Levantine Arabic grammar is the set of rules by which Levantine Arabic creates statements, questions and commands. In many respects, it is quite similar to that of the other vernacular Arabic varieties.
Both VSO (verb before subject before object) and SVO (subject before verb before object) word orders are possible in Levantine. The verb is before the object (VO).[1] However, Classical Arabic tends to prefer VSO, whereas in Levantine SVO is more common. Subject-initial order indicates topic-prominent sentences, while verb-initial order indicates subject-prominent sentences.
In interrogative sentences, the interrogative particle comes first.
There is no copula used in the present tense in Levantine. In other tenses, the verb kān (Arabic: كان) is used. Its present tense form is used in the future tense.
See also: Arabic definite article. There is no indefinite article in Levantine. Nouns (except proper nouns) are automatically indefinite by the absence of the definite article.
The Arabic definite article Arabic: ال precedes the noun or adjective and has multiple pronunciations. Its vowel is dropped when the preceding word ends in a vowel. A helping vowel "e" is inserted if the following word begins with a consonant cluster.
It assimilates with "Sun letters", basically all consonants that are pronounced with the tip of the tongue. Other letters are called "Moon letters". The letter Jeem (Arabic: ج) is a special case. It is usually a Sun letter for speakers pronouncing it as [{{IPA link|ʒ}}] but not for those pronouncing it as [{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}].
| البيت | |||
| Sun letter (assimilation) | الشمس | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter Jeem (ج) | الجمعة | pronounced as /[ɪl.ˈd͡ʒʊm.ʕa]/ / pronounced as /[ɪʒ.ˈʒʊm.ʕa]/ | |
| Consonant cluster | الكتاب |
There is no case marking in Levantine (contrary to Classical Arabic).
Nouns can be either masculine or feminine. In the singular, most feminine nouns end with Tāʼ marbūṭah (Arabic: ـة). This is pronounced as –a or -e depending on the preceding consonant. Generally, -a after guttural (Arabic: ح خ ع غ ق ه ء) and emphatic consonants (Arabic: ر ص ض ط ظ), and -e after other consonants.[2]
Nouns in Levantine can be singular, dual or plural.[2]
The dual is invariably formed with suffix -ēn (ين-).[2] The dual is often used in a non-exact sense, especially in temporal and spatial nouns:
For nouns referring to humans, the regular (also called sound) masculine plural is formed with the suffix -īn. The regular feminine plural is formed with -āt. The masculine plural is used to refer to a group with both gender. However, there are many broken plurals (also called internal plurals),[2] in which the consonantal root of the singular is changed (nonconcatenative morphology). These plural patterns are shared with other varieties of Arabic and may also be applied to foreign borrowings: such as faːtuːra (plural: fwaːtiːr), from the Italian Italian: fattura, invoice. The plural of loanwords may be sound or broken.[3] Several patterns of broken plurals exist and it is not possible to exactly predict them.
Inanimate objects take feminine singular agreement in the plural, for verbs, attached pronouns, and adjectives.
Some foreign words that designate weights and measures such as (centimeter), (shekel), and (kilometer/kilogram) (but not, meter, which behaves like other Arabic nouns) are invariable. The dual form is not used and numbers 3–10 don't lose their final vowel when followed by these nouns:
| ـَ و ا ـِ ـ | CawāCeC | | street streets | |
| أَ ـْ ـ ا ـ | ʔaCCāC | | person people | |
| ـَ ـ ا ـِ ي ـ | CaCāCīC | | convenience store convenience stores | |
| ـُ ـُ و ـ | CuCūC | | letter letters | |
| ـُ ـَ ـ | CuCaC | | story stories | |
| ـِ ـَ ـ | CiCaC | | team teams | |
| ـُ ـَ ـ ا | CuCaCa | | manager managers | |
| ـُ ـّ ا ـ | CuC2C2āC | | student students | |
| أَ ـْ ـِ ـ ة | ʔaCCiCe | | electrical device electrical devices | |
| ـُ ـُ ـ | CuCoC | | city cities | |
| ـُ ـْ ـ ا ن | CuCCān | | dress shirt dress shirts | |
| أَ ـْ ـِ ـ ا ء | ʔCCiCāʔ | | friend friends |
Phrasal word order is head-dependent:[1]
The genitive relationship is formed by putting the nouns next to each other, this construct is called Iḍāfah . The first noun is always indefinite. If an indefinite noun is added to a definite noun, it results in a new definite compound noun.
