Language/South-levantine-arabic/Grammar/Negation

South Levantine Arabic Grammar - Negation

Hi South Levantine Arabic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will cover negation in South Levantine Arabic grammar. We will learn how to form negative sentences and how to use negation in everyday conversation. We'll also provide you with cultural information and interesting facts. By the end of this lesson, you will have a better understanding of negation in South Levantine Arabic. So let's get started!

Don't miss the chance to check out these pages as you wrap up this lesson: Conditional Mood, Adjectives & Plurals.

Negation in South Levantine Arabic

Negation in South Levantine Arabic is formed by using the word "ما" (ma) placed in front of the verb. This word is equivalent to "not" in English. Let's see some examples:

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
ما بدي آكل	ma biddi akl	I do not want to eat
ما بدك تعطيني؟	ma biddak ta'teeni?	Don't you want to give me?
ما بيحب حلويات	ma byehib helwayat	He doesn't like sweets

As you can see from the examples, the word "ما" (ma) is placed in front of the verb to form the negative sentence in South Levantine Arabic. The word "ما" (ma) is used for both past, present and future tenses.

Negation with Pronouns in South Levantine Arabic

Negation with pronouns in South Levantine Arabic is also formed by using the word "ما" (ma) in front of the verb. Let's see some examples:

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
ما بدي أنا آكل	ma biddi ana akl	I do not want to eat
ما بدك أنت تعطيني؟	ma biddak anta ta'teeni?	Don't you want to give me?
ما بدو هو يحب الحلويات	ma beddo hu yeheb al-helwayat	He doesn't like sweets

As you can see from the examples, the word "ما" (ma) is placed in front of the verb and the pronoun to form the negative sentence in South Levantine Arabic.

Emphasis in Negation

In South Levantine Arabic, you can use the word "شوف" (shouf) to emphasize the negation. This is equivalent to "not at all" in English. Let's see some examples:

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
ما بدي آكل شي	ma biddi akl shi	I don't want to eat anything
ما بدك تعطيني؟ شوف ما بدي	ma biddak ta'teeni? shouf ma biddi	Don't you want to give me? Not at all
ما بيحب حلويات بالمرة	ma byehib helwayat bil marra	He doesn't like sweets at all

As you can see from the examples, the word "شوف" (shouf) is used after the negative sentence to emphasize the negation in South Levantine Arabic.

Dialogue

• Person 1: ما بتحب الطعام الحار؟ (ma btehib at-ta'am al-har?) (Don't you like spicy food?)
• Person 2: لا، ما بحبه. (la, ma bhebbuh) (No, I don't like it.)
• Person 1: ما بتسمع الموسيقى الكلاسيكية؟ (ma btesma' el-musiqa el-klassikiye?) (Don't you listen to classical music?)
• Person 2: شوف، ما بحب الموسيقى الكلاسيكية بالمرة. (shouf, ma bhebbi el-musiqa el-klassikiye bil marra) (Not at all, I don't like classical music.)

Tips

- To improve your South Levantine Arabic Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Cultural Information

In South Levantine Arabic, the use of negation can be different from other dialects of Arabic. For example, in some dialects, the word "لا" (la) is used to form negative sentences. However, in South Levantine Arabic, the word "لا" (la) is used to mean "no" or "not".

Interesting Facts

In South Levantine Arabic, the word "ما" (ma) is used in many other contexts, not just negation. For example, the word "ما" (ma) is used to mean "what" in some situations. It can also be used to mean "if" in some contexts. The versatility of the word "ما" (ma) makes it a very important word in South Levantine Arabic.

Sources

• Levantine Arabic
• Arabic grammar
• Stop words in Arabic

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Other Lessons

• Questions
• How to Use Have
• Gender
• Pronouns
• Adjectives
• How to Use Be
• Conditional Mood
• Give your Opinion
• Plurals