# Levantine Arabic: to miss (someone)



## ihsaan

Hi,
I did a search, and even though I saw a lot of threads concerning "to miss" someone, I didn't find one concerning how to express this in the Syrian dialect. I'm sorry if I should have posted my question in one of the older threads.

My question is:
How do you say "I miss you" (in general) and "I missed you (today)" (for example: "I missed you in class today") in Syrian? I'm also wondering if you use different expressions in terms of saying this to:
- a friend (a girl saying this to another girl)
- a spouse


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## be.010

Hi!
I missed you = اشتقتلك shta2tillak (said to a male) or shta2tillek (said to a female). e.g. اشتقتلك اليوم بالدرس...
I miss you = (ana) bishta2lak/-ek (... btsaafer...or... etc., but it doesn't sound natural just to say "bishta2lak" alone by itself!!)
I've also heard الك وحشة elak/-ek we7she, but it's probably borrowed from other dialects and not "origianl" Syrian...
And, the form shta2tellak can be used with anyone, a friend or a spouse, but we usually use it in plural to reduce the sense of intimacy... (i.e. shta2naalak/-ek! ween hal gheebe?!)
HTH
Cheers


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## ihsaan

Ah, great! I really appreciate your help.


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## Soos

Elak/ek wa7sha I believe is Moroccan, though they use it in the Levant regions, such as in Jordan.


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## londonmasri

Soos said:


> Elak/ek wa7sha I believe is Moroccan, though they use it in the Levant regions, such as in Jordan.


 
Have also heard this used in Egyptian (_leek wa7sha_).


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## Mahaodeh

Soos said:


> Elak/ek wa7sha I believe is Moroccan, though they use it in the Levant regions, such as in Jordan.


 
Why would you say that it's Moroccan? It's Arabic and comes from Classical Arabic, that's like saying "baab" is Syrian and other dialects borrowed it from Syrian!!

By the Way, it's used in Iraq too.


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## Soos

Mahaodeh, this is why I _explictly_ used the word "believe" which naturally infers that I may not be sure, but that I am merely making the guess based on personal experience of hearing it in Moroccan converations. Does that answer your question?


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## sunsetbeach1

*Mod note: I merged this new thread to the previous one. Please don't forget to search the forum before opening a new thread. Thanks *

Hi, how do you say 'I miss you' in Lebanese Arabic? Could I possibly have it using both the English alphabet and also in proper Arabic writing?
Thanks very much


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## elroy

be.010 said:


> I miss you = (ana) bishta2lak/-ek (... btsaafer...or... etc., but it doesn't sound natural just to say "bishta2lak" alone by itself!


 "I miss you" is actually _shta2tillak/shta2tillek_.  English uses the present tense but Arabic uses the past tense.

The only time you would use the present tense in Arabic is to refer to something habitual:

_Bashta2lak kul ma bitsaafer _(بشتقلك كل ما بتسافر) - I miss you every time you travel.



> I missed you = اشتقتلك shta2tillak (said to a male) or shta2tillek (said to a female). e.g. اشتقتلك اليوم بالدرس...


 I would not use _shta2tillak _in that context.  I would say _fa2adtak _(فقدتك): _fa2adtak ilyoom bid-dars/biS-Saf_ (فقدتك اليوم بالدرس/بالصف).


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## be.010

elroy said:


> "I miss you" is actually _shta2tillak/shta2tillek_. English uses the present tense but Arabic uses the past tense.


 
I see, thanks very much for the correction, Elias



> I would not use _shta2tillak _in that context. I would say _fa2adtak _(فقدتك): _fa2adtak ilyoom bid-dars/biS-Saf_ (فقدتك اليوم بالدرس/بالصف).


 فقدتك?! In Syrian, it'd be فقدتلك (fa2adtillak) or افتقدتك.
فقدتك sounds like "I lost you"!!
Cheers...


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## ihsaan

So... فقدتك or فقدتلك? Does anyone else have an opinion? The reply left me a little unsure as to which one to use, seeing that the two of you disagree about the usage.


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## clevermizo

ihsaan said:


> So... فقدتك or فقدتلك? Does anyone else have an opinion? The reply left me a little unsure as to which one to use, seeing that the two of you disagree about the usage.



That's because the usage differs between their dialects. They don't disagree about usage, simply one is prevalent in Palestinian but sounds odd in Syrian. You should expect that. Levantine dialects group together because of similarities, however there are still important differences between dialects within the Levant as a region. Perhaps learn both and use one in Syria and another in Palestine/Israel?


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## ihsaan

ah - great advice!


