Now that we have tackled how to express “still” in the previous post, let’s check out the ways to express “just” in Levantine Arabic!

Note that there will always be a variety of ways to express an idea.

What I’m simply doing in this post is to share what I feel are “language hacks” in the form of a single word or phrase that you can add to your speech in order to communicate your idea across just as effectively.

Therefore, the sentence examples provided below are by no means the only way of communicating the idea across.

So without further ado, let’s get started!

How To Say “Just” In Levantine Arabic

 

#1) Very recently / In the immediate past

If you’re saying “just” in order to express the act having taken place in the immediate past, then the word you’re looking for is…

هلأ

…which means “now” in Spoken Levantine Arabic.

However, the word “now” may differ from region to region within the Levant. The picture below shows the different variations of the word “now” in Palestine alone.

But whatever your preferred word of saying “now”, the idea of expressing “just” is still the same.

Simply add the word “now” before the past tense verb

 

Let’s look at some examples:

هلأ وصلت عالبيت

I just got home

هلأ طلعت من المكتب

I just left the office

مريم هلأ خلصت فطورها / ترويقتا

Maryam just finished eating her breakfast.

“Breakfast” in Lebanese Arabic is ترويقة (pronounced as ترويئة)

الإجتماع هلأ خلص. تفضل, بتقدر تفوت وتشوفه

The meeting just ended, you may go in to see him now

انت هلأ تغديت وبعدك جوعان؟

You just had your lunch and you’re still hungry?

يلا بسرعة! الباص هلأ وصل ورح يمشي بعد خمس دقايق

Hurry up! The bus just arrived and will be leaving in 5 minutes time

 

Alternatively, you can use the phrase “a while ago”.

من شوية / من شوي

(just) a while ago

Here are some examples:

يسلمو بس والله شبعت. من شوية تغديت

Thanks but I’m really full. I just had lunch

من شوية طلعت من البيت

I just left the house (a while ago)

 

***

#2) Literally!

لسة + هلأ

In some cases, you might hear the words لسة (lissa) and هلأ (hala2) being said together.

When that happens, there is a higher degree of emphasis. Probably the closest word in English to express this phrase would be “literally”.

Here are some examples:

وين تلفوني؟ لسا هلق كان معي

Where’s my phone? I literally just had it with me.

!عْطيني (اعطيني) خمس دقايق. أنا لسة هلأ وصلت

Give me five minutes, I literally just got home!

[For example, when you just stepped foot into the house and your mom asks you to run errands or tidy up your room 🤷‍♀️ ]

جواد لسة هلأ راح. تعا (تعال) بكرة الصبح

Jawad literally just left. Come back tomorrow morning

 

#3) Very soon

Sometimes you might use the word, “just”, to refer to an act that you’re doing in the present moment as you speak.

In this case, you’ll still be using the word هلأ but with the present continuous tense or active participle (اسم الفاعل).

Here are some examples:

هلأ عم خلص (أخلص) فطوري. بشوفك بعد شوي

I’m just finishing up my breakfast. I’ll see you in a while

*Instead of فطور, you can also say ترويقة which is more common in Lebanese Arabic

هلأ عم زبط (أزبط) التقرير ورح ابعتلك اياه بس خلص

I’m just finishing up / making final touches to the report. I will send it over to you once it’s done

ياخي, انت بالبيت؟ إفتح الباب, أنا هلأ طالع

Bro, are you at home? Open the door, I’m just coming up now.

* Depending on contexts, the word طالع can also mean leaving/going out

***

#4) Exactly / Absolutely / To an equal degree / No less than

There can be multiple ways to express this idea but the easiest way to do so is to simply use the Arabic word for “like”.

متل / زي

*The word متل is used across the Levant while I found the word زي more commonly used in South Levantine Arabic.

هاي الكاميرة منيحة متل (زي) هديك الكاميرا

This camera is just as good as that one [This camera is good like that one]

شكلِك متل (زي) هالبنت اللي بالصورة

You look (just) like the girl in the photo

 

However, if you want to add some emphasis to the sentence, you can use words such as…

بالزبط / بالضبط

exactly

OR

تماماً

absolutely / completely

OR

مية بالمية

100% percent

Here are some examples:

هاي الكاميرا منيحة متل هديك الكاميرا بالضبط

هاي الكاميرا منيحة متل هديك الكاميرا تماماً

هاي الكاميرا منيحة متل هديك الكاميرا مية بالمية

This camera is just as good as that one

شكلِك بالضبط متل هالبنت اللي بالصورة

شكلك تماما متل هالبنت اللي بالصورة

شكلك متل هالبنت اللي بالصورة مية بالمية

You (f) look just [exactly] like the girl in the photo

 

طلعت الأمور بالضبط متل ما توقعت

طلعت الأمور تماماً متل ما توقعت

طلعت الأمور متل ما توقعت مية بالمية

Things turned out just as I expected

الباب مش مقفول, تماما متل ما كنت شاكك

الباب مش مقفول, بالضبط متل ما كنت شاكك

الباب مش مقفول, متل ما كنت شاكك مية بالمية

The door is unlocked just as I suspected.

