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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 5 - Asking the Tough Arabic Questions. Becky Here. |
| Nora: السلام عليكم. I'm Nora. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to negate verbs using مش |
| Becky: This conversation takes place after the boss sends out a memo about the new, strict company vacation policy. Saleem is nervous to ask for vacation time. |
| Nora: It's between an employee and his boss. |
| Becky: They’ll be using formal Egyptian Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| سليم: إزيك. ممكن آخد دقيقة من وقتك؟ |
| استاذ عبود: أكيد. إيه أخبار المشروع؟ |
| سليم: كويس. نسيم رجع من الأجازة و إحنا دلوقتي سابقين الجدول . |
| استاذ عبود: كويس. |
| سليم: عندي سؤال ... عايز أطلب أجازة بعد ما يخلص المشروع أسافر مع مراتي. أكيد مش هاخد أجازة في وقت مشغول من السنة، بس بعد المشروع ممكن؟ |
| استاذ عبود: أكيد. يعني، لو بعد مايخلص المشروع بتاعك يبقى ماشي. أنت بتشتغل بضمير وتستحق اجازة مع مراتك. |
| سليم: شكرا |
| استاذ عبود: أي حاجة تانية؟ |
| سليم: لا خلاص. |
| استاذ عبود: طيب، يلا بقى إرجع للشغل. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| سليم: إزيك. ممكن آخد دقيقة من وقتك؟ |
| استاذ عبود: أكيد. إيه أخبار المشروع؟ |
| سليم: كويس. نسيم رجع من الأجازة و إحنا دلوقتي سابقين الجدول . |
| استاذ عبود: كويس. |
| سليم: عندي سؤال ... عايز أطلب أجازة بعد ما يخلص المشروع أسافر مع مراتي. أكيد مش هاخد أجازة في وقت مشغول من السنة، بس بعد المشروع ممكن؟ |
| استاذ عبود: أكيد. يعني، لو بعد مايخلص المشروع بتاعك يبقى ماشي. أنت بتشتغل بضمير وتستحق اجازة مع مراتك. |
| سليم: شكرا |
| استاذ عبود: أي حاجة تانية؟ |
| سليم: لا خلاص. |
| استاذ عبود: طيب، يلا بقى إرجع للشغل. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Saleem: Hello. Can I have a minute of your time? |
| Mr. Abboud: Sure, how is the project? |
| Saleem: Good. Naseem returned from vacation and we are now ahead of schedule. |
| Mr. Abboud: Great. |
| Saleem: I have a question... Um, I would like to request some time off after the project is finished to go on vacation with my wife. Of course, I would never leave during the busy time of year, but um, after the project is finished would it be possible? |
| Mr. Abboud: Um, sure. I mean (yanee), as long as your project is finished, then yes. You work very hard and deserve a vacation with your wife. |
| Saleem: Thank you. |
| Mr. Abboud: Anything else? |
| Saleem: No. That is all. |
| Mr. Abboud: Ok, then. (yallah) Back to work. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Nora, is the Arab culture strict about scheduling and time? |
| Nora: The strict boss character in this series may seem strict, but in regards to scheduling and time, he may be more flexible than you think. |
| Becky: I have heard that Arab culture tends to be very flexible about schedules, deadlines, appointments, and even business operating hours. Is that true? |
| Nora: Yes, when you’re living, traveling, or working in the region, be prepared to be patient and expect that business will be conducted at a slower pace. |
| Becky: Many businesses have fluctuating hours depending on the season, family events, holidays, traffic, daily prayers, or a number of other factors. Does Ramadan affect business as well? |
| Nora: Well, during the fasting month of Ramadan, many restaurants and some businesses close during the day and may open after the Iftar meal in the evening. |
| Becky: That might take some getting used to as a foreigner! |
| Nora: Yes, but I think this aspect of Arab culture allows for more meaningful personal and business relations, more time for quality work, and more of an emphasis on family and religious life. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: خبط [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to knock |
| Nora: خبط[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: خبط [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: آخد [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I take |
| Nora: آخد[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: آخد [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: أخبار [natural native speed] |
| Becky: news |
| Nora: أخبار[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: أخبار [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: كويس [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Fine, I'm good |
| Nora: كويس[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: كويس [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: بعدما [natural native speed] |
| Becky: after |
| Nora: بعدما[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: بعدما [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: خلص [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to conclude |
| Nora: خلص[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: خلص [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: خلاص [natural native speed] |
| Becky: that is all, I'm done |
| Nora: خلاص[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: خلاص [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: أكيد [natural native speed] |
| Becky: sure |
| Nora: أكيد[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: أكيد [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: مش [natural native speed] |
| Becky: not |
| Nora: مش[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: مش [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Nora: يعني [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I mean (doesn't have a significant meaning) |
| Nora: يعني[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: يعني [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 word is.. |
| Nora: بعدما |
| Becky: meaning "after" |
| Nora: The root بعد means “after” and ما means “that” so this phrase basically means "after that." |
| Becky: This is a very useful transition phrase that can be used widely in conversation. |
| Nora: It can be used after a verb in any tense. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. هتاكل إمتى؟ - بعدما أخلص شغل |
| Becky: ..which means "When are you going to eat? - After I finish work." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: آخد |
| Becky: meaning "I take" |
| Nora: The root verb is أخذ but in the Egyptian dialect, the ذ becomes a د. This verb can also be used for medicines, like “هاخُد بانادول” which means “I’ll take Panadol”. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. عايز آخد مراتي في رِحلَة |
| Becky: .. which means "I want to take my wife on a trip." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: يعني |
| Becky: meaning "meaning" |
| Nora: This phrase is used in conversation very often as a transition or connecting phrase, similar to saying "I mean..." in English. |
| Becky: So is it just a filler word? |
| Nora: It is. You will constantly hear this phrase in Egyptian conversation. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. هتعمل إيه يعني؟ - معرفش |
| Becky: .. which means "So, I mean, what are you going to do? - I don't know." |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to sound like a native speaker when asking a tough question. |
| Nora: You will also learn how to negate verbs using مش |
| Becky: In modern standard Arabic, there are many rules and ways to negate sentences. In this lesson we will see that Egyptian Arabic is more straightforward. |
| Nora: This lesson focuses on the word مش because it’s the most common way to negate in conversation and it has some special uses that are important to know. Sometimes, like in the dialogue, مش is simply inserted in a sentence in front of a verb to negate it. In this case, it’s used in front of a future tense verb. In the phrase مش هاخد أجازة, |
| Becky: ...meaning "I will not take a vacation" |
| Nora: ...mesh is the negation, hakhod is the future tense of the verb "to take," and ajaza is “vacation.” |
| Becky: What’s the structure we should use here? |
| Nora: In the future tense, the structure is simply مش + ha + the verb. |
| Becky: This word can also be used in the present tense to negate sentences that don’t have a written verb, that is, to negate an adjective or a noun. For example, in a sentence like, "I am American" the verb "am" is implied, right? |
| Nora: Right! In Arabic, you would literally say "I American" انا امريكي (for a male) or انا امريكية (for a female). To negate that sentence, you would simply insert مش in the middle انا مش امريكي or انا مش امريكية. |
| Becky: You can use this form to negate any simple description of a person or thing. Nora, what’s the Arabic for “My house is not big.” |
| Nora: بيتي مش كبير |
| Becky: how about “She is not a student.” |
| Nora: هي مش طالبة. To negate verbs in the present tense, you still use مش but in a slightly different way. |
| Becky: Instead of just using it in front of the word you want to negate, you actually insert the word in the middle. |
| Nora: The structure is ما + the conjugated verb+ ش . The word being negated is put in between. |
| Becky: Let’s see an example, with the verb “to make” |
| Nora: أنا أعمل |
| Becky: I make |
| Nora: the negation is مابعملش |
| Becky: I do not make |
| Nora: انت تِعمل |
| Becky: You make (masculine) |
| Nora: the negation is مابتعملش |
| Becky: You do not make (m) |
| Nora: انتي تِعملي |
| Becky: You make (feminine) |
| Nora: the negation is مابتعمليش |
| Becky: You do not make (f) |
| Nora: هو يِعمل |
| Becky: He makes |
| Nora: the negation is مابيعملش |
| Becky: He does not make |
| Nora: هي تِعمل |
| Becky: She makes |
| Nora: the negation is مابتعملش |
| Becky: She does not make |
| Nora: احنا نِعمل |
| Becky: We make |
| Nora: the negation is مابنعملش |
| Becky: We do not make |
| Nora: انتو تِعملوا |
| Becky: You make |
| Nora: the negation is مابتعملوش |
| Becky: You all do not make |
| Nora: هم يِعملوا |
| Becky: They make |
| Nora: the negation is مابيعملوش |
| Becky: Which means “They do not make.” Listeners, please notice that the simple present tense is rarely used in Egyptian Arabic outside a few set situations. In Egyptian Arabic, when you talk about anything happening in the present, you usually need to add a b- prefix to the imperfect verb conjugations. |
| Nora: A few other useful phrases that use this negation pattern are معلش , which is a very common phrase meaning "it doesn't matter" and مافيش which means "nothing is the matter." Another very useful phrase for Egyptian Arabic learners is "I didn't understand" which is مافهمتش. This is a past tense phrase. |
| Becky: Is the structure for past tense the same as for the present tense? |
| Nora: Yes, It is ما + the conjugated verb + ش – just make sure you conjugate the verb that you insert in the past tense! |
| Becky: Listeners make sure to check out the table in the lesson notes if you need to review past tense conjugation. Nora, to wrap up, can you give us some examples with the negation? |
| Nora: Sure!مافيش اختيار تاني |
| Becky: Which means "There is no other choice." |
| Nora: مش لازم تصحى بدري |
| Becky: "You don't need to wake up early." |
| Nora: هو مش طويل |
| Becky:"He is not tall." |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nora: شكرا , سلام |
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