# if I were doing / were going to do



## Sidjanga

Hi again,

This is meant to be something like the complementary thread to that one.

*1a) *[A friend of mine is flying to Syria tonight but hasn't started packing yet, nor does she give the impression like she were going to do so any time soon.]

_--> *If I* *were flying*/*travelling* to Syria tonight, I would start packing now._

*b)* [I'm stuck here in Germany and don't really have anyone to speak Arabic with.]

_*--> If I travelled* to Syria, I could speak loads of Arabic_.

My question with respect to this sentence is above all: is there a difference between the Arabic equivalents of _if I *were  *fly*ing*/travell*ing*_ of sentence *a)* and _if I travell*ed* _in this  sentence?


*2)* [Another friend of mine is planning to travel to Iraq in a few months' time, but he doesn't seem to want to learn any Arabic.]

_*If I were going to travel* to Iraq, I would start studying some Arabic._


I'm looking forward to your suggestions.


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## nado92

s you know English grammar is different from Arabic grammar.If means لو or اذا
It refers to *condition *and *hope *in Arabic. The *first *conditional *if *is nearly the same as Arabic.  *-**لو**-*اذا * كان عنده وقت فسوف يقابل رئيس الوزراء*=
 the *second *and *third *conditional if means one thing in Arabic,that something *didn*'t happen.
 لو كان الرئيس عنده وقت الليلة، (كان زار؟) الوزير الأول. *but  *لم يكن عنده وقت و لم يزر


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## elroy

1a. لو كنت أنا سأسافر إلى سوريا الليلة لبدأت بتحضير أمتعتي الآن
1b. لو سافرت إلى سوريا لاستطعت تكلم العربية بكثرة
2. لو كنت سأسافر (لو كنت أنوي السفر) إلى العراق لبدأت بتعلم اللغة العربية


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## Abu Fahm

أرجوكم هل يمكِنكم من تحويل هذه الجمَل إلَى الشَامي
دعني اجرب:
لو كنت أنا سأسافر إلى سوريا الليلة لبدأت بتحضير أمتعتي الآن
إزَا كنت سَافر ع سوريا هالليلة فكنت بعدني محضّر اغراضي هلء


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## clevermizo

Abu Fahm said:


> أرجوكم هل يمكِنكم من تحويل هذه الجمَل إلَى الشَامي
> دعني اجرب:
> لو كنت أنا سأسافر إلى سوريا الليلة لبدأت بتحضير أمتعتي الآن
> إزَا كنت سَافر ع سوريا هالليلة فكنت بعدني محضّر اغراضي هلء



Why change لو to إذا??

I would say

لو كنت رح (أ)سافر لـسوريا الليلة، بديت (أ)ضبّ عفشي/غراضي هلّق.


law kint ra7 saafer la-Suuriyya l-leele, badeet Dubb 3afshi/ighraaDi halla2.

(Based on a more Syrian pronunciation).

In Arabic, I wrote أ in parentheses because this would be part of the conjugation of these verbs in Jordanian/Palestinian. But basically the grammar is more or less the same as the fus7a sentence, although the لـ particle (لـــبدئت) is not used. Also, one _bisaafer *la*l-makaan, _mish _3ala l-makaan_, at least to my knowledge. _Dabb_ is the verb I know "to pack". 

What do you mean by كنت بعدني محضّر غراضي?? That sounds like "I would have still prepared my things"? If you meant "I would still be preparing my things" that would be بعدني كنت عم (أ)حضّر غراضي but it still sounds a bit different from the original. What structure were you trying to translate?


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## Abu Fahm

you are right Mizo, i tried to use my limited knowledge of Syrian. I was actually trying to say I would have already been prepared.

I thought that when we say b3idni shaarib qahua, it means I have already drank coffe (thats how it was explained in the text book)

So if I say b3idni mHaDDir gharaaDi, i though it would mean I have already prepared my stuff (muHaDDir is an active participle of the verb HaDDara - to prepare)

If that is right than kinit b3idni mHaDDir gharaaDii I have already prepared my stuff(in the past)


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## elroy

1a. لو إنّي أنا بدي أسافر على سوريا الليلة كان ببدا أحضر أغراضي/شناتيّ (من) هلأ
1b. إذا سافرت على سوريا بصحلّي أحكي كتير عربي 
2.  لو إنّي بدي أسافر على العراق كان ببدا أتعلم عربي

The usual disclaimer applies.  My translations are in Palestinian Arabic.



clevermizo said:


> لو كنت رح (أ)سافر لـسوريا الليلة، بديت (أ)ضبّ عفشي/غراضي هلّق.
> 
> 
> law kint ra7 saafer la-Suuriyya l-leele, badeet Dubb 3afshi/ighraaDi halla2.
> 
> (Based on a more Syrian pronunciation).
> 
> But basically the grammar is more or less the same as the fus7a sentence, although the لـ particle (لـــبدئت) is not used.