Besides possessiveness, the Iḍāfah construct can be used to specify or define the first term.
Possession can also be expressed with تبع,, especially for loanwords:
There is no limit to the number of nouns that can be strung together in an Iḍāfah. However, it is rare to have three or more words, except with very common or monosyllabic nouns.
The Iḍāfah construct is different from the noun-adjective structure. In an Iḍāfah construct, the two nouns might be different in terms of their definiteness: the first is indefinite, the second is usually definite. Whereas adjectives always agree with nouns in definiteness.
The first term must be in the construct state: if it ends in the feminine marker (/-ah/, or /-ih/), it changes to (/-at/, /-it/) in pronunciation (i.e. Arabic: ة pronounced as "t"). Whereas in a noun-adjective string, the pronunciation would remain (/-ah/, /-ih/).
| كتاب إستاذ | a book of a/the teacher | Iḍāfah of two indefinite nouns | ||
| كتاب الإستاذ | the book of the teacher | Iḍāfah of indefinite + definite noun | ||
| كتاب الإستاذ الجديد | the new book of the teacher OR the book of the new teacher | The adjective is definite, because the Iḍāfah is definite. Both meanings are possible, to avoid confusion the preposition can be used to split the Iḍāfah. | ||
| الكتاب الجديد للإستاذ | the new book of the teacher | Split Iḍāfah | ||
| الكتاب للإستاذ الجديد | the book of the new teacher | Split Iḍāfah | ||
| الكتاب الجديد تبع الإستاذ | the teacher's new book | Use of تبع, to avoid confusion. | ||
| كتاب إستاذ العربي | the book of the teacher of Arabic | Chained Iḍāfah, only the last noun takes the definite article | ||
| مجلة جديدة | a new magazine | Noun-adjective: Arabic: ة pronounced as "ih" | ||
| مجلة الإستاذ | the magazine of the teacher | Arabic: ة pronounced as "t" in construct state | ||
| بيت خالد | Khalid's house | With a proper noun: possessiveness | ||
| مدينة نيويورك | New York City | First noun ends with ah (pronounced as "t"), second is a proper noun | ||
| مدينة زغيرة | a small town/city | Noun-adjective, Arabic: ة pronounced as "ah" | ||
| صحن حمص | hummus dish |
Verbal nouns (also called gerunds or masdar) play an important role in Levantine. Derived from a verb root, they can be used as a noun ("food") or as a gerund ("eating"). Verbal nouns do not exist as infinitives, they are not part of the verbal system but of the lexicon.
| Verb pattern | Verbal noun pattern | Example | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most common | Variants | Verb | Verbal noun | |||
| Form I | C1vC2vC3 | C1vC2C3 | Many variants | (to study, to learn) | (a lesson) | |
| Form II | C1aC2C2aC3 | taC1C2īC3 | taC1C2iC3a / tiC1C2āC3 | (to present, to offer) | (a presentation, presenting) | |
| Form III | C1v̄C2aC3 | muC1v̄C2aC3a | C1iC2v̄C3 | (to help) | (help, assistance) | |
| Form IV | ʔaC1C2aC3 | ʔiC1C2āC3 | (to convince) | (convincing) | ||
| Form V | tC1aC2C2aC3 | taC1aC2C2uC3 | (to avoid) | (avoiding, avoidance) | ||
| Form VI | tC1v̄C2aC3 | taC1v̄C2uC3 | (to ignore) | (ignoring) | ||
| Form VII | nC1aC2aC3 (North) inC1aC2aC3 (South) | inC1iC2v̄C3 | (to be happy, to have fun) | (happiness) | ||
| Form VIII | C1tvC2vC3 (North) iC1tvC2vC3 (South) | iC1tiC2v̄C3 | (to suggest) | (a suggestion) | ||
| Form IX | C1C2aC3C3 (North) iC1C2aC3C3 (South) | iC1C2iC3āC3 | (to blush, to turn red) | (blushing, turning red) | ||
| Form X | staC1C2aC3 (North) istaC1C2aC3 (South) | istiC1C2āC3 | (to use) | (use, usage) | ||
Number one and two have a masculine and feminine form. When used with a noun, they rather follow it like an adjective than precede it for emphasis. An exception are uncountable nouns. When the number 2 is accompanied by a noun, the dual form is usually used:, 2 boys.
