Palestinian Arabic Lesson 25: I want to...: biddi

1

Dialogue

It is evening. Rana wants to go out with her friends, but Lina only wants to sleep. You will learn biddi "I want" with all its endings, and the present without b- that follows it.

Evening at the Khalil house. Rana is ready to go out; Lina is on the sofa.

RanaLīna, yalla! biddi aṭlaʿ maʿ aṣḥābi.Lina, come on! I want to go out with my friends.
Linahallaʾ? wēn bidkom trūḥu?Now? Where do you want to go?
Ranabidna niṭlaʿ mishwār: maṭʿam, w baʿdēn sinama!We want to go on an outing: a restaurant, and then the movies!
Linaana taʿbāne ktīr, w naʿsāne. biddi anām.I'm very tired, and sleepy. I want to sleep.
Ranabiddik tnāmi hallaʾ? bakkīr, ya ḥabībti!You want to sleep now? It's early, sweetie!
Linaā, biddi anām bakkīr il-lēle. bukra ʿindi shughl.Yes, I want to go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow I have work.
KhalilRana, ana biddi aṭlaʿ maʿkom!Rana, I want to come out with you!
Ranainte? ṭayyib, yalla! w inti, ya Līna? biddik ishi?You? OK, let's go! And you, Lina? Do you want anything?
Linalaʾ, shukran, ma biddi ishi. tiṣbaḥu ʿala khēr!No, thanks, I don't want anything. Good night, both of you!
Ranaw inti min ahlo!Good night to you too!

2

New words

Palestinian Arabic	English
ishi	thing; somethingkull ishi everything; ma biddi ishi I don't want anything
baʿdēn	later, afterwards; then
ṭiliʿ	to go out; to go up; to leaveṭiliʿ / yiṭlaʿ; baṭlaʿ I go out
rāḥ	to gorāḥ / yrūḥ; barūḥ I go
nām	to sleepnām / ynām; banām I sleep
taʿbān	tiredf. taʿbāne, pl. taʿbānīn
naʿsān	sleepyf. naʿsāne, pl. naʿsānīn
lēle	night (one night), eveningpl. layāli; il-lēle tonight
sinama	movie theater; the moviespl. sinamāt
maṭʿam	restaurantpl. maṭāʿem
mishwār	outing, walk; errandpl. mashāwīr; ṭiliʿ mishwār to go on an outing
ḥabībi	my dear (to a man)to a woman: ḥabībti; to several people: ḥabāybi

3

Grammar

1. I want, you want

biddi "I want" changes its ending like ʿindi. After it, a second verb loses its b-.

Who	want	want to go	want to go out
I	biddi	biddi arūḥ	biddi aṭlaʿ
you (to a man)	biddak	biddak trūḥ	biddak tiṭlaʿ
you (to a woman)	biddik	biddik trūḥi	biddik tiṭlaʿi
he	biddo	biddo yrūḥ	biddo yiṭlaʿ
she	bidha	bidha trūḥ	bidha tiṭlaʿ
we	bidna	bidna nrūḥ	bidna niṭlaʿ
you (to several people)	bidkom	bidkom trūḥu	bidkom tiṭlaʿu
they	bidhom	bidhom yrūḥu	bidhom yiṭlaʿu

Before -ha, -na, -kom, -hom write one d: bidha, bidna. The negative is ma biddi (lesson 24).

2. biddi + a thing

biddi shāy. I want tea.

biddik ishi? Do you want anything? (to a woman)

3. biddi + a verb: the present without b-

The verb after biddi is the subjunctive, the present without b-. Take the b-present and drop the b- or bi-: bitrūḥ → trūḥ, bniṭlaʿ → niṭlaʿ. "I" starts with a- and "he" and "they" with y-: barūḥ → arūḥ, birūḥ → yrūḥ.

biddi anām. I want to sleep.

bidna niṭlaʿ mishwār. We want to go on an outing.

Khalīl biddo yrūḥ maʿhom. Khalil wants to go with them.

4

Practice

1Choose the right words

Ask Lina: "Do you want to sleep?"
"We want to go out."
Lina is tired. She says:
Ask Sam: "Do you want anything?"

2Complete the sentence

Rana ___ tiṭlaʿ maʿ aṣḥābha. = Rana wants to go out with her friends.
Khalīl biddo ___ maʿhom. = Khalil wants to go with them.
bidkom ___ hallaʾ? = Do you want to sleep now? (to several people)
maṭʿam, w ___ sinama. = A restaurant, and then the movies.

3Match the Arabic and the English

lēle
mishwār
maṭʿam
naʿsān
ishi

4Put the words in order

I want to sleep early tonight.
We want to go on an outing.

5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check

I don't want anything, thanks.
Ask Sam: Where do you want to go?

6True or false?

Lina wants to go to the movies.
Khalil wants to go out with Rana and her friends.

Well done — your score: .

5

Summary

You can say "I want" with every person: biddi, biddak, bidha, bidna, bidhom.
You can say what you want: biddi shāy, biddik ishi?
You can say what you want to do with the present without b-: biddi anām, bidna niṭlaʿ.
You can say no politely: laʾ, shukran, ma biddi ishi.