Ahlan!
Here’s a short and sweet post on how to say the English equivalent of “This wouldn’t have happened if…” in Levantine Arabic.
And what better way to do so but through sample sentences!
An audio recording of the sentences is also provided by a native Syrian speaker.
Ready to learn? Yalla!
لو + الفعل الماضي … كان + الفعل الماضي
If + Past tense verb …. + To be + Past tense verb
لو دَرسَت منيح كانت نجحت
If she had studied well, she would have succeeded
لو سمع كلام امه ما كان صار اللي صار
If he had listened to his mother’s words, this wouldn’t have happened
(لو خبرتيني كنت ساعدتِك بوقتا (بوقتها
If you(f) had told me, I would have helped you(f) at that time
لو طلعنا من البيت بكير, ما كنا علقنا بعجقة سير
If we had left the house early, we wouldn’t be stuck in traffic now
(Jordanian Arabic uses أزمة to describe a traffic jam)
لو كان الجو حلو كنت طلعت مشوار مع رفقاتي
If the weather had been great, I would have gone out for a trip with my friends
(Lebanese Arabic also uses كزدورة to describe a trip/picnic)
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That’s it, folks 🙂
Can you see the pattern? I definitely hope so!
Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh.
Lyn
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