In this lesson, we cover adverbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic. An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It typically answers a question such as “how,” “how often,” “how long,” “when,” or “where.”
Table of Contents
- Secondary Prepositions as Adverbs
- “Here” and “There”
- “Now”
- هِـــيـــك (heyk)
- Adverbial Phrases from Nouns and Adjectives
- Adverbs of Place
- Adverbs of Time
- Adverbs of Quantity
- Adverbs of Manner
- Level V – Advanced I (C1)
Secondary Prepositions as Adverbs
We discussed secondary prepositions in Level III, Lesson 4, and most of them are adverbs of place or time. For example:
| 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 ’ana 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. |
| قَـــرِيْــب مِـــن qarīb min | near | .بَــعِـــيْـــش قَـــرِيْــب مِـــن اِلْــمَــدِيْــنِــة ba‘īsh qarīb min il-madīneh I live near the city. |
| بْــعِــيْــد عَـــن b‘īd ‘an | away from, far from | .سَـــافَـــرْت بْــعِــيْــد عَـــن قَـــرْيِـــتْـــنَـــا sāfart (i) b‘īd ‘an qaryetna I traveled away from our village. |
“Here” and “There”
The adverbs ‘here’ and ‘there’ in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic are as follows:
| هُــــون † hown | here | .تَـــعَـــال هُــــون ta‘āl hown Come here. |
| هُــنَـــاك * hunāk | there | .رُوْح هُــنَـــاك rūḥ hunāk Go there. |
† Less commonly used as well: هُــــونَــا (howna), هِـــيــن (heyn), and هَـــان (hān).
* Another commonly used word in rural areas is غَـــاد (ghād).
The equivalent of English expressions like ‘here I am,’ ‘here we are,’ ‘here he is,’ etc., is formed using هَــيْــ (hay-) suffixed with an attached pronoun, as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person (m/f) | هَـــيْـــنِـــيْ hayni here I am | هَـــيْـــنَـــا hayna here we are |
| 2nd person masculine | هَـــيَّـــك hayyak here you are | هَـــيْـــكُــم haykum here you (all) are |
| 2nd person feminine | هَـــيِّـــك hayyik here you are | هَـــيْـــكِــن haykin here you (all) are |
| 3rd person masculine | هَـــيُّـــه hayyuh here he is | هَـــيْـــهُــم hayhum here they are |
| 3rd person feminine | هَـــيْـــهَـــا hayha here she is | هَـــيْـــهِــن hayhin here they are |
Here are some examples:
| .هَــيْــنِــيْ سَــامْــعَــك hayni sām‘ak Here I am hearing you. | .هَـــيْـــنَـــا بِــالْــبِــيــت hayna bi-l-beyt Here we are at home. |
| .هَـــيُّــه جَـــاي hayyuh jāy Here he is coming. | .هَـــيْـــهُــم نَــايْــمِــيْـــن hayhum nāymīn Here they are sleeping. |
“Now”
In Levantine Arabic, the word هَـــلَّأ (halla’) is considered the default word meaning ‘now,’ especially in urban centers and by young speakers. The following words, all meaning ‘now,’ are used by Palestinians and Jordanians in different regions:
| هَـــلَّأ halla’ | Urban centers | إِسَّـــع ’issa‘ | Northwest/Center (Galilee and Jaffa) |
| هَــسَّــا † hassa | North Palestine and in Jordan | هَــلْــقِــيــت * ha-l-qeyt | South Palestine, Hebron, and Gaza |
| إِسَّـــا ’issa | North and coastal towns | هَـالْــحِــيْــن ha-l-ḥīn | Some parts of Gaza |
† Less common similar words are هَــسَّــع (hassa‘) and هَــسَّــعِــيَــات (hassa‘iyāt).
* Pronounced /ha-l-’eyt/ in urban areas, and /ha-l-geyt/ in Gaza.
هِـــيـــك (heyk)
The word هِـــيـــك (heyk) is one of the common multifunctional words in Levantine Arabic, and its meaning often depends on the context.