 At least in Palestinian Arabic, we would not use the past tense by itself like that.  It has to be كان بديت or كنت بديت. 





> Also, one _bisaafer *la*l-makaan, _mish _3ala l-makaan_, at least to my knowledge.


 It's على in Palestinian Arabic. 





> _Dabb_ is the verb I know "to pack".


 That works, but you can also use حضّر.

By the way, عفش is "furniture," which is pretty specific, so in this context I would stick with a general word like غراض or شناتيّ.



> If you meant "I would still be preparing my things" that would be بعدني كنت عم (أ)حضّر غراضي but it still sounds a bit different from the original.


 In Palestinian Arabic, it would be كان بكون بعدني بحضر غراضي.  We wouldn't start with بعدني.


Abu Fahm said:


> you are right Mizo, i tried to use my limited knowledge of Syrian. I was actually trying to say I would have already been prepared.


 In Palestinian Arabic, that would be كان بكون صرت جاهز or كان بكون صرت محضر غراضي.



> I thought that when we say b3idni shaarib, it means I have already drank


 No, "I already drank" is صرت شارب (at least in Palestinian Arabic).  بعدني بشرب means "I'm still drinking."  بعدني هلأ شارب/شربت means "I just drank."



> So if I say b3idni mHDDir aghraaDi, i though it mean I have already prepared my stuff


 Nope. See above.  



> If that is right than kinit b3idni mHaDDir gharaaDii I have already prepared my stuff in the past


 I think you may be confusing بعدني with صرت.

بعدني بعمل إشي = I am still doing something
صرت عامل إشي = I already did something

However, I think the uses of صرت to mean "already" are limited in Syrian Arabic, whereas in Palestinian Arabic it's the normal way to say "already."


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## clevermizo

elroy said:


> At least in Palestinian Arabic, we would not use the past tense by itself like that.  It has to be كان بديت or كنت بديت.  It's على in Palestinian Arabic.  That works, but you can also use حضّر.



To me, or my understanding of Syrian and Lebanese, كنت بديت means "I would have started" (and so it's more like the subtleties of لو and  لو أن that we discussed in this other thread, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe a native Syrian or Lebanese speaker can clarify a bit.



> By the way, عفش is "furniture," which is pretty specific, so in this context I would stick with a general word like غراض or شناتيّ.


I thought عفش meant "luggage." 



> However, I think the uses of صرت to mean "already" are limited in Syrian Arabic, whereas in Palestinian Arabic it's the normal way to say "already."


In fact, there was this thread  dealing with some of it.


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## elroy

clevermizo said:


> To me, or my understanding of Syrian and Lebanese, كنت بديت means "I would have started" (and so it's more like the subtleties of لو and  لو أن that we discussed in this other thread, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe a native Syrian or Lebanese speaker can clarify a bit.


 I'm actually positive you can't just say بديت in any Levantine dialect.  As for كنت بديت, it's synonymous with كان بديت in Palestinian Arabic.  The former is more common in the north. 





> I thought عفش meant "luggage."


 Not in Palestinian Arabic.





> In fact, there was this thread  dealing with some of it.


 Yup.  That's why I said that.


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## clevermizo

elroy said:


> I'm actually positive you can't just say بديت in any Levantine dialect.  As for كنت بديت, it's synonymous with كان بديت in Palestinian Arabic.  The former is more common in the north.




Thanks. Actually, I think you're right and the distinction is _kint 2ibda_ for "I would start" and _kint badeet_ for "I would have started" and you can't use _badeet_ by itself. I'm not sure if you can say كان إبدا/كان بديت in Syrian or Lebanese - I think the verbs have to match. Again, I hope someone can eventually clarify the Syrian or Lebanese usage here.


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## L.2

Abu Fahm said:


> أرجوكم هل يمكِنكم من تحويل هذه الجمَل إلَى الشَامي
> دعني اجرب:
> لو كنت أنا سأسافر إلى سوريا الليلة لبدأت بتحضير أمتعتي الآن
> إزَا كنت سَافر ع سوريا هالليلة فكنت بعدني محضّر اغراضي هلء


 
I am not Syrian, my try;
لو كنت رح سافر ع سوريا الليلة لكنت هلأ عم ضب اغراضي


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## the-moon-light

Can I summarize the above.

