# my favorite...



## Granola

Hi,

How would you translate into MSA: "New York is my favorite city."

Thanks!


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## Masjeen

Granola said:


> Hi,
> 
> How would you translate into MSA: "New York is my favorite city."
> 
> Thanks!


 

*نيونيوك مدينتي المفضلة= new york(*New York *) madinati (=* my city*) almofaDala(* favorited)


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## Faylasoof

Hello Masjeen,




Masjeen said:


> *نيونيوك مدينتي المفضلة= new york(*New York *) madinati (=* my city*) almofaDala(* favorited)


 Isn't there a shaddah on  *D*? ->  المفضّلة *almofaD**D**ala = favoured / favourite.

*Also, would the use of الأثیرۃ instead of المفضّلة here be considered O.K. and idiomatic?


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## Masjeen

Faylasoof said:


> Hello Masjeen,
> 
> Isn't there a shaddah on *D*? -> المفضّلة *almofaDD**ala = favoured / favourite.*


 
oh yeah, there is a shaddah, but we don't use the diacritics, thank you for correcting

about the word of "الأثیرۃ" i really don't know what does it means but its for sure an arabic word


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## Josh_

In the Egyptian dialect there is the structure أحَبّ (حاجة) عندي (_aHabb (Haaga) 3andi_), however I am not sure if it is used in MSA.  "New York is my favorite city" would be نيو يورك أحب مدينة عندي.


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## Masjeen

Josh_ said:


> In the Egyptian dialect there is the structure أحَبّ (حاجة) عندي (_aHabb (Haaga) 3andi_), however I am not sure if it is used in MSA. "New York is my favorite city" would be نيو يورك أحب مدينة عندي.


 
sure you can use it in MSA:  نيو يورك أحب مدينة عندي


in kuwaiti we say: a7la madina 3endi New York


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## ayed

Granola, you could say :
*أحسن مدينة عندي هي نيويورك*
*مدينتي المفضلة هي نيويورك*


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## Faylasoof

Masjeen said:


> oh yeah, there is a shaddah, but we don't use the diacritics, thank you for correcting..


 Sorry! I meant in the transliteration – just to make it clear for those who don’t know. 



> …about the word of "





> الأثیرۃ" i really don't know what does it means but its for sure an arabic word


 Oh yes it is Arabic definitely! Let me expand my earlier question. 
Many dictionaries give these as equivalents for <favourite, favoured, preferred>:
أثير / محبوب / محسوب / مرجح
In this context I've mostly (though not always) come across _mufaDDal_ المفضل / _mufaDDalah_ المفضلة , and _I realise some of the above have other meanings / usages , depending on the context_. So in this context which of these might fit apart from مفضل ? . 




Josh_ said:


> ... "New York is my favorite city" would be





Josh_ said:


> نيو يورك أحب مدينة عندي


 … and this one is very nice too!


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## cherine

Masjeen said:


> oh yeah, there is a shaddah, but we don't use the diacritics


It's true we don't put the diacritics, but we must be very accurate in transliterating so as to not confuse anyone. 


Josh_ said:


> In the Egyptian dialect there is the structure أحَبّ (حاجة) عندي (_aHabb (Haaga) 3andi_), however I am not sure if it is used in MSA. "New York is my favorite city" would be نيو يورك أحب مدينة عندي.


This is correct, but more common is كذا أكتر حاجة بحبها or أكتر حاجة بحبها هي كذا (whereas "kaza" replaces your favorite thing).
But mofaDDala is also used in Egyptian Arabic: نيويورك مدينتي المفضلة or مدينتي المفضلة 
You can say مطعمي المفضل or المطعم المفضل بتاعي/عندي/بالنسبة لي ...


Faylasoof said:


> Many dictionaries give these as equivalents for <favourite, favoured, preferred>:
> أثير / محبوب / محسوب / مرجح
> In this context I've mostly (though not always) come across _mufaDDal_ المفضل / _mufaDDalah_ المفضلة , and _I realise some of the above have other meanings / usages , depending on the context_. So in this context which of these might fit apart from مفضل ? .


محبوب is correct, but it only means that its you beloved city, not necessarily your favourite.
أثير is the best equivalent for favourite, but unfortunatley it's becoming less used in Modern Arabic.
مرجح is when you chose something over another. So, I don't think it's correct to use it with the meaning of "favourite", with all respect to the dictionaries.
No, محسوب ! Is it really given as a meaning for favourite? Doesn't it mean "considered"?