The core meaning of هِـــيـــك (heyk) comes from هَـٰــكَـــذَا (hākadha) in MSA, meaning ‘like this’ or ‘this way.’ In Levantine Arabic, هَـٰــكَـــذَا (hākadha) is simplified to the widely-used هِـــيـــك (heyk), which often has one of the following meanings:
- ‘like this’
| .اِمْـــسِـــك اِلْــقَـــلَـــم هِـــيـــك imsik il-qalam heyk Hold the pen like this. |
| .مَــا بَــحِــبّ اِلــنَّـــاس اِلــلِّــيْ هِـــيـــك mā baḥibb in-nās illi heyk I don’t like people who are like this. |
- ‘just like that’
| .لِــيــش صَــاحِــيْ ؟ – هِـــيـــك leysh ṣāḥi heyk Why are you awake? – Just like that. |
| .مَــا بَــعْــرِف. اِخْــتَــفَــى هِـــيـــك mā ba‘rif ikhtafa heyk I don’t know. He disappeared just like that. |
- Some idiomatic expressions, such as:
| عَــشَـــان هِـــيـــك ‘ashān heyk because of that | غِـــيـــر هِـــيـــك gheyr heyk other than that |
| هِـــيـــك أَحْـــسَـــن heyk ’aḥsan this way is better | فِـــيْ هِـــيـــك وفِـــيْ هِـــيـــك fī heyk u-fī heyk there is this, and there is that |
Adverbial Phrases from Nouns and Adjectives
One common way to construct what is considered an adverb in English is by using the preposition … بِـ (bi-) followed by a noun, or by using the word بِــشَــكْــل (bi-shakl) ‘in a way or manner,’ followed by an adjective.
Here are some examples:
| سُـــرْعَــــة sur‘ah speed | بِــسُـــرْعَــــة bi-sur‘ah quickly (Lit. with speed) | بِــشَــكْــل سَـــرِيْـــع bi-shak(i)l sarī‘ quickly (Lit. in a quick manner) |
| قُــــوِّة quwweh strength | بِــــقُــــوِّة bi-quwweh strongly (Lit. with strength) | بِــشَــكْــل قَــــوِيْ bi-shak(i)l qawi strongly (Lit. in a strong manner) |
| بُـــــطْء buṭ’ slowness | بِـــبُــــطْء bi-buṭ’ slowly (Lit. with slowness) | بِــشَــكْــل بَـــطِـــيْء bi-shak(i)l baṭī’ slowly (Lit. in a slow manner) |
| اِسْـــتِـــمْـــرَار istimrār continuity | بِــاسْـــتِـــمْـــرَار bi-stimrār continuously (Lit. with continuity) | بِــشَــكْـل مُــسْــتَــمِــرّ bi-shak(i)l mustamirr continuously (Lit. in a continuous way) |
Next, we list some of the most common adverbs and adverbial phrases. You will learn more adverbs as you practice Arabic through reading, listening, and applying the general rules explained in this lesson.
Adverbs of Place
In addition to the adverbs of place we have discussed so far, many adverbs of place use مَـــكَـــان (makān) or مَـــحَـــلّ (maḥall), both meaning ‘place,’ and are used interchangeably. For example:
| مَـــحَـــلِّــي maḥalli my place | كُـــلّ مَـــحَـــلّ kull maḥall everywhere | وَلَا مَـــحَـــلّ wa-la-maḥall nowhere |
| بِــمَـــحَـــلُّــه bi-maḥalluh in its place, appropriate | مَـــحَـــلّ فَـــاضِـــيْ maḥall fāḍi vacant spot/place | أَي مَـــحَـــلّ ’ayy maḥall any place |
The word مَـــحَـــلّ (maḥall) is also used as a noun meaning ‘shop’ or ‘store.’
