You were Happy... I am Brazilian

To Review from Basics: Shadda, and the pronunciation of ê.

Hello Again!

Before we start anything, you need to know this:

English	Lebanese Arabic
I	ANA
YOU	INTA (m) / INTEH (f)
HE	HOWWEH
SHE	HIYYEH
IT	HOWWEH (m)/ HIYYEH (f)
WE	NE7NA
YOU (plural)	ENTO
THEY	HENNEH

Table.1

Please note that when an alphabet is written twice, it is to emphasize that alphabet in pronunciation, (Shadda).

To Be/To exist = “Ken”.

When you want to speak in the present using the verb to be:

For Example:	Masalan:
I am Indian (m)	Ana Hindeh
I am American (m)	Ana Amerkeneh
I am French (m)	Ana Frenseweh
I am Brazilian (f)	Ana Braziliyyeh
I am British (f)	Ana Britaniyyeh
Can you find the verb “kana” yet?
I am here	Ana honeh
You are there	Inta honik
He is happy	Howweh mabsout
She is tired	Hiyyeh te3beneh

Table.2

Don’t worry about your nationality not being in there, if it is not, leave us a note, and we can let you know how to say it and write it. In all the above examples, the verb "to be" is not used directly. It is implied. That is why you don’t see “ken” anywhere. So, you do not need the verb to be, when talking in the present. As you can see, we just used the personal pronouns introduced in Table.1, and then the adjective, or whatever you want to say afterwards.

Note that the adjectives change their ending, depending if the adjective is describing a male or a female. In general, we will introduce adjectives as they are, in the male sense. For example, Mabsout means Happy, describing a male as happy. Mabsouta means Happy, describing a female as happy. The “a” is added at the end of the word. Not all adjectives for females end in “a”, they also sometimes end in “eh”, as you can see from the adjective for tired. When do we use which? Well with time you will learn, there is no specific guideline.

What if you wanted to use the verb to be in the past? “ken” conjugates into the following:

English	Lebanese Arabic
I was	Ana Kenet
You were	Inta Kenet / Inteh Kinteh
He was	Howweh Kên
She was	Hiyyeh Kênit
It was	Howweh Kên / Hiyyeh Kênit
We were	Ne7na Kinna
You were	Into Kinto
They were	Henneh Kêno

Table.3

Note the underlined endings. Keep them in mind because they will be useful for conjugating other verbs.

Now, you try!

Here is some additional vocabulary that you can use to complete the next exercise:

English	Lebanese Arabic
Sad	Ze3len
Tall	Tawil
Short	2aseer

Try to write these in Lebanese Arabic:

English	Lebanese Arabic
You were there.
Jasmine is tired
Tod is happy
Jasmine is tall
Tod is short
I was sad (m. and f.)
I am Indian (f.)
I am American (f.)
I am French (f.)

Stay tuned for next time! Verb to be in the future tense, and some funny and weird Lebanese sayings that you can learn and use, and much more !