A2Unit 5 · Out and about · Lesson 41 of 100
In town
la-wēn? · barūḥ ʿal-bank · ana fil-balad
Goal: Name the main places in town and say where you are going and where you are.
Dialogue
It is a cold Saturday in December. Sam has errands in the center of Ramallah, and Lina has her own. You will learn the places in town and how to say "to the bank" or "to Bethlehem" with ʿa- and la-.
Saturday morning in the center of Ramallah. Lina meets Sam in the street.
- Linaṣabāḥ il-khēr, ya Sām! la-wēn?Good morning, Sam! Where are you off to?
- Samṣabāḥ in-nūr! barūḥ ʿaṣ-ṣaydaliyye, w baʿdēn ʿal-bank.Good morning! I'm going to the pharmacy, and then to the bank.
- Linaṣaydaliyyit ʿammi hōn fil-balad, jamb il-bank.My uncle's pharmacy is here in the center, next to the bank.
- Samʿan jadd? biddik trūḥi maʿi?Really? Do you want to go with me?
- Linaakīd. w baʿdēn barūḥ ʿal-furn. biddi khubz lal-ʿēle.Sure. And then I'm going to the bakery. I want bread for the family.
- Samw ana biddi arūḥ ʿal-bōsṭa. ʿindi ktāb la-immi fi Torōnto.And I want to go to the post office. I have a book for my mother in Toronto.
- Linail-bōsṭa mish hōn. hiyye jamb il-funduʾ il-kbīr.The post office isn't here. It's next to the big hotel.
- Samṭayyib. w bukra? shu btiʿmali?OK. And tomorrow? What are you doing?
- Linabukra barūḥ la-Bēt Laḥem, ʿind Nūr.Tomorrow I'm going to Bethlehem, to Nour's.
- Samḥilu! yalla, ʿaṣ-ṣaydaliyye!Nice! Come on, to the pharmacy!
- Abu Khalilahla w sahla, ya Sām! tfaḍḍal!(At the pharmacy.) Welcome, Sam! Come in!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| balad | town; town center; countryfeminine; plural bilād; il-balad = the town center |
| la- | to (a place or a person); forla-Rāmalla "to Ramallah"; la-wēn? "where to?"; lal-ʿēle "for the family" |
| bank | bankplural bnūk |
| furn | bakery; ovenplural afrān |
| jāmeʿ | mosqueplural jawāmeʿ |
| knīse | churchplural kanāyes |
| maḥall | shop; placeplural maḥallāt |
| markaz | centerplural marākez; markaz tijāri = shopping center |
| funduʾ | hotelplural fanādeʾ |
| maḥaṭṭa | stationplural maḥaṭṭāt |
| bōsṭa | post office; the post |
| ʿiyāde | clinic, doctor's officeplural ʿiyādāt |
| ḥadīqa | park; gardenplural ḥadāyeq |
Grammar
1. Going to a place: ʿa- and la-
"To" a place is ʿa- (short for ʿala) or la-. Before "the", ʿa- is the everyday choice. The article sticks to it and changes before the same letters as always (lesson 17).
| The place | To the place |
|---|---|
| il-bank | ʿal-bank |
| il-furn | ʿal-furn |
| il-jāmeʿ | ʿal-jāmeʿ |
| is-sūʾ | ʿas-sūʾ |
| iṣ-ṣaydaliyye | ʿaṣ-ṣaydaliyye |
Before a name without "the", la- is very common: la-Rāmalla, la-Bēt Laḥem; you will also hear ʿa- there: ʿa-Bīrzēt. "Where to?" is la-wēn?
2. To someone's place: ʿind
To go to a person, use ʿind "at someone's" (lesson 14).
3. Going to, or being in?
ʿa- and la- show movement. To say where you are, use fi "in": fil-balad "in the town center". min is "from": min il-bank.
la- also means "for": khubz lal-ʿēle "bread for the family", ktāb la-immi "a book for my mother".
Practice
1Match the places
furn
jāmeʿ
knīse
funduʾ
ʿiyāde
ḥadīqa
2Choose the right answer
You want bread. Where do you go?
You meet a friend in the street and ask "Where to?"
mnēn? is "from where?", mīn? is "who?"
You are in the town center. You say:
fi says where you are; ʿa- says where you are going.
Which word means "station"?
3Complete the sentence
barūḥ ___. = I'm going to the market.
biddi arūḥ ___. = I want to go to Bethlehem.
biddi khubz ___. = I want bread for the family.
barūḥ ___ Nūr. = I'm going to Nour's.
4Put the words in order
I'm going to the bank, and then to the post office.
The post office is next to the big hotel.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
I want to go to the pharmacy.
biddi arūḥ ʿaṣ-ṣaydaliyye.
Lina is at the bakery.
Līna fil-furn.
6True or false?
Abu Khalil's pharmacy is next to the bank.
The post office is next to the pharmacy.
Lina says il-bōsṭa jamb il-funduʾ il-kbīr.
Tomorrow Lina is going to Bethlehem.
Summary
- You can name places in town: il-bank, il-furn, iṣ-ṣaydaliyye, il-jāmeʿ, il-knīse, il-bōsṭa.
- You can say where you are going: barūḥ ʿal-bank, biddi arūḥ la-Bēt Laḥem.
- You can ask la-wēn? "where to?"
- You can say where you are with fi: ana fil-balad.
- You can use la- for "for": khubz lal-ʿēle.