Other adverbs of place include:
| جَــنْــب janb next to, beside | حَـــــدّ ḥadd next to, beside | عَــلَــى جَـــنْـــب ‘ala janb on the side |
| بِـــالــنُّـــصّ bi-n-nuṣṣ in the middle | دُغْــــرِي dughri straight ahead | عِــــنْــــد ‘ind at |
Adverbs of Time
| اِلْـــيُـــوم il-yowm today | بُـــكْـــرَة bukrah tomorrow | اِمْـــبَـــارِح imbāriḥ yesterday |
قَـــبْـــل اِمْـــبَـــارِح qabl imbāriḥ the day before yesterday | بَــعْــد بُـــكْـــرَة ba‘(i)d bukrah the day after tomorrow | أَوَّل اِمْـــبَـــارِح ’awwal imbāriḥ the day before yesterday |
| اِلـلِّــيـــلِــة il-leyleh tonight | بَــعْــدِيـــن ba‘deyn later, then | لِــيــلِــة اِمْـــبَـــارِح leylet imbāriḥ last night |
| دَايْـــمًــا dāyman always | فَــــوْرًا fawran immediately | عَـلَـى طُــــوْل ‘ala ṭūl right away |
| أَبَـــــدًا ’abadan never | فَـــجْـــأَة faj’ah suddenly | لِـــسَّـــا lissa still, (not) yet |
| مِـــن زَمَـــان min zamān a long time ago | اِلــصُّــبْــح iṣ-ṣub(i)ḥ in the morning | اِلْـــمَـــسَــــا il-masa in the evening |
| اِلْاُسْــبُــوْع اِلْــمَــاضِــيْ il-usbū‘ il-māḍi last week | اِلْاُسْــبُــوْع اِلــلِّــيْ فَـــات il-usbū‘ illi fāt last week | اِلــشَّــهْــر اِلــجَّـــاي ish-shahr ij-jāy next month |
| كُـــلّ يُــــومِـــيـــن kull yowmeyn every other day | يُــــوم بَــعْــد يُــــوم yowm ba‘d yowm every other day | اِلــسَّــنِــة الْــمَــاضْــيِــة is-saneh -l-māḍyeh last year |
| فِــيْ الْأَوَّل fi -l-’awwal in the beginning | فِــيْ الْآخِـــــر fi -l-’ākhir in the end | اِلْـــعَـــام il-‘ām last year |
| كُــــلّ يُــــوم kull yowm every day | كُــــلّ سَــنِــة kull saneh every year | مِـــــــن min from, since, ago |
| يَـــوْمِـــيًّـــا yawmiyyan daily | أُسْــبُــوْعِــيًّــا ’usbū‘iyyan weekly | شَـــهْـــرِيًّـــا shahriyyan monthly |
| قَـــرِيْــبًـــا qarīban soon | عَ الْــوَقْــت ‘a -l-waq(i)t on time | وَقْـــتْـــهَـــا waqt-ha at that time |
| بَـــدْرِيْ badri early | بَـــكِّـــيْـــر bakkīr early | مِـــتْـــأَخِّــــر mita’akhkhir late |
| غَـــالِـــبًـــا ghāliban often | عَــــادَةً ‘ādatan usually | أَحْـــيَــانًـــا ’aḥyānan sometimes |
| بِــالــنّْــهَـــار bi-n-nhār during the day | بِــالـلِّـــيـــل bi-l-leyl at night | أَخِـــيْـــرًا ’akhīran finally |
| يُــــوم هِــيــك yowm heyk one day | مَــــرَّات marrāt sometimes | كْــثِــيْــر مَـــرَّات kthīr marrāt many times |
| مَـــــرَّة marrah once, one time | مَـــرّْتِـــيـــن marrteyn twice, two times | ثَـــلَاث مَــــرَّات thalāth marrāt three times |
Adverbs of Quantity
| كْـــثِـــيْـــر kthīr much, a lot | شْــــوَيّ shwayy a little | بَـــسّ bass only |
| كَــمَــان kamān also | تَــقْــرِيْــبًـــا taqrīban approximately | خُــصُـــوْصًــا khuṣūṣan particularly |
| عَ الْآخِــــر ‘a -l-’ākhir totally | بِــالـــزَّبْـــط bi-z-zabṭ precisely | بِــاخْــتِــصَــار bi-khtiṣār briefly |
Adverbs of Manner
| زَيّ zayy as, like | مِـــثْــــل mith(i)l as, like | هِـــيـــك heyk like this |
| مَـــع بَــعْــض ma‘ ba‘(a)ḍ together | أَكِـــيْـــد ’akīd surely | يَـــا دُوب yā-dowb barely |
| شْــــوَيّ شْــــوَيّ shwayy (i) shwayy slowly | عَــلَــى مَــهْــل ‘ala mah(i)l slowly | عَــلَــى عَــجَــل ‘ala ‘ajal in a hurry |
| طَــبْــعًــا ṭab‘an of course | (عَـــن) جَـــــدّ (‘an) jadd seriously | خُـــطْـــوِة خُـــطْـــوِة khuṭweh khuṭweh step by step |
| لِـلْأَسَــــف li-l-’asaf unfortunately | مَـــع اِلْأَسَـــف ma‘ il-’asaf unfortunately | بِــالْــمَـــرَّة bi-l-marrah (not) at all |
| لَـحُــسْــن اِلْـحَــظّ la-ḥusn il-ḥaẓẓ fortunately | زْيَـــادِة عَــلَــى هِــيــك zyādeh ‘alā heyk furthermore | فُـــوق كُــلّ إِشِـــيْ fowq kull ’ishi above all |
Other lessons in Level V: