B1Unit 8 · Work, studies and stories · Lesson 74 of 100
Living, knowing, waiting: participles
ana sāken · mish fāhem · Rana nāyme · wāʾef fiṭ-ṭābūr
Goal: Say what state people are in right now (living somewhere, knowing, understanding, asleep, standing, traveling) and negate it with mish.
Dialogue
On Saturday morning Lina waits at a café, but nobody comes. She phones her friends: who is where? You will learn the active participles of state, such as sāken "living", ʿāref "knowing", nāyem "asleep", and how to say "not" with them.
Saturday morning. Lina waits for her friends at a café near al-Manara. Nobody has come yet, so she phones them.
- Linaalō, Khalīl? wēn inte? ana mistanniye fil-ʾahwe!Hello, Khalil? Where are you? I'm waiting at the café!
- Khalilana jāy, bass is-sēr wāʾef. fī azme kbīre ʿala dawwār il-Manāra.I'm on my way, but the traffic isn't moving. There's a big jam at al-Manara roundabout.
- Linaw Sām maʿak?And is Sam with you?
- Khalillaʾ, Sām fil-bank, wāʾef fiṭ-ṭābūr. ʾāl dōro baʿd shwayy.No, Sam is at the bank, standing in line. He said his turn is coming soon.
- Linaṭayyib. w Rana? ʿāref wēn hiyye?OK. And Rana? Do you know where she is?
- KhalilRana? akīd nāyme!Rana? She's asleep, for sure!
- Linaalō, Rana? inti ṣāḥye?(She calls Rana.) Hello, Rana? Are you awake?
- Ranaā… hallaʾ ṣḥīt. inti wēn?Yes… I just woke up. Where are you?
- Linafil-ʾahwe! ʿam bastannāki! yalla, ʾawām!At the café! I'm waiting for you! Come on, quickly!
- Ranaṭayyib, ṭayyib, jāye ʾawām!OK, OK, I'm coming right away!
- Motheralō, ḥabībti! kīfik?(Lina's phone rings: her mother in Chicago.) Hello, darling! How are you?
- Linamnīḥa, yamma! bass lēsh inti ṣāḥye? is-sāʿa tintēn bil-lēl ʿindkom!Fine, Mom! But why are you awake? It's two in the morning where you are!
- Motherabūki msāfer iṣ-ṣubḥ, ʿindo shughl, w ṭayyārto bakkīr. ana mish ʿārfe anām.Your father is traveling in the morning, he has work to do, and his plane is early. I can't get to sleep.
- Linaw huwwe? kamān ṣāḥi?And him? Is he awake too?
- Motherlaʾ, huwwe nāyem! w birawweḥ yōm il-jumʿa.No, he's asleep! And he comes back home on Friday.
- Khalilṣabāḥ il-khēr! āsfīn! waʾʾafna s-sayyāra bʿīd.(Khalil and Sam arrive together.) Good morning! Sorry! We parked the car far away.
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| wiʾif | to stand; to stopwiʾif / yūʾaf; b-present (he) būʾaf; participle wāʾef = standing |
| waʾʾaf | to stop (someone or something); to park (a car); to stand upwaʾʾaf / ywaʾʾef; b-present bawaʾʾef; waʾʾaft is-sayyāra = I parked the car |
| maṭār | airportplural maṭārāt |
| ṭayyāra | plane; kiteplural ṭayyārāt |
| safar | travel, travelingshirkit safar = travel agency |
| ʾawām | at once, quicklyyalla, ʾawām! = come on, quickly! |
| ʿam | (before a b-present) right now, in the middle ofʿam bashrab ʾahwe = I'm drinking coffee right now |
| dōr | turn; line; roleplural adwār; dōrak = your turn (to a man) |
| ṭābūr | line (of people)plural ṭwābīr |
| sēr | trafficis-sēr wāʾef = the traffic isn't moving |
| azme | traffic jam |
| rawwaḥ | to go home, come back homerawwaḥ / yrawweḥ; b-present barawweḥ |
Grammar
1. Participles: "is in a state"
An active participle is a verb used like an adjective. It says what state someone is in now: living somewhere, knowing, understanding, sleeping, standing, traveling. Like an adjective, it has a masculine, a feminine and a plural form.
| verb | (m) | (f) | (pl) | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sakan | sāken | sākne | sāknīn | living (in) |
| ʿirif | ʿāref | ʿārfe | ʿārfīn | knowing |
| fihim | fāhem | fāhme | fāhmīn | understanding |
| nām | nāyem | nāyme | nāymīn | asleep |
| wiʾif | wāʾef | wāʾfe | wāʾfīn | standing |
| sāfar | msāfer | msāfra | msāfrīn | traveling, away |
You already know rāyeḥ "going" and jāy "coming" from lesson 44. In the dialogue you also heard ṣāḥye "awake" and mistanniye "waiting".
2. A state now, or a habit?
The participle describes the state someone is in now. With verbs of movement (msāfer, rāyeḥ, jāy) it can also announce a trip that is already planned: msāfer bukra "leaving tomorrow". The b-present with a word like ʿādatan tells what usually happens.
For an action going on now, the b-present alone is enough. Put ʿam before it to stress "right now, in the middle of it".
3. Not: mish + participle
A participle is made negative with mish, like an adjective, never with ma … -sh.
Practice
1Choose the right sentence
Rana is asleep right now.
Rana is a woman: nāyme.
A woman says: "I don't understand."
Sam and Khalil are traveling tomorrow.
You ask a woman: "Do you know where he is?"
2Complete the sentence
Khalīl ___ fiṭ-ṭābūr. = Khalil is standing in line.
Nūr ___ fi Bēt Laḥem. = Nour lives in Bethlehem.
humme ___. = They are not asleep.
humme is plural: nāymīn; "not" before a participle is mish.
is-sēr wāʾef. fī ___ kbīre. = The traffic isn't moving. There's a big traffic jam.
abūki ___ bukra. = Your father is going away tomorrow.
3Match the Arabic and the English
maṭār
ṭayyāra
ṭābūr
sēr
dōr
ʾawām
4Put the words in order
I'm not traveling tomorrow. (a man speaking)
We parked the car far away.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
Do you know where Rana is? (to a man)
ʿāref wēn Rana?
My father is asleep now.
abūy nāyem hallaʾ.
6True or false?
Khalil is stuck in traffic.
Rana is already at the café.
Rana has just woken up: hallaʾ ṣḥīt.
Lina's father is traveling for work.
Summary
- You can describe a state now with a participle: sāken, ʿāref, fāhem, nāyem, wāʾef, msāfer.
- You can make it agree: nāyem, nāyme, nāymīn.
- You can say "not" with mish: ana mish fāhem, hiyye mish ʿārfe.
- You can say "right now" with ʿam: ʿam bastannāki.
- You can talk about traffic, lines and turns: is-sēr wāʾef, fī azme, dōrak.