Let’s open the discussion with a famous mistake in Arabic:
NOT CORRECT | I have never done that. | لَمْ أَفْعَلْ ذٰلِكَ أَبَدًا |
So, what is the solution? How would you say: “I have never done that”? You use a different word!
CORRECT | I have never done that. | .لَمْ أَفْعَلْ ذٰلِكَ قَطُّ |
Some examples to underline the difference
incorrect | I have never visited him. | .ما زُرْتُهُ أَبَدًا |
correct | I have never visited him. | .ما زُرْتُهُ قَطُّ |
correct | I will never visit him. | . لَنْ أَزُورَهُ أَبَدًا |
- With a negation: Never (in the future), not at all, on no account
- Not negated: Never! Not at all! By no means!
Let’s check an example of the Qur’an:
Sura 5:24:
قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ إِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَّا دَامُوا فِيهَا ۖ فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ
They said, ‘Moses, we will never enter while they are still there, so you and your Lord go in and fight, and we will stay here.’
Pictures: pixabay (free license)
3 comments
Could you answer these two questions?
1. If I use a مصدر that has a همزة الوصل with the article, does it get a همزة القطع ? Like امتحان > الإمتحان
2. Does the ا at the end of for example اُغْزُوا or رَأَوْا remain written when a word with the article follows?
Like اُغْزُو الرجالَ
If you are right, I used “abadan” wrong till today :-).
In Egyptian dialect I would use “khalis” to stress a kind of “never” for the past or “wa la marra”.
don’t worry. This is about formal Arabic. I know that people use it in dialects (including me) ?