Two negations for two kinds of sentence
Arabic chooses the negative word by what it is negating:
- a sentence with a present verb takes لَا
- a sentence with no verb (a nominal sentence) takes لَيْسَ
لا + present verb
لَا goes straight in front of the verb and nothing else changes:
- لَا أَعْرِفُ. (lā aʿrifu) — I do not know.
- لَا يَسْكُنُ هُنَا. (lā yaskunu hunā) — He does not live here.
- هِيَ لَا تَشْرَبُ الْقَهْوَةَ. — She does not drink coffee.
- لَا نَذْهَبُ إِلَى السُّوقِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ. — We do not go to the market on Friday.
ليس for sentences without a verb
لَيْسَ means "is not". It conjugates for the person, and it is the only word in the sentence that carries the person:
| Pronoun | Form | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| أَنَا | لَسْتُ | lastu |
| أَنْتَ | لَسْتَ | lasta |
| أَنْتِ | لَسْتِ | lasti |
| هُوَ | لَيْسَ | laysa |
| هِيَ | لَيْسَتْ | laysat |
| نَحْنُ | لَسْنَا | lasnā |
| أَنْتُمْ | لَسْتُمْ | lastum |
| هُمْ | لَيْسُوا | laysū |
| هُنَّ | لَسْنَ | lasna |
The predicate goes into the accusative
After لَيْسَ, the word that describes the subject takes the accusative: tanween fatha, written on an added alif unless the word ends in ة.
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
| أَنَا طَالِبٌ. I am a student. | لَسْتُ طَالِبًا. I am not a student. |
| هِيَ مُعَلِّمَةٌ. She is a teacher. | لَيْسَتْ مُعَلِّمَةً. She is not a teacher. |
| الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ. The house is big. | لَيْسَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرًا. The house is not big. |
| هُمْ مُهَنْدِسُونَ. They are engineers. | لَيْسُوا مُهَنْدِسِينَ. They are not engineers. |
For a single adjective inside a phrase, غَيْر is used instead: كَلَامٌ غَيْرُ وَاضِحٍ — unclear speech.
Watch out as an English speaker
- English uses "not" for both kinds of sentence; Arabic does not. ✗ أَنَا لَا طَالِبٌ. / ✓ لَسْتُ طَالِبًا.
- Do not forget the accusative after لَيْسَ. ✗ لَسْتُ طَالِبٌ. / ✓ لَسْتُ طَالِبًا.
- There is no "don't". ✗ أَنَا لَا أَفْعَلُ أَعْرِفُ. / ✓ لَا أَعْرِفُ.
- لَيْسَ already carries the person, so do not add a second verb. ✗ لَيْسَ هُوَ يَكُونُ طَالِبًا. / ✓ لَيْسَ طَالِبًا.
Example dialogue
هَلْ أَنْتَ مُعَلِّمٌ؟ — Are you a teacher?
لَا، لَسْتُ مُعَلِّمًا. أَنَا طَالِبٌ. — No, I am not a teacher. I am a student.
وَهَلْ تَسْكُنُ هُنَا؟ — And do you live here?
لَا، لَا أَسْكُنُ هُنَا. — No, I do not live here.
وَأُخْتُكَ؟ — And your sister?
لَيْسَتْ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ الْآنَ. — She is not in the city now.