A2Unit 5 · Out and about · Lesson 50 of 100
Review: a day trip to Bethlehem
zurna knīsit il-Mahd · kān zāki ktīr · nsīt ish-shamsiyye
Goal: Find your way on a day trip and tell afterwards what you did, saw, ate and forgot.
Dialogue
On a sunny Saturday, Lina and Sam take a service taxi to Bethlehem to visit Nour. In the evening they tell Imm Khalil about their day. Everything from unit 5 comes back: places, directions, the imperative, the service taxi, the past tense and the weather.
A sunny Saturday in March. Lina and Sam go to Bethlehem by service taxi to visit Nour.
- Samlaw samaḥt, nazzelna ʿind sāḥit il-Mahd.(In the service.) Excuse me, drop us at Manger Square.
- Drivermāshi. hādi s-sāḥa, ʿal-yamīn.OK. Here's the square, on the right.
- Nourahla w sahla fi Bēt Laḥem! kīf kānat iṭ-ṭarīʾ?Welcome to Bethlehem! How was the road?
- Linaḥilwe, bass istannēna nuṣṣ sāʿa fil-mawʾef!Nice, but we waited half an hour at the stop!
- Nourmaʿlēsh. yalla, nrūḥ ʿala knīsit il-Mahd!Never mind. Come on, let's go to the Church of the Nativity!
- Samil-knīse ʿajbatni ktīr! ṣawwart ṣuwar ktīr.(Later.) I really liked the church! I took lots of photos.
- Nourjūʿānīn? fī maṭʿam ʾarīb: dughri, w baʿdēn ʿash-shmāl.Hungry? There's a restaurant nearby: straight ahead, then left.
- Imm Khalilahlan! shu ʿmiltu fi Bēt Laḥem?(In the evening, back in Ramallah.) Hi! What did you do in Bethlehem?
- Linazurna knīsit il-Mahd, w mashēna fis-sūʾ maʿ Nūr.We visited the Church of the Nativity, and we walked around the market with Nour.
- Samw akalna ḥummuṣ w falāfel. kān zāki ktīr!And we ate hummus and falafel. It was delicious!
- Imm Khalilw ishtarētu ishi?And did you buy anything?
- Linama shtarēnāsh ktīr, bass jibna hidiyye min khashab lal-bēt!We didn't buy much, but we brought a present made of wood for the house!
- Imm Khalilshukran, ya ḥabāybi! w ēmta rjiʿtu?Thank you, my dears! And when did you come back?
- Samis-sāʿa sitte. il-masa shattat, w ana nsīt ish-shamsiyye fis-sirvīs!At six. In the evening it rained, and I forgot the umbrella in the service!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| knīsit il-Mahd | the Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem) |
| sāḥa | square; courtyardsāḥit il-Mahd = Manger Square |
| khashab | woodone piece of wood: khashabe; min khashab = made of wood |
Grammar
What you can now say
- Say where you are going in town: barūḥ ʿal-bank, la-Bēt Laḥem.
- Ask the way and understand the answer: wēn il-bōsṭa?, dughri, ʿal-yamīn, ʿash-shmāl.
- Give instructions and say "don't": taʿālu!, khud!, ma tinsāsh!
- Take a service taxi: wēn rāyeḥ?, nazzelni hōn.
- Say what you did: katabt, akalna, ruḥt, shuft, jīt.
- Say where you were and what there was: kunt fil-bēt, kān fī knāfe.
- Use verbs that end in a vowel: ḥakēt, mashēna, nsīt, ḍallēt astanna.
- Talk about the weather: kīf il-jaww?, id-dinya bitshatti.
The unit in one table: the past, yes and no
| Meaning | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| I wrote. | katabt. | ma katabtish. |
| I went. | ruḥt. | ma ruḥtish. |
| I came. | jīt. | ma jītish. |
| I spoke. | ḥakēt. | ma ḥakētish. |
| He ate. | akal. | ma akalsh. |
| They ate. | akalu. | ma akalūsh. |
| I was here. | kunt hōn. | ma kuntish hōn. |
| There was snow. | kān fī talj. | ma kānsh fī talj. |
The past has one set of endings for every verb: -t, -ti, -at, -na, -tu, -u. Only the stem changes: rāḥ → ruḥt, nām → nimt, ḥaka → ḥakēt, nisi → nsīt. The negative is always ma … -sh.
Practice
1Choose the right words
You are in a service taxi and want to get off at the square.
You ask Nour: "Where are you going?"
To a woman: rāyḥa.
Nour says ahla w sahla fi Bēt Laḥem! to Lina. Lina answers:
Lina speaks to a woman: ahlan fīki.
How do you say "It is half past six"?
Sam says il-knīse ʿajbatni. He means:
You ask Imm Khalil how she is.
2Complete the sentence
iḥna ___ knīsit il-Mahd. = We visited the Church of the Nativity.
mbāreḥ ___ ḥummuṣ w falāfel. = Yesterday we ate hummus and falafel.
Sām ___ ish-shamsiyye fis-sirvīs. = Sam forgot the umbrella in the service.
___ fī suyyāḥ ktīr fis-sāḥa. = There were lots of tourists in the square.
kān fī "there was, there were" never changes.
ʿindi talat ___. = I have three sisters.
After 3 to 10, use the plural.
il-maṭʿam ___ min hōn. = The restaurant is near here.
maṭʿam is masculine.
3Match the Arabic and the English
sāḥa
khashab
knīse
mawʾef
hidiyye
jūʿān
4Put the words in order
We walked around the market with Nour.
We waited half an hour at the stop.
My name is Sam and I'm from Toronto.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
We brought a present for Imm Khalil.
jibna hidiyye la-Imm Khalīl.
Excuse me, where is the bakery? (to a woman)
law samaḥti, wēn il-furn?
We don't drink coffee.
ma bnishrabsh ʾahwe.
6True or false?
Lina and Sam waited half an hour at the stop.
Lina and Sam bought a lot in Bethlehem.
Lina says ma shtarēnāsh ktīr.
Summary
- You can get around a town: places, directions and the service taxi.
- You can give instructions and say "don't".
- You can tell what you did on a trip with the past of every kind of verb: zurna, akalna, mashēna, nsīt.
- You can say what was and what there was: kān zāki, kān fī suyyāḥ.
- You can talk about the weather on the day: il-masa shattat.