 

شكرا هاد الشي بالزبط متل ما عم بدور عليه

شكرا هاد الشي تماما متل  ما عم بدور عليه

شكرا هاد الشي متل  ما عم بدورعليه مية بالمية

Thanks, this is just [exactly] what I’m looking for

هاد الجاكيت قياسي بالزبط

هاد الجاكيت قياسي تماما

هاد الجاكيت قياسي مية بالمية

This jacket is just [exactly] my size

 

#5) A little / Barely

If you want to say “just under/below/over/after/before etc” to indicate a small amount, the simplest way to do so is to add بشوي [a little bit].

التضخم نزل لأكتر من 4 بالمية بشوي بهي السنة

Inflation fell to just over 4 percent this year

النسوان في البرلمان أكتر من التلت بشوي

Just over a third of the people in parliament are women

كلاويك موجودين تحت أضلاعك بشوي

Your kidneys are located just below your ribs

امبارح بالليل وصلت عالبيت بعد التسعة بشوي

I reached home just after nine last night

امبارح، دخل على بيت جيراني حرامية قبل نص الليل بشوي

Yesterday, a robber broke into my neighbor’s house just before midnight

السنة الماضية خلّص علي الماراثون بأقل من أربع ساعات بشوي

Last year, Ali finished a marathon in just under four hours

***

#6) Simply / Only

When saying “just” as a form of emphasis to mean “simply” or “only”, you can add the word بس.

Note that not all contexts will work simply by adding بس but here are a few examples that do.

شفت علي بس قبل دقيقة وحدة

I saw Ali just a minute ago

طوّل بالك معلم، عم نمزح معك بس

Relax dude, we’re just joking with you

 ما في شي. كنت عم أسأل بس. مجرد سؤال

No, nothing. I was just asking. It’s just a question

(لا تفكر كتير بالموضوع، بس اعملا (اعملها

Don’t think too much about it, just do it!

الشب هلق بحالة حرجة، ويمكن يضل عايش بس كم شهر

The young man is in critical condition and might have just months to live

سيبك من أخوك, هو بس مزعوج اليوم

Ignore (stay away from) your brother, he’s just in a bad mood today

 هي بس متدايقة لأنك ما رديت على رسالتها

She’s just upset that you didn’t text her back

 

سْتنيت (استنيت) ساعة بس مشان أشوفك

I waited an hour just to see you.

” فيني ساعدك؟” | “لا شكراً، عم أتفرج بس”

“Can I help you?” | “No thanks, I’m just looking.”

قررت أتعلم اسباني بس للتسلاية

I decided to learn Spanish just for fun 

بس لأنك أكبر مني، ما بيعني إنو بتقدر تقلّي (تقولّي) شو أعمل

Just because you’re older than me doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do

بس بدي أقلك (أقولك) أني مشتقلك

I just want to say that I miss you

أنا بحب قهوتي مع شوية سكر بس

I like my coffee with just a little bit of sugar

*alternatively, you can say بحب قهوتي وسط

طيب، بتقدر تاخد سيارتي اليوم، بس بس هالمرة

Fine, you can use my car today, but just this one time

P.S. Notice that the word بس is repeated twice in the last example above? That’s because the word بس can have other meanings as well. Check this post out to find out more! 

***

And…last by not least, in some contexts like the examples provided below, you can use عن جد as an emphasis.

أنا مش قادر أتحمل أختي الصغيرة, هي عن جد كتير مزعجة

I can’t stand my little sister, she’s just so annoying [~very annoying]

علي شب رائع عنجد. يا ريت أكون متله

Ali is just such an amazing guy [~very amazing]. How I wish I could be like him

 

NOTE

Sometimes, instead of saying بس near the start of the sentence, you can also hear natives saying وبس at the end of the sentence.

نكتة وبس  or  بس نكتة

It’s just a joke

سؤال وبس  or  بس سؤال

It was just a question

للتسلية وبس  or  بس للتسلية

Just for fun

* or للتِسْلايِة

 

NOTE II

In some instances, native speakers may choose to say مجرد instead of بس. However, مجرد has a more formal sound to it.

So instead of saying something like the examples above, you may hear natives say…

مجرد نكتة

It’s just a joke

مجرد سؤال

It’s just a question

مجرد للتسلية

Just for fun

* or للتِسْلايِة

 

But on a whole, the word مجرد is not as commonly used in Spoken Arabic as compared to بس.

 

Useful Phrase  – (Just) in case

To express the phrase “just in case” or simply “in case” in Spoken Arabic, you can use the phrase…

يعني في حال

or يعني بِحال

(followed by a past tense verb)

*The word يعني is added as a filler word to mimic natural speech

or

مشان/عشان ازا

(followed by a past tense verb)

 

Here are some examples:

(جيب معك شمسية يعني بحال مطرت (شتت

bring an umbrella just in case it rains

*Some say شمسية, some say مظلة for “umbrella”

ما تنسي تجيبي معِك كاش مشان ازا المطعم ما قبل فيزا كارت

don’t forget (f) to bring some cash just in case the restaurant does not accept credit cards

هاي رقم تلفوني يعني بحال صار اي شي

here’s my phone number just in case anything happens

 

Both في حال and مشان/عشان ازا can be used in the 3 examples above.

~~~

That’s it for now! I hope you find this post useful 🙂

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn