Matt, since this is not standard Arabic, so there are no rules or standards. I don't mean to discourage you :) I just meant that this a dialect! So I'll tell you about my accent in Jordan regarding "shuf" and "bshuf" because we use them: 1. Shuf: is when you tell someone to look at something, like "Look at this: شوف هذا". 2. Bshuf: is when I'm speaking about myself and telling someone that I'm "watching tv: بشوف التلفزيون", or when someone asks me to join them on a dinner tomorrow, and I tell them "bshuf: بشوف", and this context it means "I'll think about it/ I'll see". 3. Shuft: means "I saw or watched something", like in "ليلة امبارح شفت فيلم: Last night I watched a movie". So regarding your question, we can say that adding the "b" in the beginning of a verb, makes it a present continuous tense, like in: bktob: writing bshrb: drinking bdros: studying PS: I think by "habitual", the writer meant to say "continuous". I hope my explanation helps, good luck.

Mar7aba Matt! That's a great and important question related to the verb patterns of Arabic dialect. I hope to make this as simple and useful as possible for you. Adding 'b' before a verb is typical of several Arabic dialects, especially Levantine Arabic (Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Jordanian.) Please allow me to give a general explanation followed by a few examples so you can get the hang of it. 'Bshouf' is a habitual or regularly occurring action. For example, 'When I look out my window, I see people, cars, and houses'. Here you would use 'bshouf' to say 'I see', because it refers to what you always see when you look out of the window. If you add the particle '3m' (عم) in front of 'bshouf', you get the present continuous action -- "I am seeing". For example, if you are seeing something in particular right now, you can say '3m bshouf ...'. Finally, 'shouf' without the 'b' is the correct form when it follows another verb, such as 'badde' (I want). For example, 'I want to see...' is 'Badde shouf'. Make sure not to say 'Badde bshouf'! Here are a few more examples: Be7ke = I speak 3m be7ke = I am speaking Badde e7ke = I want to speak Bedrous = I study 3m bedrous = I am studying Badde edrous = I want to study Bektib = I write 3m bektib = I am writing Badde ektib = I want to write Can you write out a few sentences using each of these verbs as a starting point? Following this pattern, you should be able to use any verb in each of these three main tenses/aspects/moods!! Feel free to reach out if you have additional questions.

In Egyptian Arabic adding a b before a verb in Arabic indicates it is a 'habitual action' or a continuous action. Examples: أنا باشتغل الصبح كل يوم ماعدا الجمعة والسبت. (habitual action) أنا باشتغل دلوقتي، كلمني بعد ساعة لو سمحت. (continuous action) When you remove the b it will give a different meaning: أنا أشتغل الصبح بدري لو مضطر بس، لكن أنا باحب أشتغل بعد الضهر. (I would work in the early morning only if I have to, but I like to work in afternoon). When you put 2 verbs in a row you put the b to the first verb only (like the previous example). But using words like عايز or لازم before the verb means also that you have to remove the b. Example: عايز أسافر فرنسا. لازم أذاكر كويس. And again: this is in Egyptian Arabic.

adding "b" at biginig of the verb means doing the action now ,in future or later. example: اكتب aktob= write بكتب bktob= writting, I will write

It means the future tense in my dialact -eastern saudi arabia أروح / بروح باروح أسوي باسوي /بسوي آكل باكل But in another dialect it means something else as you can see in mumtaz answer