B1Unit 9 · Feelings and opinions · Lesson 89 of 100
Agreeing and disagreeing
maʿak ḥaʾʾ · ṣaḥḥ! · mazbūṭ, bass … · mish mitʾakked · il-muhimm …
Goal: Agree with someone, disagree politely, say you are not sure, and close an argument in a friendly way.
Dialogue
Abu Khalil and his son Khalil watch soccer together, and as usual they do not support the same team. You will learn to say "you're right" with maʿak ḥaʾʾ, to disagree softly with mazbūṭ, bass …, to show doubt with mish mitʾakked, and to end the debate with il-muhimm ….
A Sunday night in October. Abu Khalil and Khalil watch a soccer match on TV; Lina and Sam are with them.
- Abu Khalilshūfu! ir-Riyāl aḥsan farīq fil-ʿālam!Look! Real Madrid is the best team in the world!
- Khalilmazbūṭ, ir-Riyāl farīq ʾawi, bass il-Barsa aḥsan.True, Real is a strong team, but Barça is better.
- Abu Khalilaḥsan? farīqak khisir il-usbūʿ il-māḍi!Better? Your team lost last week!
- Khalilṣaḥḥ, khisir marra. bass ghalab ir-Riyāl marrtēn has-sane!True, it lost once. But it beat Real twice this year!
- Abu Khalilmarrtēn? inte mitʾakked?Twice? Are you sure?
- Khalilā, mitʾakked. shūf ʿal-jawwāl!Yes, I'm sure. Look, on my phone!
- Abu Khalilṭayyib, maʿak ḥaʾʾ fi hādi. bass ir-Riyāl birbaḥ aktar.OK, you're right about that. But Real wins more.
- Khalilbakhtlef maʿak, yāba. ʿumrna ma ttafaʾna ʿal-kōra!I disagree with you, Dad. We've never agreed about soccer!
- Linaw inte, ya Sām? mīn bitshajjeʿ?And you, Sam? Who do you support?
- Samana? ana bashajjeʿ farīq min Torōnto!Me? I support a team from Toronto!
- KhalilTorōnto?! mish mumkin!Toronto?! No way!
- Samlaʾ, ʿan jadd. bass bafakker inno kull farīq ʾawi fi ishi.No, really. But I think every team is strong at something.
- Linashu bifriʾ? il-muhimm inno kullna sawa!What difference does it make? The main thing is that we're all together!
- Abu Khalilmaʿik ḥaʾʾ, ya Līna. bass khallīna nnāqesh shwayy… hāda aḥla ishi bil-kōra!You're right, Lina. But let us argue a little… that's the best thing about soccer!
- Khalilṣaḥḥ! fi hādi ana maʿak, yāba!True! On that I'm with you, Dad!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| mitʾakked | sure, certainf. mitʾakkde, pl. mitʾakkdīn; mish mitʾakked = I'm not sure |
| ḥaʾʾ | right; truth; valuemaʿak ḥaʾʾ / maʿik ḥaʾʾ = you're right (to a man / to a woman) |
| ṣaḥḥ | right!, true! |
| ittafaʾ | to agree, come to an agreementittafaʾ / yittafeʾ; b-present battafeʾ; after a vowel: iḥna ttafaʾna = we agreed |
| nāqash | to discussnāqash / ynāqesh; b-present banāqesh |
| farīq | teampl. firaq |
| ribiḥ | to winribiḥ / yirbaḥ; b-present barbaḥ |
| ghalab | to beat, defeatghalab / yighlib; b-present baghlib |
| khisir | to losekhisir / yikhsar; b-present bakhsar |
| shajjaʿ | to support, cheer for; to encourageshajjaʿ / yshajjeʿ; b-present bashajjeʿ; mīn bitshajjeʿ? = who do you support? (to a man) |
| faraʾ | to make a difference; to differfaraʾ / yifriʾ; b-present (it) bifriʾ; shu bifriʾ? = what difference does it make? |
| il-muhimm | anyway; the main thing is |
| ikhtalaf | to disagree; to differ, be differentikhtalaf / yikhtlef; b-present bakhtlef; bakhtlef maʿak = I disagree with you |
Grammar
1. Agreeing
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| maʿak ḥaʾʾ. / maʿik ḥaʾʾ. / maʿkom ḥaʾʾ. | You're right. (to a man / to a woman / to several people) |
| maʿo ḥaʾʾ. / maʿha ḥaʾʾ. | He's right. / She's right. |
| ṣaḥḥ! · mazbūṭ. | True! · That's right. |
| ana maʿak. · battafeʾ maʿak. | I agree with you. (to a man) |
maʿak ḥaʾʾ is literally "the truth is with you": maʿ takes the ending of the person who is right.
2. Disagreeing politely
To disagree without hurting anyone, first agree with a small part, then add bass "but":
You can also show doubt: mish mitʾakked (a woman: mish mitʾakkde) "I'm not sure". Stronger: bakhtlef maʿak "I disagree with you"; strongest: inte ghalṭān "you're wrong".
ittafaʾ "to agree" and ikhtalaf "to disagree" lose their first i after a vowel: iḥna ttafaʾna "we agreed", ʿumrna ma ttafaʾna "we have never agreed".
3. Closing the debate
shu bifriʾ? "what difference does it make?" and il-muhimm … "the main thing is …" end an argument in a friendly way: il-muhimm inno kullna sawa.
Words for sport: ribiḥ "to win" (goes like shirib: rbiḥna "we won"), khisir "to lose", ghalab "to beat": ghalabna "we beat (them)". shajjaʿ "to support" goes like ʿallam: bashajjeʿ, bitshajjeʿ.
Practice
1Choose the right answer
Lina says something true. You tell her she is right:
To Lina herself: maʿik. maʿha ḥaʾʾ = she is right.
Which answer disagrees politely?
inte ghalṭān is strong; ṣaḥḥ agrees.
"Who do you support?" (to a man)
bishajjeʿ = he supports; mīn ghalab? = who won (who beat the other)?
shu bifriʾ? means:
2Complete the sentence
inte ___? = Are you sure? (to a man)
farīqak ___ il-usbūʿ il-māḍi. = Your team lost last week.
___ maʿak, yāba. = I disagree with you, Dad.
battafeʾ maʿak = I agree with you.
___ inno kullna sawa. = The main thing is that we're all together.
farīqi ___ ir-Riyāl marrtēn. = My team beat Real twice.
3Match the Arabic and the English
farīq
ribiḥ
khisir
nāqash
shajjaʿ
ṣaḥḥ
4Put the words in order
You're right about that. (to a man)
We have never agreed!
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
True, but I'm not sure. (a woman speaking)
mazbūṭ, bass ana mish mitʾakkde.
She's right.
maʿha ḥaʾʾ.
6True or false?
Abu Khalil supports Real Madrid.
Khalil's team won last week.
Abu Khalil says farīqak khisir il-usbūʿ il-māḍi.
Sam supports a team from Toronto.
Summary
- You can agree: maʿak ḥaʾʾ, maʿik ḥaʾʾ, ṣaḥḥ!, battafeʾ maʿak.
- You can disagree politely: mazbūṭ, bass …, maʿak ḥaʾʾ fi hādi, bass …, bakhtlef maʿak.
- You can say you are not sure: mish mitʾakked, mish mitʾakkde.
- You can close a debate with shu bifriʾ? and il-muhimm …, and talk about winning and losing.