Numbers larger than 3 do not have gender but may have two forms, one used before nouns and one used independently. In particular, numbers between 3 and 10 lose their final vowel before a noun.
Numbers from 3 to 10 are followed by plural nouns. Numbers from 11 to 99 are followed by a singular.[4]
Numbers 100 and onwards follow the same rule as numbers 0–99 based on their last two digits. 100 and 101 are followed by a singular, 102 is followed by a dual (102 books:), 103–110 by a plural, and 111–199 is like 11–99, followed by a singular.
Before a small set of nouns (e.g. Arabic: ألف,, "thousand") the independent form is used in construct state (Arabic: ة pronounced as "t"). Arabic: مية ("hundred") is always in construct state before nouns.
| 0 / ٠ | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 / ١ | m | Singular | ||
| f | ||||
| 2 / ٢ | m | Dual or plural | ||
| f | ||||
| 3 / ٣ | (South) (North) | (South) (North) | Plural | |
| 4 / ٤ | ||||
| 5 / ٥ | ||||
| 6 / ٦ | ||||
| 7 / ٧ | ||||
| 8 / ٨ | (South) (North) | (South) (North) | ||
| 9 / ٩ | ||||
| 10 / ١٠ | ||||
| 11 / ١١ | Singular | |||
| 12 / ١٢ | ||||
| 20 / ٢٠ | ||||
| 21 / ٢١ | ||||
| 30 / ٣٠ | (South) / (North) | |||
| 100 / ١٠٠ | ||||
| 101 / ١٠١ | + Singular noun | |||
| 102 / ١٠٢ | + Dual noun | Dual | ||
| 103 / ١٠٣ | Plural | |||
| 200 / ٢٠٠ | Singular | |||
| 300 / ٣٠٠ | ||||
| 1000 / ١٠٠٠ | ||||
| 2000 / ٢٠٠٠ | ||||
| 3000 / ٣٠٠٠ | ||||
| 10000 / ١٠٠٠٠ | ||||
| 11000 / ١١٠٠٠ | ||||
| 100000 / ١٠٠٠٠٠ | ||||
Ordinal numbers can either precede or follow the noun. If they precede the noun the masculine form is used and the definite article is dropped.
Ordinal numbers above 10 do not exist, instead the cardinal numbers are used following the noun.
Many adjectives have the pattern Arabic: فعيل (/ CCīC or / CaCīC) but other patterns are also possible.
Adjectives derived from nouns by the suffix ـي are called Nisba adjectives. Their feminine form ends in ـية and the plural in ـيين .
Adjectives typically have three form: a masculine singular, a feminine singular, and a plural which does not distinguish gender. In most adjectives the feminine is formed through addition of -a/e, sometimes dropping an unstressed short vowel.[5]
Nouns in dual have adjectives in plural.
The plural of adjectives is either regular ending in ـين or is an irregular "broken" plural. It is used with nouns referring to people. For non-human / inanimate / abstract nouns, adjectives can use either the plural or the singular feminine form regardless of the noun's gender.[5]
Adjectives follow the noun they modify and agree with it in definiteness. Adjectives without an article after a definite noun express a clause with the invisible copula "to be".
| a big house | ||
| البيت الكبير | the big house | |
| البيت كبير | the house is big |
There is no dominant order for degree words and adjectives: Adverbs of degree like ("very") and ("a little / a bit") can either precede or follow the adjective.[1]
There are no separate comparative and superlative forms but the elative is used in both cases.[5]
The elative is formed by adding a hamza at the beginning of the adjective and replace the vowels by "a" (pattern: Arabic: أفعل / aCCaC).[6] Adjective endings in (i) and (u) are changed into (a). If the second and third consonant in the root are the same, they are geminated (pattern: Arabic: أفلّ / ʾaCaCC).
Speakers who pronounce as hamza might pronounced the elative prefix as "h" in order to avoid two consecutive hamzas.
When an elative modifies a noun, it precedes the noun an no definite article is used.
