Welcome to the first post of the How To Say series where we’ll explore all the little words in Levantine Arabic that are often overlooked yet make all the difference.

And the first word is…”still”!

How To Say “Still” In Levantine Arabic?

There are two words that natives across the Levant would use and they are…

بَعَد لِسّا / لِسّة

And the tables below will show you how to add personal pronouns to them…

As you can see, there can be different ways that natives conjugate for لسة within the Levant. The ways vary from region to region.

For example, in addition to the ones mentioned in the table, there are natives such as Syrians from Aleppo who say لسّعتو instead of لسّاتو.

Don’t let the variations bother you. For simplicity’s sake, you might want to just stick with the ones in the yellow columns.

Before we look at the sentence examples, it is useful to note that when it comes to using the word لسة to refer to “still”, you may choose to add or omit the attached pronouns.

So for example, if you want to say “He is still young”, you can choose from the following sentences:

هو لسة صغير

هو لساته صغير

هو بعده صغير

As you can see, using both لسة and لساته is acceptable.

However, you can’t use بعد without the attached pronoun because native speakers will tell you that it sounds odd and unnatural.

So all in all, remember to attach the pronouns when using بعد to refer to “still”.

UPDATE:

I’m guessing you have to add the attached pronoun to بعد when using adjectives. For example, if you want to say “he’s still tired” or “he’s still young”, بعده is used. If you omit the attached pronoun and just say بعد, it won’t sound natural.

However, I’ve seen natives (from Lebanon and Syria) use بعد on its own when using verbs. For example, if you want to say “I haven’t watched it (the movie) yet”, you can say:

ما حضرته بعد

However, my Jordanian friend insists that the sentence structure above sounds unnatural and he would rather say

بعدني ما حضرته

or

ما حضرته بعدني

So maybe it’s a North Levantine Arabic vs South Levantine Arabic thing 🤷‍♀️

~~~

Now, let’s look at more sentence examples

Note: The audio recordings are by a native Syrian speaker so the attached pronouns used are the North Levantine ones.

Sentence examples:

وين حسن؟ لسة رح يجي عالشغل؟

بعدو رح يجي عالشغل؟

Where is Hasan? Is he still coming to work?

حسن لساتو عالطريق للمكتب

حسن بعدو عالطريق للمكتب

Hasan is still on his way to the office

وين رايح؟ خليك شوي كمان، لسة بكير

بعدو بكير

Where are you(m) going? Stay awhile more, it is still early

وطوا صوتكن! لسة في طلاب عم يقدموا فحص بالغرفة التانية

بعدو في طلاب عم يقدموا فحص بالغرفة التانية

Lower your (pl) voice! There are still students taking their examinations in the next room

أنا بروح عالنادي كل يوم بس لسة ما عم ينزل وزني

بس بعدو وزني ما عم ينزل

I go to the gym every day but I’m still not losing weight

ديانا لسة ما قررت اذا رح تجي للحفلة اليوم باليل

ديانا بعدا ما قررت اذا رح تجي للحفلة اليوم باليل

Diana still hasn’t decided if she is coming to the party tonight

بتعرفِ اذا لسة ليزا هي مديرة الشركة؟

بتعرفِ اذا بعدا ليزا هي مديرة الشركة؟

Do you(f) know if Lisa is still the manager of the company?

كيف رح نروح عالبحر الميت هلق؟ لسة الدنيا عم تمطر

بعدا الدنيا عم تمطر

How are we going to the Dead Sea now? It is still raining

شو صار لأبو علي؟ صار أسبوع ولسة دكانتو مسكرة

صار أسبوع وبعدا دكانتو مسكرة

What happened to Abo Ali? It has been a week and his shop is still closed

الولاد لساتن معصبين منك لأنو ما خليتن يروحوا عالسينما

الولاد بعدن معصبين منك لأنو ما خليتن يروحوا عالسينما

The children are still mad at you (m) for not letting them go to the cinema

فيقوا ياجماعة! صارت الساعة 10 الصبح ولسة انتوا نايمين؟

صارت الساعة 10 الصبح وبعدكن نايمين؟

Wake up (pl)! It’s already 10 in the morning and you all are still sleeping?

لسة انت عايش بنفس البناية؟

بعدك عايش بنفس البناية؟

Are you (m) still living in the same building?

ليش لساتك فايق لهالوقت؟

ليش بعدك فايق لهالوقت؟

Why are you still awake at this hour?

إنتِ لساتِك بأستراليا؟

إنتِ بعدِك بأستراليا؟

Are you (f) still in Australia?

إنتِ لساتك بتحبِ هداك الشخص؟

إنتِ بعدِك بتحبِ هداك الشخص؟

Are you(f) still in love with that guy?

لسة ما خلصتِ من المهمة؟

بعدِك ما خلصتِ من المهمة؟

You’re (f) still not finished with the task?

لسة مش متأكد من اللون الّي رح ادهن فيه غرفتي

بعدني مش متأكد من اللون الّي رح ادهن فيه غرفتي

I’m still not sure what color to choose to paint my room

رح أتأخر، لساتي علقان بزحمة السير

بعدني علقان بزحمة السير

I will be late, I’m still stuck in the traffic jam

[For South Levantine Arabic, you can say علقان بالأزمة instead]

(انا ما بعرف كتير. لساتني عم اتعلّم بس رح حاول (أحاول) ساعدك (أساعدك

(بعدني عم اتعلّم بس رح حاول (أحاول) ساعدك (أساعدك

I don’t know much, I’m still learning, but I’ll try to help you

عطينا دقيقة، لسة عم نحاول نحلّ اللغز

بعدنا عم نحاول نحلّ اللغز

Give us a minute, we are still trying to solve the puzzle

حمود ربك أنو لساتنا عايشين

حمود ربك أنو بعدنا عايشين

Be grateful that we are still alive

~~~

That’s it, folks! I hope you find this post useful! 🙂

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn