Lesson 49– الدَّرْسُ التَّاسِعُ وَالأرْبَعُونَ

The Conditional Sentence -أُسْلُوب الشَّرْط

Conditional particles do not turn the verbs into the jussive - أدوات الشرط غير الجازمة

  • We are still in lesson forty nine of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • In this section we will study the second type of Arabic conditional articles: the articles that do not turn the present verb into jussive. The Arabic conditional sentence, as we have learned, is composed of two clauses and an article. One clause is dependent on the other. Regarding the article which does not turn the present verb into the jussive; i.e. both verbs of the conditional sentence are not in the jussive, but they are declined normally as if there is no conditional article.
  • There are eight conditional articles that do not turn the present verb into jussive: إذا، لَوْ، لَولا، كُلَّما، لَمَّا، لَوْما، أمَّا، على، أَوْ.
  • Study the following examples on the most commonly used  five articles and their meanings:

Picture

Example

Meaning

Article

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إذا عَرَفْتَ عُيُوبَكَ، تَسْتَطِيعُ أنْ تُعالِجَها.

When you know your flaws, you can correct them.

Idhā is a conditional which means ħīna (when), i.e. it is an adverb. It indicates the occurrence of the condition in the future, i.e. if the verb happens in the future, the answer to the condition will happen after it.

إذا

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لَوْ أَنَّ صَدِيقِي اِعْتَذَرَ لِي، لَقَبِلْتُ اعْتِذَارَهُ.

If my friend had apologized to me, I would have accepted his apology.

Law (if) is conditional particle that indicates that the answer to the condition did not happen because the condition was not there. Both verbs of the conditional sentence do not come in the jussive. They are declinable (if they are in the present tense) in accordance with the sentence.

لَوْ

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لَوْلا اخْتلافُ الأذْوَاقِ، لَبارَتِ السِّلَعُ.

But for different tastes (people have), commodities would be unsold.

Lawlā (but for) A conditional particle that indicates the answer to the condition did not happen because the condition was there.

لَوْلا

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كُلَّمَا اِزْدَادَ الإنْسانُ عِلْما، قَلَّ جَهْلُهُ.

The more the knowledge man obtains, the less ignorant he becomes.

Kullamā (the more … the more (less) ..) is a conditional particle that indicates that the answer to the condition continues as long as the condition continues to exist, and that the answer stops once the condition stops to exist.

كُلَّما

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لَمَّا سَافَرْتُ إلَى أُورُبا، وَجَدْتُ عالَما مُخْتَلِفا.

When I traveled to Europe, I found a different world.

Lammā (when) is a conditional now which has the same meaning as ħīna (when). It indicates that the answer to the condition is dependent on the time when the condition happens. This time is always in the past. It seems similar to “idhā” which has the same meaning but in the future.

لَمَّا

  • As you notice from the examples, the answer to the condition can be a nominal sentence as was the case with particle “law” and “lawlā”.
  • There is a semantic difference between (law), (idhā), and (in) as follows according to the occurrence possibility of the conditional verb:
  • In the case of (law) the occurrence of the conditional verb is impossible, irreal.
  • With (idhā) the occurrence of the conditional verb is sure, so it can translated by the adverb (when) //ξindamā// or //hīna//
  • With (in) the occurrence of the conditional verb is probable.
  • Consider these examples:

Explanation

Translation

Example

But it is known that he didn’t apologize.

If my friend had apologized to me, I would have accepted his apology.

لَوْ أَنَّ صَدِيقِي اعْتَذَرَ لِي، لَقَبِلْتُ اِعْتِذَارَهُ.

And I think it is sure that you will meet him

If (when) you meet my friend, give him this book.

إذا قابلتَ صَديقي، أعطهِ هذا الْكِتابَ.

It is probable that you study.

If you study your lessons, you (will) succeed.

إنْ تُذاكِرْ دُرُوسَكَ، تَنْجَحْ.