A2Unit 5 · Out and about · Lesson 49 of 100
Weather and seasons
kīf il-jaww? · id-dinya bitshatti · id-dinya bard
Goal: Ask about the weather, say what it is like today and name the four seasons.
Dialogue
It is a rainy February morning in Ramallah, and Lina wants to know if winter will ever end. You will learn to ask kīf il-jaww? "how is the weather?", to answer with id-dinya … "it is …", and to name the seasons.
A rainy February morning at the Khalil house.
- Linaṣabāḥ il-khēr! kīf il-jaww il-yōm?Good morning! How's the weather today?
- Abu Khalilid-dinya bitshatti, w fī hawa ktīr.It's raining, and it's very windy.
- Linakamān marra? mbāreḥ kamān shattat!Again? It rained yesterday too!
- Imm Khalilhāda sh-shita, ya ḥabībti!That's winter, my dear!
- Linafi Shikāgo fish-shita fī talj ktīr, w id-dinya bard ktīr.In Chicago there's a lot of snow in winter, and it's very cold.
- Abu Khalilw hōn kamān fī talj, marrāt.And here too there's snow, sometimes.
- Linaʿan jadd? fi Rāmalla?Really? In Ramallah?
- Imm Khalilā, bass mish kull sane. yalla, ilbisi jākēt w khudi shamsiyye!Yes, but not every year. Come on, put on a jacket and take an umbrella!
- Linamāshi. w ēmta bīji r-rabīʿ?OK. And when does spring come?
- Abu Khalilir-rabīʿ ʾarīb. ir-rabīʿ hōn ḥilu ktīr: mish bard w mish shōb.Spring is near. Spring here is lovely: not cold and not hot.
- Linaw iṣ-ṣēf?And the summer?
- Abu Khalilfiṣ-ṣēf id-dinya shōb, bass bil-lēl fī hawa ḥilu.In summer it's hot, but at night there's a nice breeze.
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| jaww | weather; atmospherekīf il-jaww? = how is the weather? |
| shita | rain; winterish-shita = (the) winter; fish-shita = in winter |
| shatta | to rainshatta / yshatti; id-dinya bitshatti = it rains, it is raining |
| ṣēf | summerfiṣ-ṣēf = in summer |
| rabīʿ | springfir-rabīʿ = in spring |
| kharīf | autumn, fallfil-kharīf = in autumn |
| faṣl | seasonplural fṣūl |
| ghēm | cloudsone cloud: ghēme; plural ghyūm; fī ghēm = it's cloudy |
| hawa | wind; airfī hawa = it's windy |
| bard | cold (noun); a coldid-dinya bard = it's cold |
| dinya | world; (with weather words) itid-dinya bard = it's cold; id-dinya bitshatti = it's raining |
| shōb | heat, hot weatherid-dinya shōb = it's hot |
| bāred | cold (of things, water, food)feminine bārde, plural bārdīn |
| talj | snow; ice |
Grammar
1. Talking about the weather
Ask kīf il-jaww? "how is the weather?" In the answer, Palestinians use id-dinya, literally "the world", where English says "it".
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| id-dinya bard. | It's cold. |
| id-dinya shōb. | It's hot. |
| id-dinya bitshatti. | It's raining. |
| fī hawa. | It's windy. |
| fī ghēm. | It's cloudy. |
| fī talj. | There's snow. |
shatta "to rain" goes like ḥaka (lesson 48): mbāreḥ shattat "it rained yesterday". For the other sentences, use kān in the past (lesson 47): kān fī talj "there was snow".
2. The seasons
| Season | In that season |
|---|---|
| ish-shita winter | fish-shita |
| ir-rabīʿ spring | fir-rabīʿ |
| iṣ-ṣēf summer | fiṣ-ṣēf |
| il-kharīf autumn | fil-kharīf |
shita means both "rain" and "winter". The year has arbaʿ fṣūl "four seasons".
3. bard or bāred?
bard is a noun, for the weather: id-dinya bard "it's cold". bāred is an adjective, for things, and it agrees: ish-shāy bāred "the tea is cold", il-mayye bārde "the water is cold".
Practice
1Match the Arabic and the English
ṣēf
rabīʿ
kharīf
talj
ghēm
hawa
2Choose the right answer
You look out of the window and say "It's raining."
It is noon in August in Ramallah. You say:
Summers in Ramallah are hot and dry.
How do you say "The water is cold"?
bard is for the weather; for things, say bāred, feminine bārde.
3Complete the sentence
kīf ___ il-yōm? = How is the weather today?
mbāreḥ id-dinya ___. = It rained yesterday.
bitshatti is "it is raining" now; shattat is the past.
___ fī talj ktīr fi Shikāgo. = In winter there's a lot of snow in Chicago.
ilbis jākēt, id-dinya ___! = Put on a jacket, it's cold! (to a man)
4Put the words in order
It's raining, and it's very windy.
In summer it's hot.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
It's cloudy today.
il-yōm fī ghēm.
Spring here is lovely.
ir-rabīʿ hōn ḥilu ktīr.
6True or false?
It rained in Ramallah yesterday.
Imm Khalil says it snows in Ramallah every year.
She says mish kull sane "not every year".
Summary
- You can ask about the weather: kīf il-jaww?
- You can say what it is like: id-dinya bard, id-dinya shōb, id-dinya bitshatti, fī hawa, fī ghēm.
- You can name the four seasons and say "in winter": fish-shita, fiṣ-ṣēf.
- You know the difference between bard (the weather) and bāred (a thing).