In order to compare two things, the word is used in the sense of "than" in English.
| أحسن إشي | the best thing | ||
| هالإشي أحسن | this thing is better / the best | ||
| هالإشي أحسن من إشي تاني | this thing is better than something else |
Not all adjectives can form an elative, especially those that are participles or derived from nouns. In this case, ("more, most") is used.[5]
| crazy | |||
| مجنون أكتر | crazier / craziest | ||
| هو مجنون أكتر منك | he is crazier than you | ||
| أكتر واحد مجنون | the craziest one |
Prepositions must precede nominals in Levantine.
| with; in, at | ||
| in, at | ||
| with, along with | ||
| from; than | ||
| to; for | ||
| / | on, upon; to; about | |
| before | ||
| after | ||
| in front of | ||
| behind | ||
| above, over | ||
| below, under | ||
| between |
Feminine plural forms modifying human females are found mostly in rural and Bedouin areas. They are not mentioned below.
Levantine has eight persons, and therefore eight pronouns. Dual forms that exist in Modern Standard Arabic do not exist in Levantine, the plural is used instead. Because conjugated verbs indicate the subject with a prefix and/or a suffix, independent subject pronouns are usually not necessary and are mainly used for emphasis.
| Levantine independent personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person (m/f) | (South) / (North) | ||
| 2nd person | m | / | |
| f | |||
| 3rd person | m | (South) / (North) | |
| f | |||
Direct object pronouns are indicated by suffixes attached to the conjugated verb. Their form depends whether the verb ends with a consonant or a vowel. Suffixed to nouns, these pronouns express possessive.
| Levantine enclitic pronouns, direct object and possessive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| after consonant | after vowel | |||
| 1st person | after verb | |||
| else | ||||
| 2nd person | m | (North) (South) | ||
| f | ||||
| 3rd person | m | (North) (South) | (silent) | (North) (South) |
| f | (North) (South) | (North) (South) | ||
If a pronoun is already attached on the end of a word, the second pronoun is attached to يا (after a vowel) / (after a consonant), for instance: بدي ياك (I want you (m)).
Indirect object pronouns (dative) are suffixed to the conjugated verb. They are form by adding an ل (-l) and then the possessive suffix to the verb. They precede object pronouns if present:
| Levantine indirect object pronoun suffixes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person (m/f) | |||
| 2nd person | m | (North) , (South) | |
| f | |||
| 3rd person | m | (North) (South) | (North) (South) |
| f | (North) (South) | ||
Demonstrative pronouns have three referential types: immediate, proximal, and distal. The distinction between proximal and distal demonstratives is of physical, temporal, or metaphorical distance. The genderless and numberless immediate demonstrative article is translated by "this/the", to designate something immediately visible or accessible.
| Levantine demonstrative pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| Proximal (this, these) | m | / (South, Syria) (Lebanon) | (South, Syria) / (Lebanon) |
| f | / (South) (Syria) (Lebanon) | ||
| Distal (that, those) | m | (South, Syria) (Lebanon) | (South) (Syria) (Lebanon) |
| f | (South, Syria) (Lebanon) | ||
| who | ||
| whose | ||
| / (South) | what | |
| for what | ||
| / (Lebanon) | why | |
| which | ||
| / (Lebanon) | when | |
| where | ||
| where to | ||
| / | where from | |
| / (Syria) | how | |
| / (Lebanon) | how much | |
| how many | ||
| / | how often |
The relative pronoun, invariable for number and gender, is .
Like Arabic verbs, most Levantine verbs are based on a triliteral root (also called radical) made of three consonants (therefore also called triconsonantal root). The set of consonants communicates the basic meaning of a verb, e.g. k-t-b 'write', q-r-’ 'read', ’-k-l 'eat'. Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as tense, person and number, in addition to changes in the meaning of the verb that embody grammatical concepts such as mood (e.g. indicative, subjunctive, imperative), voice (active or passive), and functions such as causative, intensive, or reflexive.
Quadriliteral roots are less common, but often used to coin new vocabulary or to Arabicize foreign words.
The base form is the third-person masculine singular of the perfect (also called past) tense.
