Learn how to form questions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 20 - Does This Middle Eastern Dish Need Salt? |
| Becky Here. |
| Nora: I'm Nora. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to complain about something informally yet politely by using "Don't you think..?" The conversation takes place at John’s apartment. |
| Nora: It's between John and Ahmed. |
| Becky: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal Standard Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| أحمد: من صنع هذا الطعام؟ |
| جون: لماذا تسأل يا أحمد؟ |
| أحمد: همم.. ألا تظن أنه بحاجة لبعض الملح؟ |
| جون: حقاً؟ بالمناسبة, أنا من صنع هذا الطعام. |
| أحمد: آه حقاً؟ أنا آسف. إن الطعام لذيذ جداً. |
| جون: هاها لا تعتذر, سوف أحضر بعض الملح من المطبخ. دقيقة. |
| أحمد: شكراً يا جون! |
| جون: عفواً! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| أحمد: من صنع هذا الطعام؟ |
| جون: لماذا تسأل يا أحمد؟ |
| أحمد: همم.. ألا تظن أنه بحاجة لبعض الملح؟ |
| جون: حقاً؟ بالمناسبة, أنا من صنع هذا الطعام. |
| أحمد: آه حقاً؟ أنا آسف. إن الطعام لذيذ جداً. |
| جون: هاها لا تعتذر, سوف أحضر بعض الملح من المطبخ. دقيقة. |
| أحمد: شكراً يا جون! |
| جون: عفواً! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Ahmed: Who made this food? |
| John: Why do you ask, Ahmed? |
| Ahmed: Hmm... Don't you think it needs some salt? |
| John: Really? By the way, I'm the one that made this food. |
| Ahmed: Oh really? I'm sorry. The food is very delicious. |
| John: (Laughs) Don't apologize. I'll get some salt from the kitchen. One minute. |
| Ahmed: Thank you, John! |
| John: You're welcome! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Nora, is traditional food in the Middle East salty? |
| Nora: In general, Middle Easterners like to put lots of salt in their food, and lots of sugar in their sweets and drinks. A cup of tea with five teaspoons of sugar is completely normal! |
| Becky: Really? That seems like way too much! |
| Nora: Unfortunately, because of that, many people develop diabetes and high blood pressure, though that doesn't stop them from using these ingredients in excess. |
| Becky: So if you’re not used to too much salt or sugar, can you let your host know? |
| Nora: Voicing your opinion about the food presented to you is okay if you are at a restaurant or if whoever made the food is a close friend. But complaining about the food to people who aren't close or old people is not a good idea. |
| Becky: Good to know. What are the Arabic words for “salt,” “pepper” and “sugar”? |
| Nora: مَلح malḥ is “salt,” فِلفِل felfel is “pepper” and سُكَّر sukkar means “sugar” |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: من [natural native speed] |
| Becky: who |
| Nora: من[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: من [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: طعام [natural native speed] |
| Becky: food |
| Nora: طعام[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: طعام [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: تسأل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: you ask |
| Nora: تسأل[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: تسأل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: حقاً [natural native speed] |
| Becky: really |
| Nora: حقاً[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: حقاً [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: صنع [natural native speed] |
| Becky: He made |
| Nora: صنع[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: صنع [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: لذيذ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: delicious |
| Nora: لذيذ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: لذيذ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: آسف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: sorry |
| Nora: آسف[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: آسف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: تعتذر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: You apologize |
| Nora: تعتذر[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: تعتذر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Nora: المطبخ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the kitchen |
| Nora: المطبخ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: المطبخ [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Nora: ألا تظن أن (ʾalā taẓunn ʾan) |
| Becky: meaning "Don't you think.." This is a gentle way to tell someone your opinion of something by indirectly asking for their agreement. |
| Nora: Right, ألا means "don't.." and تظن means "you think", and أن means "that." It is followed by a full sentence. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. ألا تظن أن كلامك جارح؟ (ʾlā taẓunnu ʾanna kalāmaka ǧāriḥ?) |
