Ahlaann Ahlaaan

Yesterday, I shared a song called “Bala Wala Shi” on theLevanTongue’s Facebook page.

Have you listened to it yet?

In this post, I will be sharing with you the ways native speakers use the words بلا and ولا in Levantine Arabic.

Also, did you know that there is a difference between ولا and ولّا?

The difference lies in the shadda (duh) but what about the difference in meaning and usage?

Yalla, read on to find out!

#1) بلا (Bala)

The most common way of looking at the word is to think of it as the equivalent of the English word “without”.

In the song above, you will see many sentences with the word بلا that were translated as “without”.

Here are some additional common everyday examples:

لو سمحت, بدي فنجان قهوة بلا سكر

Excuse me, I would like a cup of coffee without sugar

سارة ما بتحب البطاطا بلا كتشب

Sara doesn’t like french fries (lit: potatoes) without ketchup

بتمنى اعيش بعالم بلا حدود

I hope to live in a world without borders

Note: Since the word بلا works in a similar manner as the English word, “without”, it is perfectly fine to replace it with the word, بِدون, which also means “without”.

It is also possible to add possessive pronouns to the word بلا. For example:

بلاك

without you

مش (مو) مشكلة. بقدر أعيش بلاكي

No problem. I can live without you (f)

شكلا (شكلها) الرحلة طويلة بلاك

The trip seems long without you

(this is a line from the song, 12 Sa3a by Adonis)

خطيبتي كانت عندا (عندها) دوام ف المشوار كان مش (مو) حلو بلاها

My finance had work so the trip was not great without her

The phrase بلاها or بلاه can also mean along the lines of “forget it”. Note that depending on how you say it and the context, it can sound impolite to say it.

بلاها / بلاه

Forget it [be without it]

Or you can also say:

بلا منها / بلا منه

Use بلا منه or بلاه when referring to masculine words. Use بلا منها or بلاها when referring to feminine words.

Here are some examples:

الصراحة محتاج مساعدتِك بس اذا انتي مو(مش) فاضية, بلاها. عادي

Frankly, I need your (f) help but if you’re not free, forget it. It’s okay

يلا نروح نتغدا وبلاها آخر محاضرة

Yalla, let’s go have lunch and skip [forget about] the last lecture

شو رايك نطلع هالأسبوع (هذا الأسوع) على البحر؟ :A

والله انا بقول بلاها الطلعة هالأسبوع :B

A: What do you think of us going out to the sea this week?

B: I say let’s forget about going out this week

خلينا نرجع, نسيت دفتري بالبيت :A

بلاه الدفتر, رح نتأخر :B

A: Let’s go back, I forgot my notebook at home

B: Forget the notebook, we will be late

The word بلا can also mean “don’t”. Whether it’s a suggestion or an order, depends on the context.

Example #1: A mother says to her child

بلاها الشوكولاتة هلأ, خليها لبعد الغداء

Don’t (eat) the chocolate now, keep it till after lunch

Example #2: A teacher to a student

بلاها الجية متأخر, احسن ما تنفصل

Don’t come late, or else you’ll be dismissed/kicked out

Here are some common phrases/chunks with the word بلا that you’ll hear natives say:

بلا طعمة

This phrase literally means “without taste”.

And the idea is that anything that is tasteless got to suck. Therefore, anything that is described as بلا طعمة has to be crappy, nonsensical, a waste of time…you get the idea.

So for example:

حكي بلا طعمة

Talk without taste = Empty talk/talking nonsense/talking rubbish

شو هالحكي بلا طعمة؟

What is all this nonsense [nonsensical/empty talk]?

Another common phrase that uses the word بلا is…

احسن من بلا

Better than nothing

لقينا بالبرّاد (التلاجة) زيتون وخبز أحسن من بلا ونضل جوعانين

We found olives and bread in the fridge which is better than nothing and (better than) staying hungry

وسام عم يشتغل جرسون أحسن من بلا ويضل عاطل عن الشغل

Wisam is working as a waiter which is better than nothing and being unemployed

عاطل عن الشغل = unemployed

In addition, if you’re using the word بلا with a verb, you’ll have to add the word ما after it.

بلا ما تحطي مكياج وانتي رايحة للعزا

Don’t you (f) put on make-up when you’re going to the wake (social gathering before the funeral)

إذا ابنك تزوج بلا ما يقلّك (يقولك), شو بتعمل؟

If your son got married without telling you, what would you do?

