A2Unit 6 · Hospitality · Lesson 59 of 100
Congratulations!
mabrūk! · alla ybārik fīk · ʿuʾbāl ʿindak
Goal: Congratulate people on good news, answer when you are congratulated, and tell family news in the past.
Dialogue
Good news comes twice in one evening: Khalil's friend got engaged, and Nour's sister has had a baby. You will learn to say mabrūk!, to answer it, and to tell news about engagements, weddings and babies.
Thursday evening at the Khalil house. Khalil comes home with news.
- Khalilbiddi akhabberkom: ṣāḥbi khaṭab!I want to tell you all: my friend got engaged!
- Imm Khalilʿan jadd? mabrūk! mīn il-khaṭībe?Really? Congratulations! Who is the fiancée?
- Khalilbint min Bīrzēt. il-khuṭbe kānat mbāreḥ, w il-ʿurs fiṣ-ṣēf.A girl from Birzeit. The engagement was yesterday, and the wedding is in the summer.
- Imm Khalilmashalla! ʿuʾbāl ʿindak, ya ḥabībi!Wonderful! May you be next, dear!
- Khalilyamma! baʿdēn, baʿdēn!(Laughing.) Mom! Later, later!
- Nouralō, Līna? ukhti wildat il-yōm! bint!(Lina's phone rings.) Hello, Lina? My sister had her baby today! A girl!
- Linamabrūk, ya Nūr! alf mabrūk!Congratulations, Nour! Many congratulations!
- Nouralla ybārik fīki! kullna friḥna ktīr.Thank you! We're all so happy.
- Linaw kīf il-bēbi? w kīf ukhtik?And how is the baby? And your sister?
- Nouril-ḥamdilla, tnēnāthom mnāḥ. il-bint zghīre w ḥilwe ktīr!Thank God, they're both fine. The little girl is tiny and very pretty!
- Linawallāhi friḥtilha! sallmīli ʿalēha.I'm so happy for her! Give her my love.
- Abu Khalilkhuṭbe w bēbi fi yōm wāḥad! mashalla!(Lina tells the family.) An engagement and a baby on the same day! Wonderful!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| mabrūk | congratulations!alf mabrūk many congratulations; reply: alla ybārik fīk / fīki / fīkom |
| ʿuʾbāl ʿindak | may it be your turn next (to an unmarried man, at an engagement or a wedding)to a woman: ʿuʾbāl ʿindik; to several people: ʿuʾbāl ʿindkom |
| khuṭbe | engagementyōm il-khuṭbe the engagement day |
| khaṭīb | fiancéf. khaṭībe fiancée |
| khaṭab | to get engaged; to ask for (a woman's) handkhaṭab / yukhṭob, b-present bakhṭob |
| ʿurs | weddingplural: aʿrās |
| ʿarūs | brideplural: ʿarāyes |
| ʿarīs | bridegroomplural: ʿirsān |
| tjawwaz | to get marriedtjawwaz / yitjawwaz, b-present batjawwaz |
| khallaf | to have a childkhallaf / ykhallef, b-present bakhallef |
| wilid | to give birthwildat bint she had a girl; wildat walad she had a boy |
| bēbi | babyplural: bēbiyyāt |
| khabbar | to tell, let know, informkhabbar / ykhabber, b-present bakhabber |
| firiḥ | to be happy, glad (for someone: la-)firiḥ / yifraḥ, b-present bafraḥ |
Grammar
1. mabrūk! and its answer
For any good news (an engagement, a wedding, a baby, a new job, a new car) say mabrūk!, or, warmer, alf mabrūk! "a thousand congratulations". Your answer depends on who congratulates you.
| mabrūk! comes from… | You answer |
|---|---|
| a man | alla ybārik fīk |
| a woman | alla ybārik fīki |
| several people | alla ybārik fīkom |
2. ʿuʾbāl ʿindak: you're next!
At an engagement or a wedding, say to someone who is not married: ʿuʾbāl ʿindak (a man), ʿuʾbāl ʿindik (a woman), ʿuʾbāl ʿindkom (several people), "may it be your turn next".
3. Telling the news
News is told in the past (lessons 45 to 48). Verbs like tjawwaz add -at for "she" and -u for "they".
| he | she | they | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| tjawwaz | tjawwazat | tjawwazu | got married |
| khallaf | khallafat | khallafu | had a baby |
| firiḥ | firḥat | firḥu | was happy |
Practice
1Choose the right words
Sam tells you he has a new job. You say:
Nour says mabrūk! to you. You answer her:
Nour is a woman: fīki.
At a wedding you talk to Khalil, who is not married. You say:
alla ybārik fīk is an answer, not a wish.
ukhti wildat bint means:
2Complete the sentence
ṣāḥbi ___ mbāreḥ. = My friend got engaged yesterday.
ṣāḥbi is a man: khaṭab.
il-ʿarūs w il-___ mabsūṭīn. = The bride and the groom are happy.
kullna ___ ktīr. = We were all very happy.
humme ___ fiṣ-ṣēf. = They got married in the summer.
"They" takes -u.
3Match the Arabic and the English
khuṭbe
ʿurs
khaṭībe
bēbi
khabbar
4Put the words in order
Congratulations, Nour! Many congratulations!
The engagement was yesterday.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
Several friends say mabrūk! to you. Answer them.
alla ybārik fīkom.
Say: I want to tell you all something.
biddi akhabberkom ishi.
6True or false?
Khalil's friend got married yesterday.
Yesterday was the engagement, il-khuṭbe. The wedding is in the summer.
Nour's sister had a baby girl.
Khalil got engaged yesterday.
It is his friend: ṣāḥbi khaṭab.
Summary
- You can congratulate people: mabrūk!, alf mabrūk!
- You can answer a man, a woman or several people: alla ybārik fīk, fīki, fīkom.
- You can tease an unmarried friend at a wedding: ʿuʾbāl ʿindak!
- You can tell family news: ṣāḥbi khaṭab, ukhti wildat bint, tjawwazu fiṣ-ṣēf.