Learn how to make negative sentences in Arabic
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Intro |
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| Michael: How do you say "no" in Arabic? |
| Nora: And how do I make negative sentences? |
| Michael: At ArabicPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following scenario, Randa has to take her son, Rami, to the dentist, but Rami isn't ready yet, so she says |
| "I didn't hear you. Are you ready?" |
| لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| Dialogue |
| Randa Rizk:لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| Rami Radi:!لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā, lastu ǧāhizan. lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Randa Rizk:لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| Michael: "I didn't hear you. Are you ready?" |
| Rami Radi:!لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā, lastu ǧāhizan. lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| Michael: "No, I'm not ready. I don't want to go!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn how to say "no" and make three types of common negative sentences in Modern Standard Arabic. Some of the commonly used words to express negation are |
| Nora: لَم، لا، لَستُ (lam, lā, lastu) |
| Michael: Each one of them is used to negate different types of sentences and words. The first one is |
| Nora: لَم (lam) |
| Michael: This one is used to negate past tense verbs. The tricky part about it is that this particle has the past tense meaning built into it, so the verb form after it changes into a present tense form, whilst keeping its past tense meaning. If you think about it though, it's pretty much the same in English. We say "He didn't go," not "He didn't went," and it's pretty much the same with Arabic. Therefore, "He didn't go" would be |
| Nora: لَم يَذهَب (lam yaḏhab) |
| Michael: The next particle is |
| Nora: لا (lā) |
| Michael: This one negates present tense verbs. This one is simpler because there is no change to the present tense verb when it comes after this particle. An example would be: |
| Nora: لا أَشرَب (lā ʾašrab) |
| Michael: which means "I don't drink." The last particle in this lesson is |
| Nora: لَستُ (lastu) |
| Michael: This one is used to negate adjectives. The tricky part about it is that it changes form according to the point of view, gender, and number. Here are example sentences for the most common forms you will be using |
| Nora: لَستُ جائِعاً (lastu ǧāʾiʿan) |
| Michael: meaning "I am not hungry" |
| Nora: لَستَ جائِعاً (lasta ǧāʾiʿan) |
| Michael: meaning "you are not hungry" |
| Nora: لَيسَ جائِعاً (laysa ǧāʾiʿan) |
| Michael: meaning "he is not hungry," The forms are |
| Nora: لَستُ، لَستَ، لَيسَ (lastu, lasta, laysa) |
| Michael: meaning "I am not," "you are not," "he is not," respectively. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Randa says "I didn't hear you. Are you ready?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Randa Rizk: لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| Michael: Here we negated a past tense verb |
| Nora: لَم أَسمَعْك (lam ʾasmaʿk), |
| Michael: meaning "I didn't hear you," The first word is the particle |
| Nora: لَم (lam) |
| Michael: meaning "I didn't," then we have the verb in the present tense form |
| Nora: أَسمَعك (ʾasmaʿk) |
| Michael: meaning "I hear you." Together, they create the negative form of the past tense verb "to hear." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Rami says "No, I'm not ready. I don't want to go?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Rami Radi:!لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā, lastu ǧāhizan. lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| Michael: Here, we had two sentences. The first one is |
| Nora: لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. (lā, lastu ǧāhizan.) |
| Michael: meaning "No. I'm not ready." The first word is the particle |
| Nora: لا(lā) |
| Michael: meaning "No," then we have the particle |
| Nora: لَستُ (lastu ) |
| Michael: meaning "I am not." Then, we have the adjective |
| Nora: جاهِزاً (ǧāhizan) |
| Michael: meaning "ready." Then, the second negative sentence is |
| Nora:لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| Michael: This means "I don't want to go." The first word is the particle |
| Nora: لا (lā) |
| Michael: meaning "I don't." Then, we have the present tense form |
| Nora: أُُريد (ʾurīdu ) |
| Michael: meaning "I want." Together, they create the negative form of the present tense verb "to want," Then, we have |
| Nora: أَن أَذهَب (ʾan ʾaḏhab) |
| Michael: meaning "to go." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: Now, let's look at an example for a sentence in both the affirmative and the negative. Our first example is |
| Nora: أُحِبُّ الشوكولاتة (ʾuḥibbu al-šūkūlāth) |
| Michael: meaning "I like chocolate." Adding the negative particle to this sentence negates it, becoming |
| Nora: لا أُحِبُّ الشوكولاتة (lā ʾuḥibbu al-šūkūlāth) |
| Michael: meaning "I don't like chocolate." |
| Practice |
| Michael: Practicing the commonly used forms of negation is the best way to get used to it and be able to talk about your opinions and stand your ground in an Arabic conversation. |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Randa says "I didn't hear you. Are you ready?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Randa Rizk: لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Randa Rizk: لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Randa Rizk: لَم أَسمَعْك. هَل أَنتَ جاهِز؟ (lam ʾasmaʿk. hal ʾanta ǧāhiz?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Rami answers "No, I'm not ready. I don't want to go?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Rami Radi:!لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā, lastu ǧāhizan. lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Rami Radi:!لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā, lastu ǧāhizan. lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Rami Radi:!لا، لَستُ جاهِزاً. لا أُُريد أَن أَذهَب (lā, lastu ǧāhizan. lā ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaḏhab!) |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Most Arabic speaking countries have individualistic societies, and you are expected to voice your opinion and argue your point. Get ready to use negation quite frequently! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Nora: !سلام (Salam!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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