B1Unit 9 · Feelings and opinions · Lesson 86 of 100
He said that...
ʾāl inno … · ʾalli inno … · ʾālatli inno … · saʾalni iza …
Goal: Report what other people said, told you, asked and promised.
Dialogue
Lina goes to the market and finds that the whole neighborhood thinks she is ill. Who said what to whom? You will learn to report words with ʾāl inno … "he said that …", to say "he told me" with ʾalli, and to report a question with saʾal iza … "he asked whether …".
An October morning at the vegetable market in Ramallah. Lina stops at Abu Samir's stall with her shopping bag.
- Abu Samirahlan, ya Līna! salāmtik! ʾālūli inno inti ʿayyāne.Hi, Lina! Get well soon! They told me you were ill.
- Linaana? laʾ, ana mnīḥa! mīn ʾallak hēk?Me? No, I'm fine! Who told you that?
- Abu Samiril-bayyāʿ illi jambi. ʾalli inno inti fil-mustashfa!The seller next to me. He told me you were in the hospital!
- Linafil-mustashfa?! w huwwe, mīn ʾallo?In the hospital?! And who told him?
- Abu Samirʾāl inno jāritkom ʾālatlo. kull il-ḥāra btiḥki ʿannik!He said your neighbor told him. The whole neighborhood is talking about you!
- Linaā, hallaʾ fhimt! mbāreḥ ʾult la-Rana inni taʿbāne shwayy, bass.Oh, now I understand! Yesterday I told Rana I was a bit tired, that's all.
- Abu Samirw Rana ʾālat lal-jāra inno Līna ʿayyāne…And Rana told the neighbor that Lina was ill…
- Linabiẓ-ẓabṭ. w il-jāra ʾālat lal-bayyāʿ inni fil-mustashfa!Exactly. And the neighbor told the seller I was in the hospital!
- Abu Samirhāda ḥaki l-ḥāra, ya Līna. hōn ma fīsh asrār: kull khabar biwṣal ʿas-sūʾ!That's neighborhood talk, Lina. There are no secrets here: every bit of news reaches the market!
- Linafiʿlan! w Rana waʿdatni inha mish raḥ tʾūl la-ḥada!Really! And Rana promised me she wouldn't tell anyone!
- Abu Samirw il-bayyāʿ saʾalni iza bidna nzūrik fil-mustashfa. ma ʿriftish shu ajāweb!And the seller asked me whether we wanted to visit you in the hospital. I didn't know what to answer!
- Linaʾullo inno ghalṭān. ana ʾaṣadt inni taʿbāne, mish ʿayyāne!Tell him he's wrong. I meant I was tired, not ill!
- Abu Samirḥāḍer! w baʾullo kamān inno maʿlūmāto dāyman ghalaṭ!Will do! And I'll also tell him that his information is always wrong!
- Linaw ana bashtri minnak bandōra, ʿashān il-ḥāra tshūf inni mnīḥa!And I'll buy tomatoes from you, so the neighborhood can see I'm fine!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| ʿan | about; fromʿanni, ʿannak, ʿannik, ʿanno …; ḥakāli ʿanno = he told me about him |
| ḥaki | talk; way of speakingḥaki l-ḥāra = neighborhood talk |
| jāwab | to answerjāwab / yjāweb; b-present bajāweb |
| waʿad | to promisewaʿad / yūʿed; b-present (he) būʿed; waʿadni = he promised me |
| ghalṭān | wrong, mistaken (of a person)f. ghalṭāne, pl. ghalṭānīn |
| sirr | secretpl. asrār |
| ḥāra | neighborhood, quarterpl. ḥārāt |
| bayyāʿ | seller, vendorf. bayyāʿa, pl. bayyāʿīn |
| khabar | piece of newspl. akhbār; shu l-akhbār? = what's new? |
| maʿlūmāt | informationa plural noun: maʿlūmāto = his information |
| fiʿlan | really, actually |
| biẓ-ẓabṭ | exactly, precisely |
| ʾaṣad | to mean, intendʾaṣad / yuʾṣod; b-present baʾṣod; ʾaṣadt inni … = I meant that I … |
Grammar
1. "He said that …": ʾāl inno
To report someone's words, use ʾāl + inno + the sentence. The person changes as in English ("I" becomes "she"), but the tense does NOT change: Arabic keeps the tense of the words that were really said.
Before a pronoun, inno takes the endings of lesson 82: inni "that I", innak / innik "that you", inno "that he", inha "that she".
2. "He told me": ʾalli, ʾālatli …
"Told me, told him" is ʾāl + -li, -lo … The long ā becomes short before -l-: ʾalli, not ʾālli.
| Who told | … me | … him | … her |
|---|---|---|---|
| he | ʾalli | ʾallo | ʾalilha |
| she | ʾālatli | ʾālatlo | ʾālatilha |
| I | — | ʾultillo | ʾultilha |
| they | ʾālūli | ʾālūlo | — |
With a name or a noun, use la-: ʾult la-Rana, ʾālat lal-jāra. "Tell me!" is ʾulli!; "tell him!" is ʾullo!
3. Reported questions and promises
A yes-or-no question is reported with iza "whether". A question word (mīn, wēn, shu) simply stays.
A promise works like ʾāl: waʿad inno … or, with "me", waʿadni inno ….
Practice
1Complete the sentence
ʾult la-Rana ___ taʿbāne. = I told Rana I was tired. (a woman speaking)
Lina speaks about herself: inni "that I".
il-bayyāʿ ___ inno inti fil-mustashfa. = The seller told me you were in the hospital.
ʾallo = he told him; ʾālatli = she told me.
saʾalni ___ bidna nzūrik. = He asked me whether we wanted to visit you.
Rana ___ inha mish raḥ tʾūl la-ḥada. = Rana promised me she wouldn't tell anyone.
waʿadni = he promised me; saʾlatni = she asked me.
2Choose the right answer
Nour tells you ana taʿbāne. You tell Sam what she said:
When you report it, "I" becomes "she": inha.
Which sentence means "They told me that Khalil is busy"?
ʾultilhom = I told them; saʾalūni iza … = they asked me whether …
Sam has the wrong information. You tell him "You're wrong":
Sam is a man: inte ghalṭān.
hōn ma fīsh asrār means:
3Match the Arabic and the English
khabar
sirr
ḥāra
bayyāʿ
maʿlūmāt
fiʿlan
4Put the words in order
He told me that you were ill. (to a woman)
I asked him whether he wanted coffee.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
Rana told me that she was tired.
Rana ʾālatli inha taʿbāne.
I meant that I was tired, not ill. (a man speaking)
ʾaṣadt inni taʿbān, mish ʿayyān.
6True or false?
Lina is in the hospital.
She tells Abu Samir ana mnīḥa.
The news went from Lina to Rana, then to the neighbor, then to the seller.
Abu Samir knew what to answer the seller.
He says ma ʿriftish shu ajāweb.
Summary
- You can report what someone said: ʾāl inno …, ʾult la-Rana inni taʿbāne.
- You know that the tense stays as it was said, while "I" and "you" change as in English.
- You can say who told whom: ʾalli, ʾālatli, ʾultillo, ʾālūli.
- You can report a question and a promise: saʾalni iza …, waʿdatni inha ….