‘Actually’ is another useful word used quite a lot in English (and not just at the beginning of patronising lectures about politics delivered by that person at a party nobody wants to talk to). Like the other words we’ve been looking at in this series, however, it defies attempts to find a single Arabic equivalent, which can often leave you grasping for a word you really need in the middle of a sentence.
بالحقيقة bil7a2ii2a
بالواقع bilwaaqe3
The first of these in particular is one of the first expressions many people learn in Arabic for some reason. You can use them to make a statement of fact contrary to, for example, a misconception:
كيف بسمي حالو مثقف و هو بالحقيقه جملتين ما بعرف يقول
kiif bisammi 7aalo muthaqqaf w huwwe bil7a2ii2a jumelteen maa bi3raf y2uul
How can he call himself an intellectual when actually/in reality he can’t string a sentence together [= two sentences he doesn’t know how to say]?
بالحقيقة هو اختي اللي عملت هيك مو انا
bil7a2ii2a huwwe 2ékhti lli 3émlet heek muu 2ana!
Actually it was my sister who did that, not me!
ولا لقلك wélla la2éllak, wélla la2éllek
ولا قلك wélla 2éllak, wélla 2éllek
Literally something like ‘or tell you what…’ (from قال). This is used in a particularly difficult sense of ‘actually’ to pin down or describe – that use which allows you to express a sudden change of heart or contrary thought. There’s a famous Buq3at Daw2 episode titled ولا قلك about a woman who is simultaneously indecisive and impulsive.
شو رأيك نفتح انا وياكي مطعم؟؟ ولا لقللك..انا مابحب الشراكة روحي فتحيلك شي تاني
shu ra2yek néfta7 2ana wéyyaaki maT3am? wélla la-2éllek… 2ana maa b7ébb léshraake ruu7i fta7iilik shi taani
How about we open a restaurant together? Actually… I don’t like cooperating with other people, go and open something else.
عزيزي المواطن .. ولا قلك ، خلص ولاشي الي فيك مكفيك
3aziizi lmuwaaTen… wélla 2éllak, khalaS, wala shi, élli fiik @mkaffiik
Dear fellow citizens… actually, never mind, nothing. You’ve got enough on your plate.
ما بدي قهوة حاشرب نسكافه… ولا لقلك, بشرب قهوة معك مالي خلق اعمل نسكافة
maa béddi 2ahwe 7a2éshrab neskaafe…. wélla 2éllek, béshrab 2ahwe ma3ik. maali khél@2 2a3mel neskaafe
I don’t want Turkish coffee, I’m going to have instant… actually, I will have some coffee with you, I can’t be bothered making instant.
ولله, بالله waLLa/waLLaahi, billa/balla
waLLa is literally ‘[swear] to God’, with the so-called ‘waaw of oaths’. Although religious people (and children, who’re always telling each other to swear to God) may thus consider it binding, in normal usage it’s pretty omnipresent meaning ‘really!’ and ‘I swear!’ and can typically be safely used even when you’re joking (i.e. lying), although you might get some mild disapproval. Stronger variants include ولله العظيم waLLaahil3aZiim ‘by almighty God’ and اقسم بالله uqsum billaa and قسما بالله qasaman billaa, ‘I swear to God’.
You will also hear اي ولله eewaLLaa and اه ولله aawaLLaa (corresponding to the areas where aa and ee are used for ‘yeah’) and simple ولله on its own in the meaning of ‘yeah, you’re telling me’. This might be the etymology of the omnipresent eewa.
With a question intonation, ولله؟ can also be either a highly sceptical ‘oh really?’ or a more normal, positive-feedback kinda ‘really?’, just like the English word. In its question function – but not in its other functions – you may also hear بالله؟ billa/balla?
فعلا fi3lan
A (possibly more polite) alternative to waLLa in questions:
بحكي عربي – اه فعلا؟
ba7ki 3arabi – aa, fi3lan?
I speak Arabic – oh, really?
Fi3lan can also be used in normal sentences:
لو المشكلة فعلا بالتهجئة ماكان وصل محرك البحث غوغل لهالمرحلة
law ilmushkile fi3lan bittahji2a maa kaan waSSal mu7arrek ilba7eth googel la-halmar7ale
If it really was a problem with spelling [= if the problem was really in spelling], the search engine Google would never have got so far
كتير, جدا ktiir, jiddan
You know these, but I’m including them for the sake of completeness. Both of them modify adjectives (‘really good’, ‘really bad’. They can either precede or follow the adjective they modify, more commonly preceding them (unlike in fuSHa where they can only follow the adjective). jiddan is higher-register:
منطقة كتير حلوة
manTi2a ktiir 7élwe
A really nice area
موضوع جدا مهم
mawDuu3 jiddan mohumm
A very important issue