Have you ever tried expressing how you feel in Arabic? Besides feeling happy or sad, what other مَشاعِر feelings or عَواطِف emotions do you know in Arabic? In this post, we’ll look at words for expressing مَشاعِر and عَواطِف in Modern Standard Arabic as well as Levantine Arabic.

Let’s begin with the positive ones. 😊

Remember, in order to make these feminine, add “taa’ marbooTa” ة to the end of the word. For example, سَعيد becomes سَعيدة.

Note: You’ll find that in Levantine, some of the words are different and some are exactly the same as in MSA, or only differ in diacritics.

✨happy: سَعيد

.أنا سَعيد لأنه عيد ميلادي اليَوم   I’m happy because today is my birthday.

Levantine: مَبْسوط

.أنا مَبسوطة لأنه اليَوم تَخَرُجي  I’m happy because today is my graduation.

✨confident: وَاثِق مِن نَفسي

.أنا وَاثِق مِن نَفسي  I’m confident.

Levantine: أنا وَاثِق مِن نَفسي/حالي

✨excited: مُتَحَمِّس

.أنا مُتَحَمِّس لِبدء عَمَلي الجَديد  I’m excited to begin my new job.

Levantine: مُتَحَمِّس

.أنا مُتَحَمِسة أزور بيتك الجَديد  I’m excited to visit your new house.

✨interested: مُهْتَم

.أنا مُهْتَمة بِمُحاضرة اليَوم  I’m interested in today’s lecture.

Levantine: مُهْتَم

.أنا مُهتم بالتَعَرُف على هاد الشَخْص  I’m interested in getting to know that person.

✨surprised: مُتَفاجِئ

فاجأوه بِهَدية جَميلة  They surprised him with a nice gift.

Levantine: مُتْفاجِئ

.أنا تَفاجَئْت بالخَبَر  I was surprised at the news.

Here are words that have a negative or neutral connotation.

 

🎇worried: قَلِق

.لا تَقْلَق  Don’t worry.

Levantine: قَلقان

.هي قلقانة لأنها ما دَرَسَت للإمتحان  She’s worried because she did not study for the exam.

Note: Keep in mind that in Levantine Arabic, the sound of ق is sometimes replaced with either of the following sounds depending on region, country, and sometimes gender.

• The first sound is the Hamza “ء” or in English, a glottal stop.
• The second sound is a “g” sound as in the English word “girl”.
• The third sound is “ك” or “k”.

So, for example, in the word قَلقان, the ق sounds can be replaced with Hamza “ء” or in English, a glottal stop.

🎇scared/afraid: خائِف

.إنه خائِف مِن أن يَمرَض  He’s afraid of getting sick.

Levantine: خايِف

.أحنَ خايفين ما رَح نِقدَر نسافِر  We’re afraid we won’t be able to travel.

🎇sad: حَزين

.لا تَحزَن، لا أستطيعُ أن أراك تَبكي  Don’t be sad, I can’t see you cry.

Levantine: زَعْلان

.ليش زَعْلاان؟  كَلْبي مَريض  Why are you sad? My dog is sick.

🎇bored: يشعُرُ بالمَلَل

.أشعُرُ بالمَلَل في المَنزِل  I’m bored at home.

Levantine: زَهْقان

.زهقت مِن هاي اللُعبة  I’m bored of this game.

🎇nervous: مُتَوَتِّر

.أنا مُتَوَتِّر للغاية، علي أن أهدأ  I’m too nervous, I need to calm down.

Levantine: مُتْوَتِّر

.المُدير دايماً بِوَتِرني  The manager always makes me nervous.

🎇tired: تَعْبان

.انا مُتعب جداً اليَوم مِن العَمل  I’m too tired today from work.

Levantine: تَعْبان

.ما بَقدر أفَكِر مِن التَعَب  I’m too tired to think.

🎇angry : مِتْعَصِّب/ غاضِب

.أنا غاضِب لأنني كَسرتُ هاتِفي  I’m angry because I broke my phone.

Levantine: معَصِب

.هي معَصِبة لأنها ضَيَعَت مَفاتيحها  She’s angry because she lost her keys.

🎇stressed: مَضْغوط/ مُتَوَتِّر

.هذا المَشروع يَجعَلُني أشعرُ بالتَوَتُر  This project is making me feel stressed.

Levantine: مَضْغوط

.مَضغوطة مِن الشُغُل  I’m stressed from work.

🎇shocked: مَصْدوم

.أنا مَصدومة مِن نَفْسي   I’m shocked at myself

Levantine: مَصْدوم

.صَدَمني لما قال بِدو يِترك الشُغل  He shocked me when he said he wants to quit.

🎇embarrassed: مُحْرَج

.أنا مُحْرَج لأنني وَقعتُ أمام الجمَيع  I’m embarrassed because I fell in front of everyone.

Levantine: مُحْرِج

.هاد الموقف كتير مُحْرِج  This is a very embarrassing situation.

Here is a short clip showing how to express some of the feelings we learned above in Jordanian Levantine Arabic.

Note: Another word used to describe Arabic “dialect” is عامية or اللَهجة العامية meaning “colloquial Arabic”.

Expressing feelings in in Jordanian Arabic (Ammiya)

Till next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