Over the last few posts we’ve looked at the semantics of various verbal forms. Here we’ll briefly talk about the last two central components of the system, the particles 3am (the continuous) and ra7- (the future).
3am (the continuous)
The particle 3am is combined with the base imperfective or the b- form of the verb (there’s some variation between speakers on the exact forms used). Its most common use is to express continuous action, meaning it corresponds quite nicely to the English structure ‘be Xing’:
عم بشرب
3am bishrab
I’m drinking
عم يشتغلو
3am yishtighlu
they’re working
It also commonly has the meaning ‘has been Xing’:
عم تشوف أحمد؟
3am tshuuf 2a7mad?
have you been seeing Ahmad?
عم اشتغل كتير
3am 2ishtighel iktiir
I’ve been working a lot
Note that many verbs – in particular verbs of motion and verbs describing states (‘sleep’, ‘sit’, ‘stand’) – can only use 3am to express the second meaning (‘has been Xing’). These verbs use a participle to express ongoing motion instead:
|
عم تطلعي لبرا؟ |
طالعة لبرة؟ Taal3a labarra? are you going out? |
| وين عم تروح؟ ween 3am itruu7? where’ve you been going off to? |
وين رايح؟ |
If this brief introduction has left you desperate for more information on the semantics of the continuous, I’ve written a series of posts on 3am and the participle starting here.
ra7- (the future particle)
The particle رح ra7- (as well as the variants 7a-, la7-, la- and ra7a-) is attached to the base imperfective to expressly mark the future. Although there are some differences, it most closely corresponds to the English construction ‘going to’ (whose etymology it shares):
رح تشرب مي
ra7 tishrab mayy
she’s going to drink water
رح احكي معها بكرا
ra7 2i7ki ma3ha bukra
I’m going to talk to her tomorrow
In Syrian, a ra7- structure can also sometimes have conditional meaning (‘would X’), just like the b- form. We’ll talk about this in more detail later:
لو قلتلي رح افهم
law 2iltilli ra7 2ifham
if you told me, I’d understand!
As we know, the b- form can also be used for the future. The two structures, however, are not interchangeable. The b- form most closely corresponds to English ‘will X’. The distinction between ‘will’ and ‘going to’ is famously difficult to pin down, but if you’re lucky enough to be a speaker of English you can let your intuitions guide you in Arabic here as well.
Note that بد bidd- ‘want’ can also be used like ra7 here.