I don't know if Arabic lacks "modal verbs" or not. It does lack exact 1:1 translations for words like "would," "should," and "could".

I refer you to the other thread recently about "should have."

"Would" as used in if-conditionals in English is accomplished by having more than one word for if, and using certain tenses. The Arabic verb exists in basically two tenses, but other times and modalities are accomplished by prefixes or particles, and negation as well has several particles to accomplish different moods and times.

yajibu refers to something which is incumbent upon someone to do. This translates يجبsome of the senses of "should" in English. For "could" one must ask oneself, do I mean "Would be able to..." or do I mean "It would be possible that..." as "could" has different senses in English. Ability can be accomplished with the verbs قدر and استطاع， while probability can be accomplished with أمكن.

As for would, this really depends on the context of the sentence involved. There is a "would of courtesy" (Would you be able to help me?), a "would of (unlikely) probability" (If I were/was rich, I would do such and such). There is would of contrary-to-fact (If I had done X, I would have done Y). There is "would of past iterative", (when I was young, I would go to his house every day). Etc. All of these are accomplished with different structures in Arabic.

Of course in all of these cases there may be more than one way to say something in Arabic (just as there would be more than one way to say it in English). Last edited by clevermizo; 9th November 2007 at 7:01 PM.

Reply With Quote 9th November 2007, 9:56 PM #3 *Sultana

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5Thanks Clevermizo for the useful information.

Reply With Quote 9th November 2007, 11:08 PM #4 Josh_

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I don't know what they're called in Arabic, but there are certainly those verbs, or verb forms, that are equivalent to English modal verbs -- ممكن modal of possibility; محتمل modal of probability; الزم ، ضروري ، .modals of necessity/incumbency; etc يجب

I'll try to do more research and get back.

"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." -- Noam Chomsky

Reply With Quote 10th November 2007, 9:47 AM #5 clevermizo

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3,309I think I can guess why it might be said that such verbs do not exist in Arabic.

In English we can coordinate can/could/should/might/shall/may/would directly in front of non-finite verb forms. In Arabic all of the aforementioned structures in this thread would require subordination with +المنصوب المضارع which is different from the English أْن"modal auxiliary structure. But honestly, the same result is achieved (modality modification), so it sounds like it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

In colloquial Arabic, words like , ممكن, ضروري pretty much work grammatically ,الزمjust like English modals, so they perhaps could be called such. However, again, the verb that follows is a finite verb form, whereas English uses non-finite verb forms.

Also, all modal verbs in English have weird conjugation - no marking for singular 3rd person plural, and yet the subject is perceived as the subject of the modal verb itself: He should, He shall and never He shalls.

It may be that modal verbs like this are specific to Germanic languages, or at least we don't find these words in Arabic. أْن has an impersonal subject - the subject is not يجبthe same as what follows أْن.

Last edited by clevermizo; 10th November 2007 at 9:52 AM.

Reply With Quote 11th November 2007, 9:11 PM #6 *Sultana

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5Ok, I think I found the answer. Modal verbs do exist in Arabc; but most of the time you need to add a preposition to them; like : أْن يجبWhile in English you can simply say should; and it's actually wrong to add a preposition after a modal verb in (saying 'should to' is wrong); which is kind of what clevermizo said. It's a big discussion. But thanks guys.

Modals in standard Arabic

In English, modal verbs include "can," "may," "might," "must," "should," and "would" — verbs that are not conjugated or negated in the same way as regular verbs. Standard Arabic doesn't have exact equivalents of these verbs, but it has words that are used in much the same way — including phrases beginning with الـ Here's a list (all of these .منare followed by imperfect-mood verbs, although if you remove the أْن, you can follow them with a مصدر):

أْن (yajib an) يجب must, shouldأْن هـ (3ala + object + an) على mustأْن الالزم (min al-laazim an) من have to, it is necessary toأْن الواجب (min al-waajib an) من it is necessary to

