In Level III, Lesson 2, we studied how to use the pseudo-verb بِــدّ (bidd), suffixed by an attached pronoun, to express the meaning of ‘to want (to).’ In spoken Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic, there is a group of verbs that function as auxiliary verbs and express ideas such as possibility, permissibility, necessity, ability, obligation, or desire. These verbs are called modal verbs and are often followed by a present verb in the subjunctive mood. Some modal verbs can also be followed by a verbal noun.
| Modal Verb | Present Subjunctive Verb |
| (or) Verbal Noun |
In general, modal verbs modify the meaning of the main verb by indicating the speaker’s attitude or the circumstances around the action of the main verb.
The following modal verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic can be followed by the present verb in the subjunctive mood or by a verbal noun:
| حَـــبّ ḥabb he liked (to) | .حَـــبّ يْـــرُوْح/اِلـــرُّوحَـــة عَ الْــبَــحْــر ḥabb yrūḥ/ir-rowḥah ‘a -l-baḥ(a)r He liked going to the sea. |
| ظَــــلّ ẓall he continued (to) | .ظَــــلِّــيــت أَشْــتِــغِــل/شَـــغَّـــال طُــــوْل اِلْــيُـــوم ẓalleyt ’ashtighil/shagh ghāl ṭūl il-yowm I continued to work all day long. |
| بَـــلَّـــش † ballash he began (to) | .بَـــلَّـــشْــنَــا نُـــدْرُس/درَاسِـــة اِلْــمَــوْضُـــوْع ballashna nudrus/dirāset il-mawḍū‘ We began studying the subject. |
| بَـــطَّـــل baṭṭal he stopped or quit | .بَـــطَّـــل يْــدَخِّـــن/تَـــدْخِـــيْــن مِــــن زَمَــــان baṭṭal ydakh khin/tadkhīn min zamān He quit smoking a long time ago. |
† We can also use بَــدَا (bada), which has the same meaning.
On the other hand, the following modal verbs can only be followed by the present verb in the subjunctive mood:
| قِــــدِر † qidir he was able to | بْــتِـــقْـــدَر تْــجِــيْــب أَكْـــل مَــعَــك؟ btiqdar (i) tjīb ’ak(i)l ma‘ak Can you bring food with you? |
| خَـــلَّـــى khalla he let | .خَــلِّــيْــنَــا نْــسَــاعْـــدَك khallīna nsā‘dak Let us help you. |
| صَـــار ṣār he began (to) | .صَــار يُــرْكُــض كُـــلّ يُــــوم ṣār yurkuḍ kull yowm He began running every day. |
| رِجِـــع riji‘ he went back to | .رِجِـــع يْــدَخِّـــن مَــــرَّة ثَــــانْــيِـــة riji‘ ydakh khin marrah thānyeh He went back to smoking again. |
| يِــمْــكِــن yimkin it is possible (that) | .يِــمْــكِــن نْــسَـــافِـــر اِلــشَّــهْــر اِلــجَّـــاي yimkin (i) nsāfir ish-shahr ij-jāy It is possible that we travel next month. |
| بِــصِــيْــر biṣīr it is acceptable (that) | بِـــصِـــيْــر أَدْفَــــع بِــالْــكَـــرْت؟ biṣīr ’adfa‘ bi-l-kart Is it acceptable that I pay with card? |
† The ق (q) in قِــــدِر (qidir) and its different conjugation forms is pronounced as غ (gh) by some Palestinians, especially in rural areas.
Note that most modal verbs can take any verbal tense and are conjugated accordingly, whereas a few modal verbs are invariable and can only occur in the present tense, such as يِــمْــكِــن (yimkin) ‘it is possible (that)’ and بِــصِــيْــر (biṣīr) ‘it is acceptable (that).’
In addition to the aforementioned verbs, there are many single-word adjectives that function in a similar way to modal verbs. Most of these adjectives are often followed by a present verb in the subjunctive mood.
Here are some common examples:
| لَازِم lāzim must, should | .لَازِم تِــشْــرَب مَــيِّــة كْــثِــيْـــر lāzim tishrab mayyeh kthīr You should drink a lot of water. |
| مُــمْــكِــن mumkin (it is) possible (that) | مُــمْــكِــن تْــسَـــاعِــدْنِـــيْ شْــــوَيّ؟ mumkin (i) tsā‘idni shwayy Can you help me a little? |
| بَــلْــكِــيْ † balki perhaps, maybe | .بَــلْــكِــيْ نْــلَاقِـــيْ حَـــلّ balki nlāqi ḥall Perhaps we find a solution. |
| مَـــفْـــرُوْض mafrūḍ (it is) supposed (that) | .مَـــفْـــرُوْض نِــجْــتِــمِــع اِلْـيُــــوم mafrūḍ nijtimi‘ il-yowm It is supposed that we meet today. |
| مَــمْــنُــوْع mamnū‘ (it is) forbidden (that) | .مَــمْــنُــوْع نُـــدْخُـــل مِـــن هُــــون mamnū‘ nudkhul min hown It is forbidden that we enter from here. |
| مَــسْــمُــوْح masmūḥ (it is) allowed (that) | .مَــسْــمُــوْح نِــسْــأَل أَسْـــئِـــلِــة masmūḥ nis’al ’as’ileh It is allowed that we ask questions. |
| مَــطْــلُــوْب maṭlūb (it is) required (that) | .مَــطْــلُــوْب نِــفْــهَــم اِلْــمَــوْضُـــوْع maṭlūb nifham il- mawḍū‘ It is required that we understand the topic. |
| طَــبِــيْــعِــيْ * ṭabī‘i (it is) normal (that) | .طَــبِــيْــعِــيْ يْــكُــوْن فِـــيْ مُــعَــارَضَـــة لَــلْــفِــكْــرَة ṭabī‘i ykūn fī mu‘āraḍah la-l-fikrah It is normal that there be opposition to the idea. |
| مُــتَـــوَقَّــع mutawaqqa‘ (it is) expected (that) | .مُــتَـــوَقَّــع تْــمَــطِّــر بُــكْــرَة mutawaqqa‘ (i)tmaṭṭir bukrah It is expected that it will rain tomorrow. |
| نَـــــاوِيْ nāwi intending (to) | .نَـــاوِيْ أَسَـــافِـــر بُـــكْـــرة إِن شَـــاء الــلَّـــه nāwi ’asāfir bukrah -nshāllah I intend to travel tomorrow, God willing. |
| ضَـــرُوْرِيْ ḍarūri (it is) necessary (that) | .ضَـــــرُوْرِيْ أَخَـــلِّــص شُـــغْـــلِـــيْ ḍarūri ’akhalliṣ shughli It is necessary that I finish my work. |
| سَـــهْـــل sah(i)l (it is) easy (that) | .سَـــهْـــل تُـــوْصَـــل لَـــرَاس اِلْــجَــبَــل sah(i)l tūṣal la-rās il-jabal It is easy that you reach the mountain’s top. |
| صَـــعْـــب ṣa‘(i)b (it is) difficult (that) | .صَـــعْـــب تْـــبَـــرِّر اِلــلِّـــيْ صَــــار ṣa‘b (i) tbarrir illi ṣār It is difficult that you justify what happened. |
† بَــلْــكِــيْ (balki) can also be followed by the past tense conveying the same meaning.
* We can also use عَــــادِيْ (‘ādi), which has a similar meaning.
Most modal verbs and adjectives that function like modal verbs can be followed by إِنُّـــه (’innuh) ‘that,’ which is then followed by a complete sentence. For example:
| حَـــبّ ḥabb he liked (to) | .حَـــبّ إِنُّـــه يْـــرُوْح عَ الْــبَــحْــر ḥabb ’innuh yrūḥ ‘a -l-baḥ(a)r He liked to go to the sea. |
| مُــتَـــوَقَّــع mutawaqqa‘ (it is) expected (that) | .مُــتَـــوَقَّــع إِنُّـــه تْــمَــطِّــر بُــكْــرَة mutawaqqa‘ ’innuh tmaṭṭir bukrah It is expected that it will rain tomorrow. |
| صَـــعْـــب ṣa‘(i)b (it is) difficult (that) | .صَـــعْـــب إِنُّـــه تْـــبَـــرِّر اِلــلِّـــيْ صَــــار ṣa‘b innuh tbarrir illi ṣār It is difficult that you justify what happened. |
The negation of modal verbs is formed by preceding the verb with the particle مَـــا (mā), whereas the negation of adjectives that function like modal verbs is formed by preceding the adjective with the particle مِـــش (mish). For example:
| بَـــلَّـــش ballash he began (to) | .مَـــا بَـــلَّـــشْــنَــا نُـــدْرُس/درَاسِـــة اِلْــمَــوْضُـــوْع mā ballashna nudrus/dirāset il-mawḍū‘ We didn’t begin studying the subject. |
| رِجِـــع riji‘ he went back to | .مَـــا رِجِـــع يْــدَخِّـــن مَــــرَّة ثَــــانْــيِـــة mā riji‘ ydakh khin marrah thānyeh He didn’t go back to smoking again. |
| مُــتَـــوَقَّــع mutawaqqa‘ (it is) expected (that) | .مِـــش مُــتَـــوَقَّــع إِنُّـــه تْــمَــطِّــر بُــكْــرَة mish mutawaqqa‘ ’innuh tmaṭṭir bukrah It is not expected that it will rain tomorrow. |
| ضَـــرُوْرِيْ ḍarūri (it is) necessary (that) | .مِـــش ضَـــــرُوْرِيْ أَخَـــلِّــص شُـــغْـــلِـــيْ mish ḍarūri ’akhalliṣ shughli It is not necessary that I finish my work. |
Other lessons in Level V: