Negation in Arabic

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Present-tense verbs are negated by adding {{lang|ar|لا}} {{transl|ar|lā}} "not" before the verb:Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 644 [§37.2.1.2].

If a sentence would, in the affirmative, have no verb (this can only happen in the present tense), then the negative verb {{lang|ar|لَيْسَ}} {{transl|ar|laysa}} "is not" is used. {{transl|ar|laysa}} is inflected like a past-tense verb, but is used to negate present-tense sentences. As with {{lang|ar|كانَ}} {{transl|ar|kāna}} "was", the complement of {{transl|ar|laysa}} must be in the accusative case. Before consonantal endings, the diphthong -ay- is reduced to a short -a-.Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 641-43 [§37.1].

Here is an example sentence saying that something is not big in all possible persons and numbers:

In Modern Standard Arabic, the main way to negate past-tense verbs is to add the negative particle {{lang|ar|لَمْ}} {{transl|ar|lam}} "not" before the verb, and to put the verb in the jussive mood.Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 647 [§37.2.2.1]. In more colloquial usage, it is possible to give the verb in the present indicative mood (which is largely identical in form to the jussive).Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar, Easy Arabic Grammar (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005), p. 119 {{ISBN|0071462104}}.

It is also possible to use the negative particle {{lang|ar|ما}} {{transl|ar|mā}} before the verb, giving the verb in the past tense.Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 647 [§37.2.2.2].Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar, Easy Arabic Grammar (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005), p. 119 {{ISBN|0071462104}}.

Negating a proposition in the future is done by placing the negative particle {{lang|ar|لَنْ}} {{transl|ar|lan}} before the verb in the subjunctive mood.Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 648 [§37.2.2.3].

The imperative (known as {{lang|ar|الأَمْر}} "the order," from {{lang|ar|أَمَرَ}} "he ordered") is negated by putting {{lang|ar|لا}} {{transl|ar|lā}} "not" before the verb, putting the verb in the jussive, rather than the imperative, mood.Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 645 [§37.2.1.5]. (This negative imperative is known as {{lang|ar|النَّهْي}} "the discouragement," from {{lang|ar|نَهى}} "he discouraged.") For example, in the masculine singular: {{lang|ar|اِظْلِمْ}} (iẓlim, "oppress!"), {{lang|ar|لا تَظْلِمْ}} (lā taẓlim, "do not oppress!").

"No", as an answer to a question, is expressed by the negative particle {{lang|ar|لا}} {{transl|ar|lā}}.Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 644 [§37.2.1.1].

Modern Standard Arabic {{lang|ar|لَيْسَ}} {{transl|ar|laysa}} "is not" is replaced in colloquial usage with a variety of other forms, which in origin are contractions of phrases such as ما مِنْ شَيْ mā min shay "nothing" (literally: "none from/of a thing"):

North African, Egyptian, and some Levantine Arabic varieties negate verbs using a circumfix—a combination of the prefix ma- and the suffix -ʃ. This, for example, is the negative paradigm of the verb {{lang|ar|كَتَبَ}} {{transl|ar|kataba}} "he wrote" in Algerian Arabic:

In these varieties, to negate present participles and verbs conjugated in the future, mūš, or its conjugated form, is frequently used (in front of the verb).Gibson, M. (2009). Tunis Arabic. Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, 4, 563–71.Wilmsen, D. (2014). Arabic Indefinites, Interrogatives, and Negators: A Linguistic History of Western Dialects. Oxford University Press. For example, Tunisian Arabic {{lang|ar|موش}} {{transl|ar|mūsh}} is conjugated as follows:Ben Abdelkader, R., & Naouar, A. (1979). [http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED183018.pdf Peace Corps/Tunisia Course in Tunisian Arabic].Chekili, F. (1982). The morphology of the Arabic dialect of Tunis (Doctoral dissertation, University of London).

• Illa (Arabic)

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Category:Arabic grammar