Almost all Levantine verbs can be categorized in one of ten verb forms (also called verb measures, stems, patterns, or types). Form I, the most common one, serves as a base for the other nine forms. Each form carries a different verbal idea, relative to the meaning of its root. Technically, 10 verbs can be constructed from any given triconsonantal root. However, all of those ten forms may not be used in practice by speakers. After Form I, Forms II, V, VII, and X are the most common ones.
| Form I | Active or stative verb (base form) | C1vC2vC3 | -C1vC2vC3 | (to do, to make) | (related to work) | ||
| Form II | Causes action (Causative), shows intensity (Augmentative), or may indicates continuing action | C1aC2C2aC3 | -C1aC2C2eC3 | (to teach) | (related to knowledge) | Most productive form | |
| Form III | Active in meaning or shows attempt; focus is on one-sided action | C1v̄C2aC3 | -C1v̄C2eC3 | (to treat) | (related to work) | ||
| Form IV | Causes action, similar to Form II | ʔaC1C2aC3 | -C1C2eC3 | (to announce) | (related to publicity) | Rare, limited to borrowings from MSA | |
| Form V | Reflexive/passive/mediopassive meaning for transitive Form II verbs | tC1aC2C2aC3 | -tC1aC2C2aC3 | (to learn) | (related to knowledge) | Usually intransitive | |
| Form VI | Reflexive/passive meaning for Form III or active in meaning | tC1v̄C2aC3 | -tC1v̄C2eC3 | (to work or deal with) | (related to work) | Usually intransitive | |
| Form VII | Reflexive/passive meaning for Form I or no particular tendency of meaning | nC1aC2aC3 (North) inC1aC2aC3 (South) | -nC1ǝC2eC3 -nC1aːC2 in medial glide roots | (to have fun, enjoy oneself) | (related to spreading and extending) | ||
| Form VIII | Active, reflexive, or passive in meaning | C1tvC2vC3 (North) iC1tvC2vC3 (South) | -C1tvC2vC3 | (to confess) | (related to awareness) | Not productive | |
| Form IX | Inchoative verbs from adjectives: Changing of color or physical handicap | C1C2aC3C3 (North) iC1C2aC3C3 (South) | -C1C2aC3C3 | (to become white) | (related to whiteness) | Very rare, replaced by ṣār "to become" + adjective[7] | |
| Form X | Sought to do something or believe something to be big, close, etc. (Denominal or deadjectival) | staC1C2aC3 (North) istaC1C2aC3 (South) | -staC1C2eC3 | (to use) | (related to work) | Often transitive verbs |
Aldrich also defines verb forms XI (for verbs based on quadriliteral roots) and XII (for passive or intransitive version of form XI verbs).
In addition to its form, each verb has a "quality":
Some irregular verbs do not fit into any of the verb forms.
The initial i in verb forms VII, VIII, IX, X drops when the preceding word ends in a vowel or at the beginning of a sentence.
The Levantine verb has only two tenses: past (perfect) and present (also called imperfect, b-imperfect, or bi-imperfect). The future tense is an extension of the present tense. The negative imperative is the same as the negative present with helping verb (imperfect). The grammatical person and number as well as the mood are designated by a variety of prefixes and suffixes. The following table shows the paradigm of a sound Form I verb, (كتب) 'to write'.
The b-imperfect is usually used for the indicative mood (non-past present, habitual/general present, narrative present, planned future actions, or potential). The prefix b- is deleted in the subjunctive mood, usually after various modal verbs, auxiliary verbs, pseudo-verbs, prepositions, and particles.[6] [7] [8] [9]
In the following table, the accented vowel is in bold.