أْن الضروري (min aD-Daruuri an) من it is necessary toأْن (yanbaġi an) ينبغي shouldأْن المفروض (min al-mafruuD an) من shouldأْن المفترض (min al-muftaraD an) من should, ought toأْن (yumkin an) يمكن might, mayأْن الممكن (min al-mumkin an) من it is possible toأْن المستحيل (min al-mustaHiil an) من it is impossible toأْن المتوقع (min al-mutawaqqa3 an) من it is expected thatأْن المنتظر (min al-muntaZar an) من it is expected thatأْن السهل (min as-sahl an) من it is easy toأْن اليسير (min al-yasiir an) من it is easy toأْن الصعب (min aS-Sa3b an) من it is hard toأْن بالذكر الجدير min al-jadiir bid-dikr) من

anna)it's worth mentioning that

أْن الثابت (min at-taabit anna) من it's well-established thatأْن المعروف (min al-ma3ruuf anna) من it's (well-)known thatأْن الواضح (min al-waaDiH anna) من it's clear thatأْن المفهوم (min al-mafhuum anna) من it's understood thatأْن المرجع (min al-murajja3 an) من it's most likely thatأْن المحتمل (min al-muHtamal an) من it's probable thatأْن المقرر (min al-muqarrar an) من it's been decided thatأْن عليه المتفق min al-muttafaq 3aleihi) من

an)it's been agreed that

أْن المعتاد (min al-mu3taad an) من it's customary toأْن المستحسن (min al-mustaHsan an) من it's preferable thatأْن األحسن (min al-aHsan an) من it's better thatأْن األجدر (min al-ajdar an) من it's more suitable/proper toأْن الطبيعي (min aT-Tabii3ii an) من it's natural thatأْن الممنوع (min al-mamnuu3 an) من it's forbidden toأْن المسموح (min al-masmuuH an) من it's permitted to

To shift to the past, add كاْن (kaan) before the phrase. To shift to the future, add سيكوْن (sayakuun) beforehand. For negation, add ليس (laysa) before it.

Examples: األمن؟ مجلس في بورما في اإلنسانية الكارثة مثل قضايا مناقشة يجب hal yajib) هل

munaaqašat qaDaaya mitl al-kaarita l-insaaniyya fii burma fii majlis al-amn?)Should issues like the humanitarian disaster in Burma be discussed in the Security Council?

" المصريين " غضب يثير أْن المتوقع من السادات اغتيال عن ايراني fiilm iiraani 3an) فيلمiġtiyaal as-saadaat min al-mutawaqqa3 an yatiir ġaDab al-miSriyyiin)

An Iranian movie about Sadat's assassination is expected to anger Egyptians (lit. excite Egyptians' anger).

حلول لها توضع لم اذا المستقبل في ظاهرة إلى تتحول أْن الممكن من المشكلة هذهوجذرية haadihi l-muškila min al-mumkin an tataHawwil ila Zaahira ida lam) مناسبة

tuwDi3 liha Huluul munaasiba wa-jidriyya)This problem may turn into a phenomenon if appropriate and radical solutions for it are not found.

ارضه من ينسحب V غريبا V جيشا رؤيته لدى مواطن، اي المواطن، يفرح اْن الطبيعي min) منaT-Tabii3i an yafraH al-muwaaTin, ayya muwaaTin, laday ru'yatu jeišan ġariiban yansaHib min arDu)It's natural for a citizen, any citizen, to rejoice at the sight of a foreign army withdrawing from his land.

جدا الصعب من فسيكوْن الفلسطيني المجتمع داخل االنقسامات تجاوز نستطع لم إذانفسه الوقت في السالم وعملية غزة موضوعي في تقدم ida lam nastaTi3) تحقيق

tajaawuz al-inqisaamaat daaxil al-mujtama3 al-filasTiini fa-sayakuun min aS-Sa3b jiddan taHqiiq taqaddum fi mawDuu3eiyy ġazza wa-3amaliyyat as-salaam fil-waqt nafsu)If we can't overcome the divisions within Palestinian society, then it will be very difficult to achieve progress in the issues of Gaza and the peace process at the same time.

Modals in Egyptian Arabic

Egyptian Arabic uses many of the same modals listed above, but without the ... أْن الـ .منUsually they are followed by an imperfect-tense verb.

(laazim) الزم must, have to(Daruuri) ضروري must-il) المفروضmafruuD)

should

(mumkin) ممكن can, it's possible(mustaHiil) مستحيل it's impossible(yemkin) يمكن perhaps(gaayiz) جايز may, it is possible that(sahl) سهل it's easy to(Sa3b) صعب it's hard to(mamnuu3) ممنوع it's forbidden to(masmuuH) مسموح it's permitted to

There are also modals that are active participles. Remember that all active participles act as adjectives, and thus have masculine, feminine, and plural forms.

