A1Unit 3 · Everyday life: the present · Lesson 26 of 100
At the cafe: please and sorry
law samaḥt · tfaḍḍal · āsef / āsfe
Goal: Order a drink politely, and say please, here you are, sorry and excuse me to a man, a woman or several people.
Dialogue
Lina and Nour meet at a café in the center of Ramallah. You will learn to order politely, and the small polite words that change with the person: law samaḥt, tfaḍḍal, āsef and ʿan iznak.
Saturday afternoon at a café near Manara Square in Ramallah. Lina and Nour sit down, and the waiter comes.
- Waiterahla w sahla! tfaḍḍalu! shu bidkom tishrabu?Welcome! Please, sit down! What would you like to drink?
- Nourana biddi ʾahwe sāda, law samaḥt.I'd like a coffee without sugar, please.
- Linaw ana ʿaṭshāne ktīr! biddi kāsit mayye w ʿaṣīr, law samaḥt.And I'm very thirsty! I'd like a glass of water and a juice, please.
- Waiterāsef, ma fīsh ʿaṣīr hallaʾ. biddik shāy maʿ naʿnaʿ, willa maʿ maramiyye?Sorry, there's no juice right now. Would you like tea with mint, or with sage?
- Linamaʿlēsh. shāy maʿ maramiyye, bidūn sukkar.Never mind. Sage tea, without sugar.
- Waiterʾahwe sāda, tfaḍḍali. w shāy maʿ maramiyye, tfaḍḍali.(A few minutes later.) Coffee without sugar, here you are. And sage tea, here you are.
- Nourshukran!Thank you!
- Manʿan iznik!(A man with a big bag wants to pass Lina's chair.) Excuse me!
- Linaāsfe! tfaḍḍal!Sorry! Go ahead!
- Manmaʿlēsh, ma fīsh mushkile.It's all right, no problem.
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| law samaḥt | please; excuse me (to a man)to a woman: law samaḥti; to several people: law samaḥtu |
| tfaḍḍal | here you are; please, come in, sit down, go ahead (to a man)to a woman: tfaḍḍali; to several people: tfaḍḍalu |
| āsef | sorry (said by a man)said by a woman: āsfe; reply: maʿlēsh |
| ʿan iznak | excuse me, may I pass (to a man)to a woman: ʿan iznik; reply: tfaḍḍal / tfaḍḍali |
| maʿlēsh | never mind; it's all right |
| mushkile | problempl. mashākel; ma fīsh mushkile no problem |
| sāda | plain (coffee without sugar)ʾahwe sāda coffee without sugar |
| naʿnaʿ | mintshāy maʿ naʿnaʿ tea with mint |
| maramiyye | sage (a herb, drunk as tea)shāy maʿ maramiyye sage tea |
| ʿaṣīr | juice |
| ʿaṭshān | thirstyf. ʿaṭshāne, pl. ʿaṭshānīn |
| bidūn | withoutbidūn sukkar without sugar |
Grammar
1. Please, here you are: three endings
These polite words change with the person you speak to, like tiṣbaḥ ʿala khēr: no ending for a man, -i for a woman, -u for several people.
| Speaking to… | please | here you are, go ahead |
|---|---|---|
| a man | law samaḥt | tfaḍḍal |
| a woman | law samaḥti | tfaḍḍali |
| several people | law samaḥtu | tfaḍḍalu |
ʿan iznak "excuse me, may I pass" works like ismak and ismik: ʿan iznak to a man, ʿan iznik to a woman.
2. Sorry: who is speaking?
āsef is like fāhem: it changes with the person who speaks, not with the listener. A man says āsef, a woman says āsfe. The answer is maʿlēsh "never mind".
3. Ordering
Say what you want with biddi and add law samaḥt. Use maʿ "with" and bidūn "without". ma fīsh "there isn't" comes back in lesson 28.
Practice
1Choose the right words
You ask the waiter (a man) for water: "Water, please."
To a man: law samaḥt. tfaḍḍal is "here you are".
You hand Nour her coffee: "Here you are."
Nour is a woman: tfaḍḍali.
Sam steps on someone's foot. He says:
A man says āsef, a woman says āsfe. maʿlēsh is the answer.
A woman is in your way. You want to pass. You say:
2Complete the sentence
biddi ʾahwe ___, law samaḥt. = I'd like a coffee without sugar, please.
shāy ___ sukkar. = Tea without sugar.
maʿ means "with".
ahla w sahla! ___! = Welcome! Please, sit down! (to several people)
ma fīsh ___. = No problem.
3Match the Arabic and the English
naʿnaʿ
maramiyye
ʿaṣīr
ʿaṭshān
maʿlēsh
4Put the words in order
I'd like tea with mint, please. (to a man)
Sorry, I don't understand. (a man speaks)
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
A woman says to the waiter: I'm very thirsty. I'd like a glass of water, please.
ana ʿaṭshāne ktīr. biddi kāsit mayye, law samaḥt.
Someone says āsef! to you. Answer: Never mind, no problem.
maʿlēsh, ma fīsh mushkile.
6True or false?
Nour wants her coffee without sugar.
Lina gets a juice.
The waiter says ma fīsh ʿaṣīr hallaʾ, so Lina has sage tea.
Summary
- You can order a drink politely: biddi ʾahwe sāda, law samaḥt.
- You can say law samaḥt and tfaḍḍal to a man, a woman or several people.
- You can say sorry as a man (āsef) or as a woman (āsfe), and answer maʿlēsh.
- You can ask to pass with ʿan iznak or ʿan iznik, and say ma fīsh mushkile.