يا جماعة…بلا ما نحكم, خلينا نفهم

Hey everyone…let’s not judge, let’s (try to) understand

خلينا نكمّل المناقشة بلا ما نحكي سياسة

Let’s continue the discussion without talking politics

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بلا

Yay! We have come to the end of the section for the word, “bala”!

Need another song to remember the word بلا? Here’s a popular song by Mashrou Leila which contains the word numerous times. Click here to check out the lyrics and English translation.

#2) ولا (Wala)

There are generally two huge ways of using the word ولا.

The first way is to use it as an emphasis.

Let’s take a look at some examples so that you get a better idea of what I’m saying…

! ولا كلمة

Not a word! = Keep quiet/Shut up!

ولا حدا / ولا أي حدا

Not a single person = anyone/nobody

ما بعرف ولا أي حدا هون بهاي الغرفة

I don’t know anyone at all in this room

ولا نهار / ولا يوم

Not a day

ولا نهار مرق علي من دون ما يصير مشاكل

Not a day passed me by without problems occurring

ولا واحدة من صاحباتك بتعرف تسوق

Not one of your friends (f) know how to drive

ولا مرة

Not a single time/moment = never

مع اني كنت اشتغل كل يوم معه, ولا مرة حكيت معه

Even though I used to work with him every day, I’ve never spoken to him

ولا عمري

never in my life

ولا عمري سافرت برا بلدي ونفسي سافر (أسافر) شي يوم

Never in my life have I traveled outside of my country before and I’d love to travel someday

/ولا ليرة / قرش/ شيكل

Not a single cent

(قرش is more commonly said in Jordan and شيكل shekel in Palestine)

كيف بدي أدفع الإيجار؟ ما معي ولا ليرة

How am I supposed to pay the rent? I don’t have a single cent with me!

ولا فكرة

Not a single idea

ما عندي ولا فكرة

I have no idea at all

ما بيخطرلي ولا فكرة

Not a single idea crosses my mind = I can’t think of anything at all

So let’s take a look at the title of the song, Bala Wala Shi….

بلا = without

ولا شي = not a thing =nothing

بلا ولا شي…بحبك

Without nothing at all…I love you

For example:

شو صار؟ :A

shu Sar?

What happened?

ولا شي :B

wala shii

Nothing

The second way you can use the word ولا is exactly like how you would the English phrase, “neither…nor…”.

However, the word ولا will usually be accompanied with the word لا.

Here are some examples

لا أحمد ولا محمد اجوا على الحفلة

Neither Ahmad nor Mohamad came to the party

لا البرشا ولا الريال رح يفوز السنة هاي

Neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid will win this year

Sometimes, the word ما is said instead of لا

ما بعرفك ولا مرة حكيت معك

Neither do I know you nor have I spoken to you before

So, let’s take a look at another part of the song:

ولا في بهالحب مصاري
ولا ممكن فيه ليرات
ولا ممكن فيه اراضي
ولا فيه مجوهرات

If I were to look at ولا as an emphasis, then the phrase ولا ممكن would mean “not possible at all”.

If I were to ugly translate these lines in a horrible manner such that the usage of ولا as an emphasis is made clearer…it would be:

This love involves no money at all

it can never (not possible at all) involve coins

it can never involve lands (properties)

it does not involve jewelry at all

Then again, it is also possible to translate the lyrics by looking at ولا to mean “nor” and thus…

Nor it (the love) involves coins…nor it involves lands…

Either way, what a lovely song!

#3) ولّا (Walla)

Now that you’ve learned about the word ولا, it is useful to know that there’s another similar-looking word that carries a different meaning.

And the word is ولّا – with the shadda.

The usage of the word is like the English word “or”.

Here are some everyday examples with the word ولّا

خلصتي أكل ولّا لسه؟

Are you (f) done eating or not yet?

بدك قهوة ولّا شاي؟

Do you want coffee or tea?

!يلا! بدك تيجي معنا ولّا شو؟

Yalla! Do you want to come along with us or what?!

سمعت إنك زعلان مني. صح ولّا لأ؟

I heard that you’re upset with me. Is that right or not [True or false]?

As you can see from the examples, the word is most commonly used when comparing just two items or two possibilities/options.

Note: Since the word ولّا works in a similar manner like “or”, it is also perfectly fine to replace the word ولّا with او in the above sentences.

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That’s it, guys!

Hope you learn lots from this post 🙂

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn