A2Unit 5 · Out and about · Lesson 42 of 100
Asking the way
law samaḥt, wēn il-bōsṭa? · dughri · ʿal-yamīn · ʿash-shmāl
Goal: Ask the way and understand simple directions: straight ahead, right, left, the first street, near and far.
Dialogue
Sam is looking for the post office and gets lost near al-Manara (il-Manāra), the big roundabout in the center of Ramallah. You will learn to ask the way and to understand the answer: straight ahead, right, left, the first street, the second traffic light.
A winter afternoon at al-Manara Square. Sam stops an older man.
- Samlaw samaḥt, ya ʿammo, wēn il-bōsṭa?Excuse me, sir, where is the post office?
- Manil-bōsṭa? mish bʿīde. inte hallaʾ ʿind il-Manāra.The post office? It isn't far. You're at al-Manara now.
- Samṭayyib, kīf barūḥ?OK, how do I get there?
- Manbitrūḥ dughri, w ʿind tāni ishāra bitliff ʿash-shmāl.You go straight ahead, and at the second traffic light you turn left.
- Samtāni ishāra, ʿash-shmāl. w baʿdēn?The second light, left. And then?
- Manbaʿdēn awwal shāreʿ ʿal-yamīn. il-bōsṭa ʿaz-zāwye, jamb il-funduʾ il-kbīr.Then the first street on the right. The post office is on the corner, next to the big hotel.
- Samʾarībe min hōn?Is it near here?
- Manā, ʾarībe. taʾrīban khams daʾāyeʾ.Yes, it's near. About five minutes.
- Samyaʿni dughri, ʿash-shmāl, w baʿdēn ʿal-yamīn?So straight ahead, left, and then right?
- Manmazbūṭ!Exactly!
- Samshukran ktīr, ya ʿammo!Thank you very much, sir!
- Manʿafwan. ahla w sahla fi Rāmalla!You're welcome. Welcome to Ramallah!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| dughri | straight ahead |
| yamīn | rightʿal-yamīn = on the right, to the right |
| shmāl | leftʿash-shmāl = on the left, to the left |
| laff | to turnlaff / yliff; b-present baliff, bitliff "you turn"; liff ʿal-yamīn = turn right |
| ʾarīb | near, closefeminine ʾarībe; ʾarīb min = near (to) |
| bʿīd | farfeminine bʿīde; bʿīd ʿan = far from |
| awwal | firstfeminine ūla; before a noun it does not change: awwal shāreʿ "the first street" |
| tāni | second; other, anotherfeminine tānye; tāni ishāra "the second traffic light" |
| dawwār | roundabout; circular squaredawwār il-Manāra |
| il-Manāra | al-Manara Square, the central roundabout of Ramallah |
| zāwye | cornerplural zawāya; ʿaz-zāwye = on the corner |
| ishāra | traffic light; signplural ishārāt |
Grammar
1. Asking the way
Start with law samaḥt (to a man) or law samaḥti (to a woman), then ask wēn …? "where is …?" To ask how to get there, say kīf barūḥ? "how do I go?"
2. The directions
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| dughri | straight ahead |
| ʿal-yamīn | on the right, to the right |
| ʿash-shmāl | on the left, to the left |
| ʿaz-zāwye | on the corner |
| ʿind il-ishāra | at the traffic light |
Directions are given with the b-present, "you go, you turn": bitrūḥ dughri, w bitliff ʿal-yamīn "you go straight ahead, and you turn right". To a woman: bitrūḥi, bitliffi.
3. First and second, near and far
Before a noun, awwal "first" and tāni "second" never change: awwal shāreʿ, tāni ishāra.
ʾarīb "near" and bʿīd "far" agree with the place, like any adjective: il-bank ʾarīb, but il-bōsṭa ʾarībe. "Near to" is ʾarīb min; "far from" is bʿīd ʿan.
Practice
1Match the Arabic and the English
dughri
ʿal-yamīn
ʿash-shmāl
zāwye
ishāra
dawwār
2Choose the right answer
You want to ask a woman where the bank is.
To a woman: law samaḥti. la-wēn? means "where to?"
A man tells you bitliff ʿash-shmāl. What do you do?
The post office is five minutes away. il-bōsṭa …
il-bōsṭa is feminine, so the adjective ends in -e.
How do you say "the first street"?
shāreʿ wāḥad is "one street".
3Complete the sentence
bitrūḥ ___, w baʿdēn bitliff ʿal-yamīn. = You go straight ahead, and then you turn right.
il-bōsṭa ___, jamb il-funduʾ il-kbīr. = The post office is on the corner, next to the big hotel.
ʿind ___ ishāra bitliff ʿash-shmāl. = At the second traffic light you turn left.
il-funduʾ bʿīd ___ hōn. = The hotel is far from here.
4Put the words in order
Excuse me, where is the post office? (to a man)
Then the first street on the right.
5True or false?
The post office is near al-Manara.
Sam has to turn right at the second traffic light.
At the second light he turns left: bitliff ʿash-shmāl.
The post office is next to the big hotel.
Summary
- You can ask the way: law samaḥt, wēn il-bōsṭa?, kīf barūḥ?
- You can understand dughri, ʿal-yamīn, ʿash-shmāl, ʿaz-zāwye and ʿind il-ishāra.
- You can say "the first street" and "the second light": awwal shāreʿ, tāni ishāra.
- You can say if a place is near or far: ʾarīb min, bʿīd ʿan.