Negation | النَّفْيُ Flashcards
لَا
Negates present tense verbs and general statements.
لَا أَقْرَأُ
I do not read
لَا تَخَفْ
Don’t fear!
مَا
Negates past tense verbs.
مَا ذَهَبْتُ
I did not go
مَا أَنَا بِكَاتِبٍ
I am not a writer
(classical, negates nominal sentences)
لَمْ
Negates past actions using present-tense conjugation (jussive form).
لَمْ يَفْهَمْ
He did not understand
لَنْ
Negates future actions.
لَنْ أَذْهَبَ
I will not go
لَيْسَ
Negates nominal sentences (used as “is not/are not”).
لَيْسَ الطَّالِبُ حَاضِرًا
The student is not present
مَا زَالَ
Negates continuity or emphasizes that a state/action is still ongoing.
مَا زِلْتُ أَنْتَظِرُ
I am still waiting
لَا يَزَالُ
Affirmative negation of continuity.
لَا يَزَالُ الوَضْعُ صَعْبًا
The situation remains difficult
لَا أَحَدَ
Negates existence of people (“no one”).
لَا أَحَدَ فِي البَيْتِ
No one is in the house
لَا شَيْءَ
Negates the existence of things (“nothing”).
لَا شَيْءَ جَدِيدٌ
Nothing is new
لَمَّا
Negates actions in the past, meaning “not yet.”
لَمَّا يَصِلْ
He has not yet arrived
حَاشَا/مَا خَلَ
Exclusion from a negated group in classical usage.
جَاءَ القَوْمُ مَا خَلَا زَيْدًا
The people came except Zayd
إِنْ + مَا
A form of negation used in classical expressions.
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَهْمٌ
It is nothing but an illusion
بَلَى
Used to negate a negative statement (i.e., affirm the opposite in response to a negation).
أَلَسْتَ طَالِبًا؟ بَلَ
Aren’t you a student? Yes, I am
كَلَّا
Strong negation, often found in the Qur’an and classical Arabic to emphasize refusal or denial.
كَلَّا إِنَّ الإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَى
No! Indeed, man transgresses
نَفْيٌ بِلاَ نُونَ
Used in conditional/jussive sentences.
إِنْ يَفْعَلْ خَيْرًا، فَلَنْ تَخْطِئَ
If he does good, he will not fail
