Introduction To Levantine Arabic Verb Conjugation
Why Learning Levantine Arabic
Levantine Arabic is also known as al3amiai al-shamia’a “العاميِّة الشَّاميِّة” or lughet bi-lllad alshaam ” لُغَة بِلاد الشَّام “. It is spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Levantine Arabic is the best-known dialect in the Arab world and has become very popular among non-Arabic speakers as the best-spoken dialect to learn in 2022.
Twenty years ago, the Egyptian dialect used to be the most attractive dialect for students who would like to learn Arabic and for scholars & travellers interested in the region.
But in the last 10 years, the game has changed, and the demand to learn this beautiful and poetic language has increased and gradually Levantine Arabic became the chosen dialect for major television shows and drama series and was dubbed into Turkish soap operas such as Nour and hareem Al-sultaan.
How To Learn Levantine Arabic
There are 3 important parts to Learning Levantine Arabic, Pronunciation, Verb Arabic, and Arabic Phrases.
Levantine Arabic Pronunciation
The most essential step for anyone who wants to learn Arabic is to master the pronunciation of the Arabic alphabet and the ability to read with confidence. In another article, I explained the importance of reading to achieve fluency in the Arabic language.
Levantine Arabic Verb Conjugation
In Arabic, verb conjugation is the process of how verbs are derived from a set of 3 letters called a root (الجذر) and how they change based on tenses, past, present, future, and pronouns (first person, second person, and third person).
For non-Arabic speakers, verb conjugation is the hardest part of learning Levantine Arabic. Many foreign languages, like English for example, do not need to conjugate the verb based on what precedes the verb. For example, to say in Arabic I want to go to work, you would have to conjugate the verb “I want” and the verb “I go”. In Arabic: “بدي روح ع الشغل”
If you have already studied Modern Standard Arabic and you are familiar with how to conjugate the verbs, then conjugating Verbs in Levantine Arabic is going to be almost the same, but much simpler and easy to learn.
In order to understand what native Arabic speakers are saying, improve your listening skills and be able to start an Arabic conversation without thinking too much, it is important to spend a lot of time learning how to conjugate Levantine Arabic verbs until it becomes automatic and intuitive.
To conjugate a regular basic present verb in Levantine Arabic, we use prefixes based on the subject referred to. See the charts below:
- دَرَسَ = Study
| Example using the verb دَرَس | Prefix | Subject |
| مثال باستخدام الفعل دَرَسَ=study | البَادئة | الفاعل |
| أ+درس= اِدْرُس | Present Verbأ + ا | أَنَا |
| ت+درس= تُدْرُس | Present Verb + تـ | إِنْتَ |
| ت+درس+ي= تُدْرُسِي | ي + Present Verb+ تـ | إِنْتِي |
| ت+درس+وا= تُدْرُسُوا | وا + Present Verb + تــ | إِنْتُوا |
| ي+درس= يِدْرُس | present verb + يـ | هُوِّ |
| ت+درس= تِدْرُس | Present Verb + تـ | هِيِّ |
| ي+درس+وا= يِدْرُسوا | ـوا +Present Verb + يـ | هِنِّ |
| ن+درس= نِدْرُس | Present Verb + نـ | نِحْنا |
- كَتَبَ = write
| Example using the verb كتب | Prefix | Subject |
| مثال باستخدام الفعل كتب= write | البادئة | الفاعل |
| أ+كْتُب= اِكْتُب | Present Verbأ + ا | أَنَا |
| ت+ كْتُب = تِكْتُب | Present Verb + تـ | إِنْتَ |
| ت+ كْتُب+ي= تِكْتُبي | ي + Present Verb+ تـ | إِنْتي |
| ت+ كْتُب+وا= تِكْتُبُوا | وا + Present Verb + تــ | إِنْتوا |
| ي+ كْتُب = يِكْتُب | present verb + يـ | هُوِّ |
| ت+ كْتُب = تِكْتُب | Present Verb + تـ | هِيِّ |
| ي+ كْتُب+وا= يِكْتُبوا | ـوا +Present Verb + يـ | هِنِّ |
| ن+ كْتُب= نِكْتُب | Present Verb + نـ | نِحْنا |
To conjugate verbs in the past tense, we need to add a suffix to the root.
| Sentence | كتب | Suffix | Subject |
| الجملة واضحة | To write | اللاحقة | الفاعل |
| أَنَا كَتَبِت = I wrote | كتب + ت = كَتَبتْ | Past tense + ت | أَنَا |
| إِنْتَ كَتَبِت = You wrote (M) | كتب + ت = كَتَبتْ | Past tense + تْ | إِنْتِ |
| إِنْتِي كَتَبْتِي = You wrote (F) | كتب + تِي = كَتَبتِي | Past tense + تِي | إِنْتِي |
| إِنْتُو كَتَبْتُوا = You wrote (P) | كتب + توا = كَتَبتُوا | Past tense + تُوا | إِنْتُوا |
| هُوِّ كَتَب = He wrote | كَتَب | The root | هُوِّ |
| هِيِّ كَتَبِت = She wrote | كتب + ت = كَتَبِتْ | Past tense + تْ | هِيِّ |
| هِنِّ كَتَبُوا = they wrote | كتب + وا = كَتَبوا | Past tense + وا | هِنِّ |
| نِحْنَا كَتَبْنَا = we wrote | كتب + نا = كَتَبنا | Past tense + نا | نِحْنَا |
Levantine Arabic Phrases.
Useful Expressions and Phrases to sound local.
| Hello | مَرْحَبا اَهْلِينْ |
| Good morning | صَباحْ اَلْخِيرْ صَباحْ النُّورْ |
| Good evening | مَسا اَلْخِيرْ مَسا النُّورْ |
| Goodbye | مَعْ السَّلامِة مَعْ السَّلامِة، يلاَّ باي |
| Hello (A cultural phrase and very useful) | يَعْطيك اَلْعافْية اَلّلة يْعافِيك |
| I didn’t understand, can you speak slowly? | ما فْهِمتْ، مُمْكِنْ تِحكي شْوي شْوي؟ |
| How do you say this in Arabic? | كِيفْ بِتْقُولْ هَادا بَالْعَرَبِي؟ |
| What does it mean? | شُو يَعْني؟ |
| How do you spell this word in Arabic? | كِيفْ بِتْكْتُبْ هَلْ كِلْمة بِالْعَرَبِي؟ |
| Again, please | مَرَّة تانية لَو سَمَحِتْ |
| Give me! | عَطِيني! |
| Bring me! (if talking to a male) | جِبْلي! |
| Bring me! (if talking to a female) | جِبْيلي! |
| Show me! | فَرْجِينِي؟ |
| Listen to me! (if talking to a male) | اِسْمَعْني |
| Tell me! (if talking to a male) | خَبِّرْني! |
| Tell me! (if talking to a female) | خَبْرِينِي! |
| Let’s go! | خَلِّينا نْروح |
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