ee and the o is discarded.
Shefteea: shefte -a -> The e turns into ee.
Shefteeon: shefte -on -> Ditto.
Shefteene: shefte -ne -> Ditto.
Shefteena: shefte -na -> Ditto.

Plural you

The short o of the ending must be strengthened into an oo (easier to hear) anytime something is appended to it.
Sheftooh: shefto -oh -> Two o's turn into oo.
Sheftooa: shefto -a -> The o turns into oo.
Sheftúon: shefto -on -> The o turns into oo, here noted ú so as not to have three o's in a row.
Sheftoone: shefto -ne -> The o turns into oo.
Sheftoona: shefto -na -> Ditto.

We

The -a ending is actually an informal pronounciation of the letter -á that is the real ending of this conjugation. When followed by another sound, the long -á resurfaces – but in Lebanese we pronounce it é.
Shefnéh: shefna -oh -> The a changes to é and the o is discarded.
Shefnéha: shefna –a -> The a changes to é and the original suffix –ha, straight from Arabic, is used. It is implied in the ending -ooa mentioned higher up, but in an oo-a sequence you can get away with omitting the h. Not so in a é-a sequence: it needs to be pronounced.
Shefnéhon: shefna –on -> Ditto.
Shefnék: shefna –ak -> Two a's turn into é.
Shefnéke: shefna –ik -> The i migrates right after the k when the a turns into é, as "éik" is hard to hear.
Shefnékon: shefna –kon -> The a changes to é.

To summarize what emerged from the above:

- When a conjugated verb ends in a consonant, the suffix pronouns are simply added on without any change.

- When a conjugated verb ends in a vowel sound, the suffix and/or the verb ending go through changes to accommodate the attachment. Generally these changes revolve around the end sound turning into a longer vowel.

C. The pronoun as indirect object

I shouted at him.
I gave the book to him.
I rang the bell for him.

These are instances of pronouns as indirect objects. In Lebanese they are also suffixes, but instead of being compressions of the pronouns alone as above, they are compressions of the clause la-pronoun.

As above, let's take the sentence "he phoned him" (where "him" is an indirect object in this case in Lebanese) and conjugate it entirely:

Again, let us over the "exceptions" above and explain why and how they occur.

They

The original -oo of this conjugation resurfaces as well to make the ending clearer. As the suffix begins with a consonant, no other modification occurs. You just turn the –o to –oo and stick the suffix on.

Male you and I

The short e migrates right after the final –t that characterizes these two conjugations (we've seen this happen before). That's all that is required when two consonants follow (as in talfantelna, tanfantelkon). However, if what comes next is a lone –l- that's going to find itself stuck between two vowels, the –l- must be doubled (talfantellon). This is necessary to give a point of stress to the ending. If we said talfantelon, the entire –telon ending would be weak and unarticulated.

Female you

The short -e of the ending must be strengthened into an -ee anytime something is appended to it. As the suffix begins with a consonant, no other modification occurs. You just turn the –e to –ee and stick the suffix on.

Plural you

The short o of the ending must be strengthened into an oo (easier to hear) anytime something is appended to it. As the suffix begins with a consonant, no other modification occurs. You just turn the –o to –oo and stick the suffix on.

We

The long -á that we pronounce –é resurfaces before the suffix is added. Since é is a stress in itself, there is no need to double the –l-.

More about la La isn't directly translatable and can be used for a number of things:
Ashattello l-ktéb: I took the book away from him.
Talfantello: I phoned (to) him.
Shta'tello: I missed (to) him.
Jeblo ahwe: Bring coffee to him.
Saweytello l-3elbe: I made the box for him (meaning both "I made it in his place" and "I made it as a present for him").

You may have noticed from the sentences above that the transitive character of a verb varies between Lebanese and English ("I phoned him" and "I missed him" where "him" is not a direct object in Lebanese). To be sure whether a verb is transitive or not, see the lexicon. However, here is a rule of thumb to know if you should just the pronoun or la-pronoun: the contraction la-pronoun implies an action that is not directly performed on the subject, or where a third object is involved. For example:
To see: direct.
To phone: use of the phone – indirect.
To take away from: presence of the seized object – indirect.
To make: direct.
To make for someone: action done for a third party – indirect.
There are exceptions, such as "to give": the person you give an object to is indeed an indirect object, but out of laziness it seems we treat it as a direct object and don't use la In the suffix form. The result is exactly as in English:
3ateyt l-ktéb la-Rami: I gave the book to Rami.
3ateyto l-ktéb: I gave him the book.

D. Object and indirect object both pronouns

This is an added layer of complexity, when instead of saying "I threw the ball to the boy" we say "I threw him it" – both are pronouns, and both have to turn into a suffix at the end of the verb.

First step: Spot the indirect object or recipient. As this is nearly always a human being, it's the most important. Detect the appropriate form and attach it to the verb. In this case it would be –ello, and "I threw" is kabbeyt: Kabbeytello.

Second step: You only need to choose one of three endings for the object.
If it's masculine singular: yéh.
If it's feminine singular: yéha.
If it's plural: yéhon.
In this case the ball is a feminine object, therefore the complete sentence is: Kabbeytelloyéha.

E. Reflective pronouns

The words 7ál (status, situation) and nafs (self) are used as reflexive pronouns when a possessive suffix is appended to them (see next chapter).

Jaweyt nafse: I dirtied myself.
Zabbet 7álak! Fix yourself up!
Nseete 7álik: You forgot yourself.
Keef táye' nafsak? How can you stand yourself?

7ál is more commonly used; nafs is more connotative of the self proper, less neutral.

Adding la- before either creates the meaning of "on one's own, by oneself":
Khallasto la-7ále: I finished it on my own.
Keef betkhalloo la-nafso? How can you leave him on his own?

Chapter 7: Possessives

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