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## falafelmami

I speak northern Palestinian/Levantine dialect pretty well, but I struggle with conjugations of the verb "to miss".
So for example, if I were to tell a man that I miss him, I'd say shta2telak.
But how does one say "I WILL miss you" or "I miss Haifa"?
Hope that makes sense


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## elroy

I will miss you: ra7 2ašta22lak/2ašta22lek/2ašta2ilkom

I miss Haifa: šta2et/mištā2(a) la-7ēfa


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## JustLearningSK

*In Jordan the slang we say is  *
"mushta2 elak" / َ*مشتاق إليك *for *i'm missing you* (in general) to a man
and to a girl you say "mushta2 elik" / ِ*مشتاق إليك*
you would use this when you really miss the person but you still can't see /talk to them

you can also say " *اشتقت لك " **/ ashtaqt lak/lik - i miss you* and it has a friendly meaning for someone you are not so close to.

I'm missing Haifa will be :
_Ana Mushtaq Haifa

If you wanted to say I WILL miss you, then you can say_
*"رح اشتقلك*"
_*rah ishtaqlak (to a boy)/ lik (to a girl)*_


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## Mahaodeh

JustLearningSK said:


> *In Jordan the slang we say is *
> "mushta2 elak" / َ*مشتاق إليك *for *i'm missing you* (in general) to a man
> and to a girl you say "mushta2 elik" / ِ*مشتاق إليك*



This is standard Arabic, in dialect it's مشتاقلك - مشتاقتلك (fat7a or kasra on the kaaf depending on who you are talking to)


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## analeeh

JustLearningSK said:


> I'm missing Haifa will be :
> _Ana Mushtaq Haifa_



In addition to what Maha said, I'm fairly sure in Jordanian as well _mushtaaq _needs a _la-_ (_mushtaaq la-Haifa_).


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## elroy

And it’s “m*i*štā2.”


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## apricots

Further, a Jordanian male would say mištā*g*.


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## falafelmami

elroy said:


> I will miss you: ra7 2ašta22lak/2ašta22lek/2ašta2ilkom
> 
> I miss Haifa: šta2et/mištā2(a) la-7ēfa


So helpful, thank you!


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## Dodo11

Hi, I'm having trouble with the helping vowels here. Do you say مشتائتلك - mishtā2etlak or mishtā2tillak?


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## elroy

Dodo11 said:


> Do you say مشتائتلك - mishtā2etlak or mishtā2tillak?


 What dialect are you talking about?

In Palestinian: _mištaʾitlak_ or _mištaʾītlak_ (stress on the blue syllable)


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## Dodo11

Thank you, especially for pointing out the stress, I didn't realise that.

I'm focusing on the damascene dialect. What are the differences in this case?


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## reno33

ihsaan said:


> My question is:     How do you say* "I miss you" (in general)* and *"I missed you (today)" (for example: "I missed you in class today") *in Syrian?


==== ==============================
For general information:  As most of you know, the English verb (miss) is quite tricky because it has several distinct meanings and when translating,  those meanings are lost and you have to use different terms to express the English meaning.  Thus, the "*miss*" in *"I miss you"* and *"I missed you in class today"* are completely different.

"I miss you" means that someone you know is not present at your location and you wish he/she was here.  You desire this person's companionship.  (Wahishteni.....etc).

"I missed you in class" simply means you "didn't see him" in class today.   It has nothing to do with "desiring" or "wanting" a person....it's simply a remark that you didn't see him. (Ana ma shuftak al-youm fil maktaba,  Lei?  etc).

There are many more related/unrelated meanings to "miss".  Check dictionary.  Here are some examples, all of which would need a different Arabic verb to properly translate:

1-  Did you get him?  Nope....I "missed" him.  (I shot him but the bullet "missed" his body)

2-  I can't find my wallet......it's "missing"

3-  I "missed" the exam yesterday.  Now I'll get an F in the course.

4-  I "missed" his meaning.  (I didn't understand what he said).

5-  I "missed" the red light.  (I didn't stop at the red light so I crashed and destroyed my car)

6-  I just read the student list.  Did I "miss" someone's name?   (Did I forget to call someone'e name??)

7-  Who's "missing"?   (Who's not here?)

ETC


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## She'lock Holmes

For me, اشتقتلك alone, especially in the start of a sentence without a pronoun (اشتقتلك بالصف) before it carries a sexual meaning, unlike phrases like (أنا اشتقتلك بالصف اليوم) which are neutral.


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## Mahaodeh

She'lock Holmes said:


> For me, اشتقتلك alone, especially in the start of a sentence without a pronoun (اشتقتلك بالصف) before it carries a sexual meaning,



Hmm, this is interesting! I never felt that اشتقتلك has a sexual connotation. It implies love, definitely, but not necessarily sexual or even romantic love. Maybe that's just me.



She'lock Holmes said:


> unlike phrases like (أنا اشتقتلك بالصف اليوم) which are neutral.



I wouldn't use this, I would simply say ما شفتك بالصف اليوم; or, in certain cases it might even be فقدتك بالصف اليوم (when, for example, I needed you to help me with something).


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