Let’s open the discussion with a famous and common 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 us now check an example of the Holy 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.’
Grammar, grammar, grammar….
- لَبَّيْكَ (labbaika) – What does it mean?
- بَيْتًا or بَيْتاً? – Where do you add the tanween (تَنْوِين) at the end?
- الصَّلاةُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْنَّوْمِ: “Prayer is better than sleep” – Is it really “better”?
- إذْ and إذا and إذًا – What is the difference?
- Why is the Quran so difficult to read?
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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) ?