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## Faylasoof

cherine said:


> محبوب is correct, but it only means that its you beloved city, not necessarily your favourite.
> أثير is the best equivalent for favourite, but unfortunatley it's becoming less used in Modern Arabic.
> مرجح is when you chose something over another. So, I don't think it's correct to use it with the meaning of "favourite", with all respect to the dictionaries.



I understand! Thanks for these! 



> Now for this:
> No, محسوب ! Is it really given as a meaning for favourite? Doesn't it mean "considered"?



I too assumed that this is what it means, _considered_; but both of these lexicons mention محسوبas a synonym for أَثِير:

Al-Mawrid
أَثِير, مُفَضَّل, مَحسُوب علی

Oxford English-Arabic by Doniach
أَثِير, مُفَضَّل, مَحسُوب  

Looking up the same in other resources I realized that in this respect Tarjim is the biggest “offender”! Has the biggest list I’ve seen anywhere of Arabic synonyms for _favourite_.

The _Tarjim_ list goes as follows:

أَثِير , أَرْجَح , حَظِيَّة , راجِح , عَزِيز , مُتَخَيَّر , مُحَبّ , مَحْبُوب , مُختار , مُرَجَّح , مُسْتَحَبّ , مُسْتَخْلَص , مُصْطَفًى , مُفَضَّل , مُقْتَطَف , مُنْتَخَب , مُنْتَقًى

Some, like عَزِيز, مُتَخَيَّر , مُختار & مُنْتَخَب  etc. I clearly wouldn’t use in this context. Very strange!


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## cherine

I like your calling it "offender", it's very appropriate here 
Many words are not used for favourite at all!


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## safa321

Josh_ said:


> In the Egyptian dialect there is the structure أحَبّ (حاجة) عندي (_aHabb (Haaga) 3andi_), however I am not sure if it is used in MSA. "New York is my favorite city" would be نيو يورك أحب مدينة عندي.


 
ًWhat about "New York is my heart favorite city" :
Is it correct this way:
نيو يورك يحب مدينة قلبي عنده
or
نيو يورك قلبي يحب مدينة عنده

also.. can I say it in this way: النيو يورك المدينة يللي قلبي يحبها 
                                          النيو يورك المدينة يالي قلبي يموت قيها


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## cherine

safa321 said:


> ًWhat about "New York is my heart favorite city" :
> Is it correct this way:
> نيو يورك يحب مدينة قلبي عنده
> or
> نيو يورك قلبي يحب مدينة عنده
> 
> also.. can I say it in this way: النيو يورك المدينة يللي قلبي يحبها
> النيو يورك المدينة يالي قلبي يموت قيها


Hi Safa,
First, city names don't get an additional "al" if they don't have it originally. I mean, if the city has an "a" like القاهرة it's ok, but if it doesn't, like New York, we don't add al. So New York is always نيو يورك (and it's often written as one word نيويورك )
As for your sentence: 
New York is my heart favorite city
You can say:
نيويورك أحب مدينة إلى قلبي

I can't comment on the colloquial, so let's wait for those who know about Syrian/Levantine.


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## safa321

cherine said:


> Hi Safa,
> First, city names don't get an additional "al" if they don't have it originally. I mean, if the city has an "a" like القاهرة it's ok, but if it doesn't, like New York, we don't add al. So New York is always نيو يورك (and it's often written as one word نيويورك .


Thanks .. I didn't know that.


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## aurelien.demarest

Hi guys,

taking inspiration of the examples above, could you tell me if the following sentence is correct?

My *favorite* color is blue cyan
لوني المُفَضَّل هو الازرق سماوي

Thanks
Aurélien


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## akhooha

لوني المُفَضَّل هو الأزرق السماوي


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## aurelien.demarest

Thank you Akhoola!


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## إسكندراني

I've only heard it called لبني rather than this seemingly literal translation of 'sky blue' - maybe it's an Egyptian word?


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## akhooha

إسكندراني said:


> I've only heard it called لبني rather than this seemingly literal translation of 'sky blue' - maybe it's an Egyptian word?


Of course, a google image search for الأزرق السماوي proves nothing, but may provide some indication of the spread of this term.


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## إسكندراني

I've never heard anyone say it before, but I haven't interacted with the entire Arab world


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