Moving on to our twenty third letter of the Arabic alphabet (ل), we will look at various words and phrases beginning with (ل) along with more culture/language related facts.

Let’s begin with looking at your basic forms of the letter ل.

Initial لـ‎, as in the word “لَوْن” meaning “color”.

Medial ـلـ‎‍, as in the word “تَعليم” meaning “education”.

Final ـل‎, as in the word “سؤال” meaning “question”.

Before looking at the following words, can you think of words beginning with ل?

Here are several short words that are good to remember.

(لَو: if, لَم: did not, لَن: will not, لِأن: because, لَكِن: but/yet/however, لَيسَ: not,)

!أنا أخاف مِن المُرتَفَعات. ماذا لو وَقَعْت  I’m scared of heights. What if I fall!

.لَم أفهَم أي شيء قُلته  I did not understand anything you said.

.لَن يَتَخَرَج هَذا الفَصل الدِراسي  He will not graduate this semester.

.أنا أتَعَلَم اللُغة العَرَبية لأنني أعتقِد أنها لُغة جَميلة  I’m learning Arabic because I think it’s a beautiful language.

.يُمْكِنُك الذهاب إلى الشاطئ، ولَكن عليك أن تَكون حَذِراً  You can go to the beach, but you have to be careful.

.نَحنُ لَسنا وَحدنا  We are not alone.

✨لا meaning “no” is probably one of the first words you learned in Arabic. Here are a few different grammatical functions of لا.

• To answer a yes or no question.

هل أكلتَ الفُطور اليَوم؟

.لا، لَم آكلُ الفُطور

Did you eat breakfast today?

No, I did not eat breakfast.

• To negate the present tense.

.لا تأكلَ اللَحِم، إذاً أنتَ نَباتي  You don’t eat meat, then you are a vegetarian.

• To give negative commands. .لا تَشرب هذا الماء  Don’t drink this water.
• Used with nouns in compound forms.    :لا شيء nothing    لا شَكْ: no doubt
• Common phrases and sayings with لا:

.لا إله إلا الله   There is no God but God.

.لا شُكرعلى واجِب  Literal translation: Don’t thank me for my duty.

Meaning: (your welcome, don’t mention it, no need to thank me, it was my pleasure)

• In Levantine Arabic, we add a ء to لا making it لأ. So, you’re just adding a glottal stop. In dialect, you will also hear speakers use the regular standard لا without a glottal stop.

Here is an example of a Levantine sentence with لأ:

رُحْت على الدُكان؟

.لأ، ما رُحِت لسا

Did you go to the (small supermarket)?

No, I didn’t go yet.

عصير الليمون والنعناع

عَصير لَيمون ونَعناع Lemonade and mint is a classic favorite drink throughout the Middle East served at cafes and at home. It’s refreshing, healthy (if you go easy on the sugar 😊), easy to make and perfect for the summer. Here is a video showing how to make عصير ليمون ونعناع in Levantine Arabic. It’s really easy to make if you have ليمون and نعناع at home. I hope you’ll give it a try! 🍋🍋🍋

Let’s continue with more words beginning with ل.

لَبِسَ: to wear  .اشتريتُ قميص جَديد لألبسه في العيد

I bought a new shirt to wear on Eid.

لَحْم: meat هل هذا لَحم حَلال؟   Is this meat halal?

لَمَسَ: to touch  !لا تَلمَس الموقِد  Don’t touch the stove!

لاجِئ: refugee  كَم عَدَد اللاجئين الذين يَعيشون في هذا المُخَيم؟

How many refugees are living in this camp?

لَحْظة: moment/instant  .أعطيني لَحظة واحِدة حتى أتمكَن مِن إرسال هذا البريد الإلكتروني

Give me one moment so I can send this email.

لَذيذ: delicious  .كل شيء تَطبخه أمك لذيذ   Everything your mom cooks is delicious.

لَطيف: nice/pleasant/friendly  .يُحاول أن يكون لَطيفاً ومُفيداً

He tries to be nice and helpful.

لَعِبَ: to play  .يُحب أطفالي اللعِب في الحَديقة  My children love playing at the park.

لَيْلُ: night  .حَلِمْتُ الليلة الماضية أنني كُنْتُ على سَطْح القَمر

Last night I dreamt that I was on the moon.

لُغَةٌ: language كَم لُغة تَتَحَدَث؟  How many languages do you speak?

لِماذا: why  لماذا ستعمل في يوم عطلة؟  Why are you working on a holiday?

 

لُبْنان: Lebanon

I have never been to Lebanon and would one day love to go. Here is a video of a Jordanian visiting Beirut, Lebanon. Watch and listen as he speaks with Lebanese locals about Lebanese الطَعام food, التاريخ history, التُراث heritage, الهَنْدسة المِعْمارية architecture, and صَيد السَمك fishing. This video is geared more towards advanced learners yet, no matter your level, it’s always good to listen to the language being spoken in the real world. 😊

جولة في بيروت

Till next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