# MSA/All dialects: no sooner ... than



## Ghabi

Dear teachers, I'd like to know how do we express "no sooner ... than" in Arabic. E.g. "No sooner had I left the house when it began to rain". My immature attempts:

fuSHa: qad nazaltu min-al-baiti bi-l-kaad wa bada2at an tamTara.

3amiyya: yadoob siibt il-beet wa id-dinya Saarit timaTTar.


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## TOUKA

my try: ma In ghaadartoo al manzila 7atta bada2at tomtiroo"


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## elroy

There are various possibilities, but here's what I would say:

MSA: لم أكد أغادر البيت حتى بدأت تمطر (_lam_ _akad ughaadiru 'l-bayta 7atta bada2at tumtiru_)

Palestinian Arabic: ما لحقتش أطلع من البيت ولا هي بادية تشتي (_mal7i2tesh aTla3 imnil-beet willa hii baadye tshatti_)


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## Ghabi

Thanks a lot, Touka and Elroy, I think I've got it. In fuSHa we can use either "ma in ... hattaa" or "lam yakad ... hattaa".

And Elroy, thanks for teaching me this "ma-sh ... willa ..." structure! It sounds so vivid.


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## Josh_

There is also the construction ما لبث/لم يلبث...أن/حتى.  For example:

ما لبثتُ بعد مغادرتي من البيت حتى بدأت تمطر
_maa labithtu ba3da mughaadarati min al-bayti Hatta bada2at_ tumTiru.
غادرت من البيت ولم تلبث أن بدأت تمطر
_ghaadartu min al-bayti wa-lam talbath 2an bada2at tumTiru_.

You could also use لم يمضِ plus a time signature:

لم يمضِ/تمضِ على مغادرتي من البيت وقت طويل/دقيقة حتى بدأت تمطر
_lam yamDi/tamDi 3ala mughaadarati min al-bayti waqtun Tawiilun/daqiiqatun Hatta bada2at tumTiru.

_I believe those usages are correct, but you can wait for a native speaker to confirm.


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## Xence

Excellent suggestions, Josh.
I would just point out that if the preposition أن needs to be used, it should immediately follow the verb لبث :
ما لبثتُ *أن* غادرت البيت حتى بدأت تمطر

Elroy's suggestion is also excellent, of course.


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## Mahaodeh

Or you can simply say ما إن غادرت البيت حتى بدأت تمطر, not that the other suggestions are any less.


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## Soos

Elroy, why baddya? Why not badaat? So you used tha active particible? But it would also be grammatical to use badaat or ballashaat too right?


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## Mahaodeh

Using اسم الفاعل in lieu of the verb is acceptable even in fus7a and it's quite common in collequal; why do you think it's incorrect?


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## elroy

Both would be fine in Palestinian Arabic: 

_...willa hii baadye/mballshe tshatti.
...willa hii badat/ballashat itshatti._

"Baadye" is just what I would be most likely to say myself.

You could even say "willa hii bitshatti."


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## Ghabi

Alf shukr, ya asaatiza.


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## Xence

Mahaodeh said:


> Or you can simply say ما إن غادرت البيت حتى بدأت تمطر, not that the other suggestions are any less.


The simplest, I have to admit.


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## Soos

Thanks Elroy, you're the best!


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## londonmasri

Following on from this thread http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1704071 I would like to ask how can we say this in both MSA and EA?

An exmaple sentence:
No sooner had they finished cleaning the car, than it started it to rain.

(I.e. as soon as they finished washing the car it started to rain)

Shokran jazeelan


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## AbuMajd

Salam, 
This is my first post here. 

Below are few suggestions: 

بدأت السماء تمطر فور انتهائهم من غسيل السيارة 
بدأ المطر يهطل بمجرد فراغهم من غسل السيارة 

بلشت تمطر أول ما خلصوا غسيل السيارة


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## cherine

In Egyptian Arabic, it works exactly as the Palestinian sentence given in that thread: خلصوا من هنا والدنيا مطّرت/شتت
Or: خلصوا غسيل العربية من هنا، والدنيا مطرت/شتت (you remember the regional difference between maTTaret and shatet/shetyet? )

We also say: أول ما خلصوا غسيل العربية، الدنيا مطرت/شتت
And يا دوب خلصوا غسيل العربية، راحت الدنيا ممطرة/شاتية

In MSA, there are AbuMajd's suggestions (welcome to the forum, AbuMajd  ) and you can aslo say:
ما أن انتهوا من غسيل السيارة حتى أمطرت/بدأ المطر (using the fixed structure: ما أن... حتى )


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## londonmasri

Thank you, Abu Majd (Welcome to the forum!! ) & Cherine.



> (you remember the regional difference between maTTaret and shatet/shetyet? )


 
I just had a quick sneak peak at an old thread to remind myself


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## wriight

Lebanese:
ما لحقت أطلع من البيت إلا وبلشت تشتي
Just now 'clicked' with me that _willa_ and _illa w_ are the same thing -- had not realized that the "_w_+pronoun -> pronoun+_w_" change extended to this as well. Is _illa w_ the preferred form in Syrian, then, too?

(Also, I know I've sometimes heard this without the w at all, but I'm not actually positive when that's acceptable. Can anyone offer insight as to whether something like
ما طلعت من البيت إلا بلشت تشتي
is better or worse than the other?)


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## elroy

wriight said:


> I know I've sometimes heard this without the w at all


 This is used in (Northern) Palestinian Arabic.  I've never heard "illa w-" in Palestinian.  So we have "willa" or "illa" but not "illa w-".


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## momai

Syrian:
ما طلعت من البيت إلا وبالشة شتي this could also mean you willingly went out, despite knowing it would rain.
Or
لسا شي طلعت من البيت وإذ بلشت تمطر
Or
يا دوبني طالع من البيت, بلشت تمطر
Or 
أنا طلعت لسا من هون, بلشت تمطر


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