Grammars:

1) بعدني+ فعل مضارع: I'm still.
ex. بعدني بكتب الواجب. I'm still writting the homework.

2) بعدني + هلء + فعل ماضي : I just.
ex. بعدني هلء كتبت الواجب. I just wrote the home work.

3) صرت + اسم فاعل: I already did.
ex.صرت كاتب الواجب خمس مرات. I already wrote the home work five times.

4) كنت بكون+ فعل ماضي : I would have.
ex. كنت بكون كتبت الواجب هلء. I would have wrote the home work now.

Words:
1)  غراض/عفش luggage.
2) شناتي my bags.
3) أضب to pack.
4) أحضّر to pack/ to prepare.

Correcte me please


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## Abu Fahm

Thanks,

May I ask if Khaliji and Hijazi work in the same way?


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## elroy

1) بعدني+ فعل مضارع: I'm still. 

2) بعدني + هلء + فعل ماضي : I just. 

3) صرت + اسم فاعل: I already did. 

4) كنت بكون+ فعل ماضي : I would have. 
There's no "بكون."  It's just كنت/كان + فعل ماضي

Words:
1)  غراض/عفش luggage. 
 غراض are just "things," not necessarily "luggage."  And as I said عفش is "furniture" in Palestinian Arabic, but I suppose it might be different in other dialects.

2) شناتي my bags. 
"Shanaati" = bags
"Shanatiyyi" = my bags
You can also say "shunaT" instead of "shanaati" (the singular is "shanta").

3) أضب to pack.
It just means "to put away" so it's more general.

4) أحضّر to pack/ to prepare.
Literally, "to prepare" or "to get [something] ready."


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## L.2

Abu Fahm said:


> Thanks,
> 
> May I ask if Khaliji and Hijazi work in the same way?


 
Hijazi
I'm still doing something
لسه قاعد/قاعده احضر شنطتي
I just did something
دوبني/دوبي حضرت شنطتي
I didn't do something yet
لسه ما حضرت شنطتي

Saudi (I don't know which dialect this is, Najdi or southren or maybe both)

قاعد/قاعدة احضر شنطتي
توني حضرت شنطتي
تو ما بعد حضرت شنطتيor باقي ما حضرت شنطتي

صرت+ اسم فاعل is found in Saudi but doesn't mean exactly 'I have already did', I do not know I thought of examples and all seem in complaining, emphasising numbers of time that action is done.
صرت قاري الكتاب ستين مره
اوف تعبت صرت محضره الشنطة تلاته مرات

Hijazi
If I were flying/travelling to Syria tonight, I would start packing now 
لو كنت حسافر سوريا الليله كان حضرت الشنطة دحين

If I travelled to Syria, I could speak loads of Arabic
ازا سافرت سوريا حقدر اتكلم عربي 

If I were going to travel to Iraq, I would start studying some Arabic.
لو كنت ابغا اسافر سوريا كان بدأت اتعلم العربي


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## Abu Fahm

Thanks L.2

What you are saying frustrates me. There are a number of differences in grammar, coupled with different pronounciation and speach rhythm, and you have a situation where knowing Syrian vertion will not much help in understanding peninsula arabic


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## L.2

When I translated, I was not looking at Syrian sentences I translated directly from English. You shouldn't expect the same translations even in the same one language. Syrians will give you different versions for these sentence as well as hijazis.
I haven't studied Syrian and have never been in Syria but I don't have a difficulty communicating with them, if I do then you will for hijazis.
I looked back to my sentences and found some common things.
ex, Hijazi, Syrian
لسه قاعد أحضر شنطتي
لساتني عم حضر شنتايتي
Hijazi لسه = Syrian لسات
ازا سافرت سوريا حقدر اتكلم عربي
ازا سافرت ع سوريا رح بقدر احكي عربي
Syrian رح becomes ح in hijazi and sometimes راح
رح سافر = حسافر/راح اسافر
صرت قاري الكتاب ستين مره
صرت قاري الكتاب ستين مره
The same but the pronunciation of ق is g in hijazi, a glottal stop in Syrian.
Hijazi is the easiest dialect in Arabian peninsula, it's the language of commercial and advertisement on TVs because it's the easiest and the most understandable one. For Najdi, تو وللتو وليس بعد are Fus7a if you know it, then understanding them won't be a challenge.


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