We previously discussed primary prepositions in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic in Level II, Lesson 7. In this lesson, we turn to secondary prepositions, most of which function as adverbs of place or time.
Table of Contents
Secondary Prepositions
The following are the most common secondary prepositions:
| Prep. | Meaning | Examples |
| فُـــوق fowq | above, on | .اِلْـمِــفْــتـاح فُـــوق اِلـطَّــاوْلِــة il-miftāḥ fowq iṭ-ṭāwleh The key (is) on/above the table. |
| تَـحْـت taḥt | under | .اِلْـبِــسِّــة تَــحْــت اِلْــكُــرْسِــيْ il-bisseh taḥt il-kursi The cat (is) under the chair. |
| قُـــدَّام quddām | in front of | .أَنَــا قُــدَّام اِلْــمَــدْرَسِــة ’anā quddām il-madraseh I (am) in front of the school. |
| وَرا wara | behind | .اِلــشَّــجَــرَة وَرَا الْـبِــيــت ish-shajarah wara -l-beyt The tree (is) behind the house. |
| بِــيــن beyn | between, among | .اِلْـعَــصْــفُــوْر بِــيــن الِــغْـصُــوْن il-‘aṣfūr beyn li-ghṣūn The bird (is) between the branches. |
| حَــوَالَــيــن ḥawāleyn | around | .فِــيْ مَــحَــلَّات كْــثِــيْــر حَــوَالَــيــن اِلــدَّار fī maḥallāt kthīr ḥawāleyn id-dār There are many shops around the house. |
| طُـــوْل ṭūl | throughout | .ظَــلّ نَـــايِـــم طُـــوْل اِلْــيُـــوم ẓall nāyim ṭūl il-yowm He remained asleep throughout the day. |
| بِــاتِّــجَــاه bi-ttijāh | towards | .اِلــسَّــيَّــارَة رَايْــحَــة بِــاِتِّــجَــاه رَام اَلـلَّــه is-sayyārah rāyḥa bi-ttijāh rām-allah The car is going towards Ramallah. |
| ضِـــدّ ḍidd | against | .أَنَــا ضِـــدّ اِلــظُّــلْــم ’anā ḍidd iẓ-ẓul(u)m I (am) against injustice. |
| مَـــع ma‘ | with | .طِــلْــعُــوْ مَـــع صْــحَــابْــهُــم ṭil‘u ma‘ (i) ṣḥābhum They went out with their friends. |
| قَــبْــل qab(i)l | before | .غَــسَــلْــنَــا إِيْــدِيــنَــا قَــبْــل اِلْأَكْــــل ghasalna ’īdeyna qabl il-’ak(i)l We washed our hands before eating. |
| بَــعْـــد ba‘(i)d | after | .نِــمْــت بَــعْــد اِلْــغَــدَا nim(i)t ba‘d il-ghada I slept after lunch. |
| جُـــوَّا juwwa | inside | .دَخَــلْــنَــا جُـــوَّا الْــبِــيــت dakhalna juwwa -l-beyt We entered inside the house. |
| بَـــرَّا barra | outside | .طْــلِــعْــنَــا بَـــرَّا الْــبِــيــت ṭli‘na barra -l-beyt We went outside the house. |
| بِـدون bi-dūn | without | .الـسَّـمَـك مَــا بِــعِــيْــش بِــدُوْن مَــيّ is-samak mā bi‘īsh bi–dūn mayy Fish do not live without water. |
| عِــنْــد† ‘ind | at, upon | .شُـــفْـــتُـــه عِــنْــد مَــدْخَــل اِلْــمَــبْــنَــى shuftuh ‘ind madkhal il-mabna I saw him at the entrance of the building. |
| زَيّ zayy | like, as, such as | .اِلــجَّـــوّ بَـــارِد اِلْــيُـــوم زَيّ اِمْــبَـــارِح ij-jaww bārid il-yowm zayy imbāriḥ The weather (is) cold today like yesterday. |
| مِــثْــل mith(i)l | like, as, such as | .هُـــوِّ مِــثْــلَــك بِــالـــزَّبْــط huwwe mithlak bi-z-zabṭ He (is) exactly like you. |
† عِــنْــد (‘ind) can also function as an adverb of time, e.g., عِــنْــد اِلْــفَــجْــر (‘ind il-fajr) ‘at dawn,’ عِــنْــد اِلْــمَــغْــرِب (‘ind il-maghrib) ‘at sunset,’ etc.
Uses of حَــتَّــى (ḥatta)
The word حَـتَّـى (ḥatta) can be used as a preposition meaning ‘until.’ For example:
| حَــتَّــى الْــفَــجْــر ḥatta -l-faj(i)r until (the) dawn | حَــتَّــى الــنِّــهَــايِــة ḥatta -n-nihāyeh until the end |
Other words that also mean ‘until’ include:
| لَــحَــدّ اِلْــفَــجِــر la-ḥadd il-fajir until (the) dawn | لَــغَــايِــة اِلــنِّــهَــايِــة la-ghāyet in-nihāyeh until the end |
In addition to its use as a preposition when followed by a noun, حَـتَّـى (ḥatta) can also be followed by a verb. For example:
| .ظَــلّ يِــشْــتِــغِــل حَــتَّــى تِــعِــب ẓall yishtighil ḥatta ti‘ib He kept working until he got tired. | .اِسْــتَــنِّــيــت حَــتَّــى إِجَـــى istanneyt ḥatta ’ija I waited until he came. |
Another usage of حَـتَّـى (ḥatta) is as a conjunction meaning ‘even.’ For example:
| حَــتَّــى لَــمَّــا ḥatta lamma even when | حَــتَّــى لَـــوْ ḥatta law even if |
The word حَـتَّـى (ḥatta) can mean ‘so that’ or ‘in order that’ when followed by the a present verb in the subjunctive. For example:
| .بِــدِّيْ أَرَوِّح حَــتَّــى أَنَـــام biddi ’arawwiḥ ḥatta ’anām I want to go home so that I sleep. | .عَــلِّــيْ الــصُّـــوت حَــتَّــى نِــسْــمَــع ‘alli -ṣ-ṣowt ḥatta nisma‘ Turn up the volume so that we hear. |
A more common alternative to حَـتَّـى (ḥatta) that also means ‘so that’ or ‘in order that’ is عَـــشَـــان (‘ashān). For example:
| .بِــدِّيْ أَرَوِّح عَـــشَـــان أَنَـــام biddi ’arawwiḥ ‘ashān ’anām I want to go home so that I sleep. | .عَــلِّــيْ الــصُّـــوت عَـــشَـــان نِــسْــمَــع ‘alli -ṣ-ṣowt ‘ashān nisma‘ Turn up the volume so that we hear. |
Taking Oath
The preposition و (w) is used to take an oath:
| .والـلّــه مَـا كُــنْـت أَعْـــرِف w-allah mā kunt ’a‘rif By God, I didn’t know. |
| .ورَبّ اِلْــكَــعْــبِــة شُـــفْـــتُــه u-rabb il-ka‘beh shuftuh By the Lord of the Kaaba, I saw him. |
Swearing by God is deeply rooted in Arabic culture. Do not be surprised if you ask someone كِــيْــف حَــالَـك؟ (kīf ḥālak) ‘How are you?’ and they respond وَاللّــه بْــخِــيــر (w-allah b-kheyr) ‘By God, I’m good.’
Back: Expressing Possession – “to Have”
Other lessons in Level III:
Level III – Intermediate I (B1)
2. Expressing Desire – “To Want”