عايزين - - عايزة (3aayiz - 3ayza - 3ayziin) عايز want toناويين - - ناوية (naawi - nawya - nawyiin) ناوي intending to

قاعدين - - قاعدة (aa3id - 'a3da - 'a3diin') قاعد continuing toعمالين - - عمالة - 3ammaal - 3ammaala) عمال

3ammaliin)continuing to

There are also modals that you attach a pronoun suffix to:

(-nifs) نفس to feel like(-aSd') قصد to mean to

(-zamaan) زماْنmust have - indicates something happening at the proper or expected time

(-tann) تن continuing toريت ya reit - suffix) يا

optional)wish

Again, to shift to the past, add كاْن (kaan) before the phrase. To shift to the future, add .before it (miš) مش beforehand. For negation, add (haykuun) هيكوْن

Examples:

قرار تاخد ما قبل الموضوع في تفكر الزم kaan laazim tifakkar fel-mawDuu3 'abl ma) كاْنtaaxod qaraar)You should've thought about it before you made a decision.

كويس وقت نقضي كلنا اننا (il-mafruuD innena kollena ni'Di wa't kwayyis) المفروضWe should all spend our time well.

أدايقك قصدي (makanš 'aSdi adaayi'ak) ماكانشI didn't mean to annoy you.

جامد بقلب واتكلمت صدري مافتحت ريتني ya reitni mafataHt sidri witkallemt bi-'alb) ياgaamid)I wish I hadn't talked so openly and bravely.

جاية (zamanha gayya) زمانهاShe ought to be coming (soon now).

جعت (zamaanak gu3t) زمانكYou must be hungry by now.

ساعدتيني كنتي لو خلصت حاجة كل زماْن kaan zamaan kulle Haaga xilSit law kunti) كاْنsa3idtiini)Everything would've been finished by now if you'd helped me.

لبناْن أسافر (nifsi asaafir libnaan) نفسيI'd like to travel to Lebanon.

بدري أصحي (nawya aSHa badri) ناويةI intend to get up early.

علينا تتحدف عمالة (il-balaawi 3ammaala titHaddif 3aleina) البالويTroubles keep on befalling us.

الشارع وسط في تكح عمالة دي الكحيانة il-3arabiyya l-kaHyaana di 3ammaala) العربيةtkoHH fi wesT iš-šaari3)This beat-up old car keeps coughing in the middle of the street.

The passive participle in Egyptian Arabic

Introduction Derivation of the passive participle

Introduction

Passive participles, like active participles, act as adjectives, and so they must agree with the noun they're describing. A passive participle may express a current state of being; a couple of examples would be "known" and "understood." Or it may express a state of

having been — the result of an action that has already been performed. Examples would be "written" (i.e. the item is in a state of already having been written) and "cooked" (i.e. the item has already been cooked). Use of the passive participle obscures the identity of the person who performed the action.

معروف mumassil) ممثلma3ruuf)

مقلي beiD) بيضma'li)

a well-known actor fried eggs

Derivation of the passive participle

Passive participles are derived in different ways from their root verbs. However, if you know the type of verb you're working with, deriving the passive participle from that verb is quite regular.

Type of verb Passive participle

Form 1 sound verbs (of the type فعل fi3il) (maf3uul) مفعول

to write (katab) كتب written (maktuub) مكتوب

to understand (fihim) فهم understood (mafhuum) مفهوم

Form 1 geminate/doubled verbs (of the type aفع fa33)

(maf3uu3) مفعوع

aحب (Habb) to love beloved (maHbuub) محبوب

aكب (kabb) to spill/pour spilled/poured (makbuub) مكبوب

Form 1 defective verbs (of the type فعي

fi3i or fa3a)(maf3i) مفعي

to grill (šawa) شوى grilled (mašwi) مشوي

to forget (nisi) نسى forgotten (mansi) منسي

Most other triliteral verb formsSubstitute "mi" for the "yi" of the imperfect howwa verb conjugation*

to smash (kassar) كسaر smashed (mikassar) مكسaر

to graduate (itxarrag) اتخرaج graduate (a) (mitxarrag) متخرaج

to choose (ixtaar) اختار chosen (muxtaar) مختار

to use (istaxdim) استخدم used (mistaxdim) مستخدم

* Educated Egyptians often pronounce this "mi" as "mu" due to influence from standard Arabic — see the pronunciation "muxtaar" (as opposed to "mixtaar") as an example.

Note: For verbs that are not of Form 1, the active participle and passive participle are usually exactly the same! You would use context to tell which it is.

aمحتل (miHtall)This could be the active participle, "occupying," or the passive participle, "occupied."

You might also have noticed that hollow verbs were not included in the above table of passive participle derivations. This is because passive participles are not used for these verbs. Rather, you would derive a passive participle from the verb's corresponding passive form (which would generally begin with اتـ it-).

to sell (baa3) باعThis has no passive participle. So you would instead use the verb:to be sold (itbaa3) اتباعFrom this you would derive the appropriate passive participle, متباع (mitbaa3), "sold."

But also note that aside from passive verb forms of hollow verbs, you do not usually use passive participles derived from اتفعل itfa3al verb forms — except, in some cases, if you want to distinguish between a passive and active participle that would otherwise be the same.

to spoil (dalla3) دلaعThe active and passive participle of this verb is the same: عaمدل (midalla3)So people will use عaمدل only in its active participle sense. For the passive participle, they use:spoiled, as in a spoiled child (mitdalla3) متدلaع

to raise or grow (as in a parent raising a child, or someone growing a plant) (rabba) ربaىThe active and passive participle of this verb is the same: يaمرب (mirabbi)So people will use يaمرب only in its active participle sense. For the passive participle, they use:well-raised (mitrabbi) متربaي

But usually for passive verbs, you would derive a passive participle from the corresponding Form 1 verb.

to be written (itkatab) اتكتبThis has no passive participle. So you would instead use the corresponding Form 1 verb:to write (katab) كتبFrom this you would derive the appropriate passive participle, مكتوب (maktuub), "written."

to be embarrassed (itkasaf) اتكسفThis has no passive participle. So you would instead use the corresponding Form 1 verb:to embarrass (kasaf) كسفFrom this you would derive the appropriate passive participle, مكسوف (maksuuf), "embarrassed

The conditional sentence in Egyptian Arabic

Introduction Possible conditionals Impossible/counter-to-fact conditionals Examples - for comparison of the two kinds of conditionals

Introduction

There are two types of conditional statements: the possible (If you work hard, you'll do well; if I see Samia today, I'll ask her out) and the impossible/counter-to-fact (If I were rich, I'd buy a Mercedes; if I'd known that, I wouldn't have done what I did).

There are two main words for "if" in Arabic: لو (law) and اذا (ida in fuSHa/iza in 3ammiyya). (And there's also the more literary/classical إْن.) In standard Arabic, اذا is reserved for possible conditions, while لو is used for impossible conditions. In Egyptian Arabic, however, the two words are usually used interchangeably, with لو being more common.

Possible conditionals

The "if" clause may begin with لو or اذا, followed by:

possibility 1: a verb in the past tense or — with لو only — a verb in the present tense

أصحابي شفت (iza šoft aSHaabi) اذا

if I see my friends

بكرة السينما تروح law tiruuH is-senema) لوbukra)

if you go to the movies tomorrow

possibility 2: some form of كاْن paired with a verb, participle, modal, or nominal or

prepositional phrase

تيجي تحب كنت iza kunte tiHebbe) اذاtiigi)

فاضي كنت (iza kunte faaDi) اذا

if you'd like to come if you're free

تيجي عايز كنت iza kunte 3aayiz) اذاtiigi)

الوقت عندي كاْن -iza kaan 3andi l) اذاwa't)

if you want to come if I have time

ممكن كاْن (law kaan mumkin) لو

if it's possible

The "then" clause may begin with a future-tense verb or command.

معاهم hatkallem) هتكلمma3aahom)

I'll talk to them

معايا (ta3aala ma3aaya) تعالى

come with me

Examples:

عالية درجات هتجيب كويس، ذاكرت (iza zakirte kwayyis, hatgiib daragaat 3alya) اذا

If you study well, you'll get high grades.

العشا على هعزمها ده، النهار دينا شفت (law šofte Dina n-nahaarda, ha3zemha 3ala l-3aša) لو

If I see Dina today, I'll invite her to dinner

معاكي هآجي بكرة، السينما تروحي (law tiruuHi s-senema bokra, haagi ma3aaki) لو

If you go to the movies tomorrow, I'll come with you.

تاني ماكلمتكش اذا ماتزعلش أسلوبك، ده كاْن law kan da osluubak, matiz3alše iza) لوmakallemtakše taani)

If that's your way of doing things, (then) don't get upset if I don't talk to you again.

نروح يال معايا، تيجي عايز كنت (law kunte 3aayiz tiigi ma3aaya, yalla nruuH) لو

If you want to come with me, then let's go.

اتفضل تقعد، تحب كنت (iza kunte tiHebbe ti'3od, itfaDDal) اذا

If you'd like to sit down, then go ahead.

ونتمشى ننزل يال كويس، الجو (law ig-gaww kwayyis, yalla ninzil wa nitmašša) لو

If the weather is nice, let's go down and take a walk.

هتحبه ده، الفيلم على اتفرجت (law itfarragt 3ala l-film da, hatHebbu) لو

If you watch this movie, you'll like it.

Impossible/counter-to-fact conditionals

Again, the "if" clause may begin with لو or اذا. It is usually followed by the appropriate form of كاْن. What follows that may be a past- or present-tense verb, modal, or active participle.

شفته كنت law kunte) لوšoftu)

بتحبني كنت law kunte) لوbitHebbeni)

if you'd seen him if you loved me

فاكر كنت law kunte) لوfaakir)

ممكن كاْن (law kaan mumkin) لو

if I('d) remembered if it had been possible

Note that, as with the last example, this clause may be identical to its "possible" equivalent. What really distinguishes possible from impossible conditionals is the following:

The "then" clause must begin with an appropriate form of كاْن! It is then followed by a past-tense verb, if you are talking about something you would/wouldn't have done, or a simple present/future-tense verb if you're talking about something you would do (right now).

جه (kaan geh) كاْن

he would've come

\ لك هقول لك أقول kunt) كنتa'ollak/ha'ollak)

I would tell you

Examples:

أحسن درجات جبت كنت كويس، ذاكرت كنت iza kunte zakirte kwayyis, kunte gibte daragaat) اذاaHsan)

If you had studied well, you would've gotten better grades.

مرسيديس عربية اشتريت كنت فلوس، معايا law ma3aaya filuus, kunt ishtareit 3arabiyya) لوMercedes)

If I had money, I'd buy a Mercedes.

مشغولة كنت أنا لكن رحت، كنت معاك، أروح ممكن كاْن ,law kan mumkin aruuH ma3aak) لوkunte roHt, laakin ana kunt mašġuula)

If I could've gone with you, I would've, but I was busy.

خرجت ماكنتش أخرج، ما بعد هيحصل ده اْن عارفة كنت law kunte 3arfa inne da hayeHSal) لوba3de maxrug, makunteš xaragt)

If I'd known that would happen after I left, I wouldn't have left.

لي قال تاني حد كاْن لي، قلت انت ماكنتش (law makunteš enta 'oltili, kaan Hadde taani 'alli) اذا

If you hadn't told me, someone else would've.

قلته انت اللي قلت ماكنتش بتحبني، كنت (law kunt bitHebbeni, makunteš 'olt illenta 'oltu) لو

If you loved me, you wouldn't have have said what you said.

البالج رحنا كنا كويس، كاْن الجو (law ig-gaww kan kwayyis, kunna roHna l-blaaž) لو

If the weather had been good, we would've gone to the beach.

هتحبه كنت ده، الفيلم على اتفرجت كنت (law kunt itfarragt 3ala l-film da, kunte Habbeitu) لو

If you'd watched this movie, you would've liked it.

بتاعتك المكالمة على رديت كنت المحمول، تليفوني نسيت ماكنتش law makunteš niseit) لوtelefooni l-maHmuul, kunt raddeit 3ala l-mukalma beta3tek)

If I hadn't forgotten my cell phone, I would've replied to your call.

Examples for comparison of possible and impossible conditionals

\ لك هقول الجواب، أالقي لقيت (law la'eit/alaa'i l-gawaab, ha'ollak) لو

If I find the answer, I'll tell you.

لي قول الجواب، على عثرت (law 3etert 3ala l-gawaab, 'olli) لو

If you come across the answer, tell me.

لك قلت كنت الجواب، عارفة كنت (law kunte 3arfa l-gawaab, kunt 'oltilak) لو

If I'd known the answer, I would've told you.

لك هقول كنت الجواب، عارفة كنت (law kunte 3arfa l-gawaab, kunt ha'ollak) لو

If I knew the answer, I would tell you.

لك قلت ماكنتش الجواب، عارفة كنت ولو Hatta wa-law kunte 3arfa l-gawaab, makunteš) حتى

'oltilak)

Even if I'd known the answer, I wouldn't have told you.

لك هقول ماكنتش الجواب، عارفة كنت ولو ,Hatta wa-law kunte 3arfa l-gawaab) حتىmakunteš ha'ollak)

Even if I knew the answer, I wouldn't tell you.