| Becky: ..which means "Don't you think that your words are hurtful?" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: بالمناسبة (bil-munāsabah) |
| Becky: meaning "By the way". This expression literally means "on the occasion" implying that the next topic is a result of the previous topic or is related to it, and it can be used in both formal and informal contexts. |
| Nora: Here’s an example بالمناسبة, هل عثرت على قلمك الضائع؟ (bial-munāsabah, hal ʿaṯarta ʿalā qalamika al-ḍāʾiʿ?) |
| Becky: .. which means "By the way, did you find your lost pen?" Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Nora: أنا أسف (ʾanā ʾāsif) |
| Becky: meaning "I'm sorry." |
| Nora: This is the most common way to say “I’m sorry" in all dialects of Arabic, including Standard Arabic. انا means “I" and أسف means “sorry.” If you are a female, you have to add the feminine marker ة to the end of أسف so it should become أنا آسفة (Ana aasifah). |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. أنا آسفة على الإزعاج. (ʾanā ʾāsifah ʿalā al-ʾizʿāǧ.) |
| Becky: .. which means "I'm sorry for disturbing." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to form questions, as well as some expressions you can use to complain about something informally but still politely. |
| Nora: One of the indirect ways to tell someone an opinion, is the negative question form. |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at some common combinations of verbs combined with negative question forms that can be used for giving opinions. |
| Nora: The first combination is the one in the dialogue, using the verb “to think," that we have already seen. ألا تظن أنه بحاجة لبعض الملح؟ (ʾalā taẓunnu ʾannahu biḥāǧah libaʿḍi al-malḥ?) |
| Becky: which means “Don't you think it needs some salt?” The general rule is that this expression is followed by a full sentence. Let’s see an example, |
| Nora: ألا تَظُنّين أَنَّ هَذِهِ التَنّورَة قَصيرَة جِدّاً؟ (ʾlā taẓunnīn ʾanna haḏehe el-tannūrah qaṣīrah ǧeddan?) |
| Becky: “Don’t you think this skirt is too short?” Let’s take a look at some other expressions: |
| Nora: ألا تَشعُر أن (ʾlā tašʿur ʾanna) |
| Becky: which means “Don’t you feel that...” We can also use the verb “to feel” instead of “to think” to talk about feelings and senses. |
| Nora: For example:ألا تَشعُر أَنَّ الجَوْ حار؟ (ʾlā tašʿur ʾanna el-ǧaw ḥār?) |
| Becky: Which means “Don’t you feel that it’s hot?” |
| Nora: Here is another ألا تَرى أن.. (ʾalā tarā ʾanna) |
| Becky: meaning “Don’t you see that..” |
| Nora: This one uses the verb “to see” and despite the original meaning of the verb, it’s used just like the first combination ألا تظن أن which means “Don’t you think that…” |
| Becky: Are they interchangeable? |
| Nora: Yes, almost. Here is an example أَلا تَرى أَنَّ الوَقتَ تَأَخَّر؟ (ʾalā tarā ʾanna al-waqta taʾaḫḫar?) |
| Becky: Meaning, “Don’t you think that it’s late?” When giving your opinion, you will probably also need to ask questions first. So let’s talk about how to do this. |
| Nora: To form questions, you first need to know the 5 main Arabic question words. |
| Becky: Okay. What’s the Arabic word for “What”? |
| Nora: ماذا or ما (māḏā \ mā). |
| Becky: Is there a difference between those two? |
| Nora: māḏā is used to ask questions that start with a verb, while mā is used with sentences that start with a noun. |
| Becky:What’s the Arabic for “Who”? |
| Nora: مَن (man) |
| Becky:“When”? |
| Nora: مَتى (matā) |
| Becky:“Where”? |
| Nora: أَيْن (ʾayn) |
| Becky:What’s the Arabic for “How”? |
| Nora: كَيْف (kayf) |
| Becky: Finally, please remember that Yes/No questions also use a specific word in Arabic. |
| Nora: That’s right. For Yes/No questions, you should use the question particle هل (hall) |
| Becky: The question form in Arabic is comparatively easy, because it doesn’t involve any change in sentence order. This means the same affirmative sentence order, added to any of the question words, will automatically give you a question form. Let’s see an example for all of the words. |
| Nora: Starting with “What”, ماذا تَفعَل؟ (māḏā tafʿal?) |
| Becky: “What are you doing?” |
| Nora: مَن هذا الرَجُل؟ (man hḏā el-raǧul?) |
| Becky: “Who is that man?” |
| Nora: مَتى سَتُغادِر؟ (matā satuġāder?) |
| Becky: “When are you leaving?” |
| Nora: أين أحمد؟ (ʾīn ʾḥmd?) |
| Becky: “Where is Ahmed?” |
| Nora: كيف تَأكُل هَذا؟ (kīf taʾkul haḏā?) |
| Becky: “How do you eat this?” |
| Nora: Here’s an example of a yes/no question هَل تَحَدَّثتَ مَع آدَم؟ (hal taḥaddaṯta maʿ ʾādam?) |
| Becky: “Did you talk to Adam?” In all these examples we just put a question marker, followed by the sentence you want to ask about just the way it is in the affirmative form. Simple! |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nora: إلى اللقاء (ʾilaā al-liqaāʾ) |
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