| Conjugation of كتب, 'to write' (sound form I verb) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Levantine | South Levantine | |||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| Past | Masc. | |||||||
| Fem. | ||||||||
| Plural | ||||||||
| Present | Masc. | |||||||
| Fem. | ||||||||
| Plural | | |||||||
| Present with helping verb | Masc. | |||||||
| Fem. | ||||||||
| Plural | ||||||||
| Positive imperative | Masc. | rowspan="3" | ||||||
| Fem. | ||||||||
| Plural | ||||||||
| Active participle | Masc. | |||||||
| Fem. | ||||||||
| Plural | ||||||||
| Passive participle | Masc. | |||||||
| Fem. | ||||||||
| Plural | ||||||||
| Table of prefixes, affixes, and suffixes added to the base form (for sound form I verbs with stressed prefixes) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual/Plural | |||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| Past | M | -it | -it | ∅ (base form) | -na | -tu | -u | |
| F | -ti | -it (North) -at (South) | ||||||
| Present | M | bi- (North) ba- (South) | bti- | byi- (North)[10] bi- (South) | mni- | bti- -u | byi- -u (North) bi- -u (South) | |
| F | bti- -i | bti- | ||||||
| Present with helping verb | M | i- (North) a- (South) | ti- | yi- | ni- | ti- -u | yi- -u | |
| F | ti- -i | ti- | ||||||
| Positive imperative | M | ∅ (Lengthening the present tense vowel, North) i- (Subjunctive without initial consonant, South) | -u (Stressed vowel u becomes i, North) i- -u (South) | rowspan="2" | ||||
| F | -i (Stressed vowel u becomes i, North) i- -i (South) | |||||||
| Active participle | M | -ē- (North) or -ā- (South) after the first consonant | -īn (added to the masculine form) | |||||
| F | -e/i or -a (added to the masculine form) | |||||||
| Passive participle | M | ma- and -ū- after the second consonant | ||||||
| F | -a (added to the masculine form) | |||||||
In the perfect tense, the first person singular and second person masculine singular are identical. For regular verbs, the third-person feminine singular is written identically but stressed differently.
Depending on regions and accents, the -u can be pronounced -o and the -i can be pronounced -é.
In Southern Levantine dialects, the vowel of the suffix in past tense 3rd person feminine as well as the prefix in the present tense 1st person singular is "a" instead of "i". It might be "u" in other persons of the present tense due to vowel harmony.[11]
The active participle, also called present participle, is grammatically an adjective derived from a verb. Depending on the context, it can express the present or present continuous (with verbs of motion, location, or mental state), the near future, or the present perfect (past action with a present result). It can also serve as a noun or an adjective.
The active participle can be inflected from the verb based on its verb form.
| Verb pattern | Active participle pattern | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb | Active participle | ||||
| Form I | C1vC2vC3 | C1v̄C2vC3 | (to grab, to arrest) | (is arresting, has arrested) | |
| Form II | C1aC2C2aC3 | mC1aC2C2eC3 | (to present, to offer) | (has presented, a presenter) | |
| Form III | C1v̄C2aC3 | mC1v̄C2iC3 | (to help) | (assistant, has helped) | |
| Form IV | ʔaC1C2aC3 | miC1C2iC3 | (to convince) | (is convincing, has convinced) | |
| Form V | tC1aC2C2aC3 | mitC1aC2C2eC3 | (to avoid) | (is avoiding) | |
| Form VI | tC1v̄C2aC3 | mitC1v̄C2aC3 | (to ignore) | (is ignoring) | |
| Form VII | nC1aC2aC3 (North) inC1aC2aC3 (South) | minC1aC2eC3 | (to be happy, to have fun) | (is happy) | |
| Form VIII | C1tvC2vC3 (North) iC1tvC2vC3 (South) | minC1tvC2vC3 | (to suggest) | (has suggested) | |
| Form IX | C1C2aC3C3 (North) iC1C2aC3C3 (South) | miC1C2aC3C3 | (to blush, to turn red) | (is blushing, has turned red) | |
| Form X | staC1C2aC3 (North) istaC1C2aC3 (South) | mistaC1C2iC3 | (to use) | (user, has used) | |
The passive participle, also called past participle, has a similar meaning as in English (i.e. sent, written, etc.). It is mostly used as an adjective but it can sometimes be used as a noun. It is inflected from the verb based on its verb form. However, in practice, passive participles are largely limited to verb forms I (CvCvC) and II (CvCCvC), becoming maCCūC for the former and mCaCCaC for the latter.
| Verb pattern | Passive participle pattern | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb | Passive participle | ||||
| Form I | C1vC2vC3 | maC1C2ūC3 | (to open) | (opened) | |
| Form II | C1aC2C2aC3 | mC1aC2C2aC3 | (to organize, to tidy up) | (organized, neat) | |
| Form III | C1v̄C2aC3 | muC1v̄C2eC3 | (to surprise) | (surprised) | |
| Form IV | ʔaC1C2aC3 | muC1C2eC3 | (to give) | (given) | |
| Form V | tC1aC2C2aC3 | Very rarely used | |||
| Form VI | tC1v̄C2aC3 | Very rarely used | |||
| Form VII | nC1aC2aC3 (North) inC1aC2aC3 (South) | Not used | |||
| Form VIII | C1tvC2vC3 (North) iC1tvC2vC3 (South) | muC1tvC2vC3 | (to suggest) | (suggested) | |
| Form IX | C1C2aC3C3 (North) iC1C2aC3C3 (South) | Not used | |||
| Form X | staC1C2aC3 (North) istaC1C2aC3 (South) | mustaC1C2eC3 | (to use) | (used) | |
There are various ways to express the future. One is by using the present tense (with b- prefix) on its own. Another one is by using .
The future tense is formed with the imperfect preceded by the particle or by the prefixed particle .
| Present tense | بروح معك. | I'll go with you. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| bidd- (to want) | بدي أمرق لعنده بكرة. | I'm going to go to his house tomorrow. | |
| Future tense | رح شوفك بكرة. | I'll see you tomorrow. | |
| حشوفك بكرة. |
The present continuous is formed with the progressive particle followed by the imperfect, with or without the initial b/m depending on the speaker.
| With b-/m- prefix ! | English | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levantine (Arabic) | Levantine (Latin) | Levantine (Arabic) | Levantine (Latin) | ||
| شو عم تعمل؟ | شو عم بتعمل؟ | What are you doing? | |||
| عم أشرب قهوة. | عم بشرب قهوة. | I'm drinking coffee. |
It is also common to use the b- prefix only in those forms starting with a vowel (e.g. 1st person singular).
| عم بعمل | I'm doing | ||
| عم تعمل | you're doing / she's doing | ||
| عم بعمل / عم يعمل | / | he's doing |
After helping verbs (may also be called modal verbs, pseudo-verbs, auxiliary verbs, or prepositional phrases) the imperfect form (also called subjunctive) is used, that is, the form without the initial b/m.[12]
| / | to want | |
| , | to can | |
| / (North) / | to be able to | |
| to must, it is necessary to | ||
| to like | ||
| / | may | |
| it's forbidden to | ||
| / | should | |
| to start to, to got used to doing | ||
| to begin to | ||
| / | to end up | |
| / | to keep doing | |
| to start doing again | ||
| used to doing |
The verb can be followed by another verb, forming compound tenses. Both verbs are conjugated with their subject.
| kān in the present tense | ||||
| Followed by | Levantine | English | Levantine | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past tense | كان عمل | he had done | بكون عمل | he will have done |
| Active participle | كان عامل | he had done | بكون عامل | he will have done |
| Subjunctive | كان يعمل | he used to do / he was doing | بكون يعمل | he will be doing |
| Progressive | كان عم يعمل | he was doing | بكون عم يعمل | he will be doing |
| Future tense | كان رح يعمل كان حيعمل | he was going to do | colspan="2" rowspan="2" | |
| Present tense | كان بعمل | he would do |
Form I verbs often correspond to an equivalent passive form VII verb, with the prefix n-. Form II and form III verbs usually correspond to an equivalent passive on forms V and VI, respectively, with the prefix t-.[13]
| Passive | ||||||
| Verb form | Levantine | English | Verb form | Levantine | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | to catch | VII | to be caught | |||
| II | to change | V | to be changed | |||
| III | to surprise | VI | to be surprised |
While the verb forms V, VI and VII are common in the simple past and compound tenses, the passive participle (past participle) is preferred in the present tense.
| Levantine (Arabic) | Levantine (Latin) | English | Verb form | Tense | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| الكتاب مكتوب. | The book is written. | I | passive participle | ||
| الكتاب عم بنكتب. | The book is being written. | VII | progressive | ||
| الكتاب انكتب. | The book has been written. / The book was written. | VII | past tense | ||
| الكتاب كان مكتوب. | The book was written. | I | kān + passive participle | ||
| الكتاب رح ينكتب. | The book will be written. | VII | future |
Levantine does not have a verb "to have". Instead, possession is expressed using the prepositions عند (meaning "to possess") and مع (meaning "to have on oneself"), followed by personal pronoun suffixes. The past indicator ken and the future indicator raH are used to express possession in the past or the future, respectively.
| Inflected forms of عند ("at", "to possess, to have") | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base form | ||||||
| Personal-pronoun- including forms | singular | plural | ||||
| m | f | |||||
| 1st person | ||||||
| 2nd person | (South) / (North) | |||||
| 3rd person | (South) / (North) | (South) / (North) | (South) / (North) | |||
| Inflected forms of مع ("with", "to have on oneself") | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base form | ||||||
| Personal-pronoun- including forms | singular | plural | ||||
| m | f | |||||
| 1st person | ||||||
| 2nd person | (South) / (North) | |||||
| 3rd person | (South) / (North) | (South) / (North) | (South) / (North) | |||
Enclitic personal pronouns are suffixed directly to the pseudo-verb بدّ (North: / South:) to express "to want".
| بدها تشرب قهوة. | She wants to drink coffee. | ||
| ما بدي ياه. | I don't want it. |
Levant does not distinguish between adverbs and adjectives in adverbial function. Almost any adjective can be used as an adverb: (‘good’) vs. نمتي منيح؟ (‘Did you sleep well?’) Adverbs from MSA, showing the suffix -an, are often used, e.g. (‘at all’). Adverbs often appear after the verb or the adjective. (‘very’) can be positioned after or before the adjective.
Adverbs of manner can usually be formed using bi- followed by the nominal form: (‘fast, quickly’,).[8]
| when (interrogative) | ||
| today | ||
| tomorrow | ||
| the day after tomorrow | ||
| yesterday | ||
| / | the day before yesterday | |
| (common Levantine) / (Amman) / (Jerusalem) | now | |
| early | ||
| afterwards | ||
| early in the morning | ||
| at that time | ||
| in the morning or this morning | ||
| / (Damascus) | always | |
| / (Beirut) | still / not yet | |
| here | ||
| (Amman) / (Beirut) / (Damascus) | there | |
| like this | ||
| / / | slowly | |
| very | ||
| totally | ||
| quickly | ||
| enough! | ||
| only | ||
| also | ||
| straight on | ||
| , used as an intensifier | ||
| therefore | ||
| it is so | ||
| assuredly | ||
| / | maybe |
and mean “no.”
Verbs and prepositional phrases can be negated by the particle either on its own or, in South Levantine, together with the suffix at the end of the verb or prepositional phrase. In Palestinian, it is also common to negate verbs by the suffix only.
| With -š ! | English | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levantine (Arabic) | Levantine (Latin) | Levantine (Arabic) | Levantine (Latin) | |
| ما كتب. | ما كتبش. | He didn't write. | ||
| ما بحكي إنكليزي. | ما بحكيش إنكليزي. | I don't speak English. | ||
| ما تنسى! | ما تنساش! | Don't forget! | ||
| ما بده ييجي عالحفلة. | colspan="2" | He doesn't want to come to the party. |
or in Syrian Arabic negates adjectives (including active participles), demonstratives, and nominal phrases.
| أنا مش فلسطيني. | I'm not Palestinian. | ||
| مش عارفة. | I (fem.) don't know. | ||
| هادا مش منيح. | That's not good. |
The particles and can be negated with either or .
| Levantine (Arabic) | Levantine (Latin) | English |
|---|---|---|
| ما رح أروح. | I won't go. | |
| مش رح أروح. |
North Levantine has a negative copula formed by and a suffixed pronoun.
Relative clauses are formed with the particle yalli/illi/halli (the one who) when definite things are being described. It can be used either for people (who) or objects (that, which).
If the noun to which the relative pronoun refers is indefinite and non specific, the relative clause is linked without any coordinating conjunction and is indistinguishable from an independent sentence.
| I saw the boy who was playing football. | شفت الولد اللي كان يلعب فطبول | Definite subject: use of illi | ||
| I saw a girl playing football. | شفت بنت كانت تلعب فطبول | Indefinite subject: sentences connected without a pronoun |
In formal speech, sentence complements can be introduced with the particle ʔǝnn ("that"), to which some speakers attach a personal pronoun (o or i).
For circumstantial clauses, the conjunction w- introduces subordinate clauses with the sense "while, when, with".
Temporal adverbs such as (after) may be used with the "ma" to form a subordinate clause: ("after she goes to sleep").
| ~ | and (also with temporal meaning "then, during...") | |
| or | ||
| either ... or | ||
| but | ||
| / / (Beirut) | because | |
| / | as soon as | |
| / | when | |
| just as soon as, hardly | ||
| as long as | ||
| so that, until | ||
| so that | ||
| every time that | ||
| until | ||
| rather than | ||
| / / / | in order to | |
| lest | ||
| / / / (Amman) | if |