# MSA/All dialects: I've already eaten



## kifaru

I need a translation for this in egyptian colloquial. I am often invited to the homes of my colleagues and I need a nice way to bow out of eating. Egyptian hospitality is wreaking havoc on my diet. No one seems to respond when I say "no thank you" in English.


----------



## Josh_

I've already eaten could be translated as "ana lissa/yadoob waakil/wakla" --  'waakil' said by a male, 'wakla' said by a female.  These really translate to "I've just eaten," but there is not a good Arabic equivalent to 'already'.

There probably is a formulaic expression used to decline an invitation to eat, but I cannot think of one right now.

You're right about Egyptian hospitality.  I actually gained weight when I was in Egypt.  They don't take no for an answer.


----------



## Mahaodeh

I don't know about Egypt but in most other Arab places it's actually rude to decline an invitation to eat/drink.  We also have the habit of saying "no thank you" but we actually mean "I'm prepared to come if you are prepared to really insist, or else I'll consider you cheap", so people will generally tend not to take no for an answer in such cases.


----------



## Haroon

It is better to make it clear to the host, before really visiting him ,  that you have to stick to your diet otherwise it will be harmful for you .Hence you have to state , in the phone for example , that you will not be able to eat anything due to medical reasons not out of social awkwardness or shyness or the like.

You may choose a time of visiting that has nothing to do with meals!! which is difficult to decide.If the host insists , say let it be some drinks .

It is not a language problem , it is a cultural one , as many people may get sad , depressed or even angry if the guests refuse to eat or have entertainment, there is no way to get out of this problem if you were in front of it , so If I were you I would take truly precautions early enough. Hospitality is wonderful , but not in the expense of health.
                                          Egyptian Young man.


----------



## suma

Josh_ said:


> I've already eaten could be translated as "ana lissa/yadoob waakil/wakla" -- 'waakil' said by a male, 'wakla' said by a female. These really translate to "I've just eaten," but there is not a good Arabic equivalent to 'already'.


 
That's strange, in colloquial _lissa _always means I/he/she hasn't yet done such-and-such. Am I wrong?


----------



## clevermizo

_Lissa_ is the equivalent of the English "still" or sometimes "yet." Sometimes as a single word response to a question "Did you do X (yet)" - "(la2,) lissa", it means "not yet." I don't know much about how Egyptian Arabic works, but my guess is the following:

_waakel_ - means "has eaten," in a state of having eaten something.

_ana lissa waakel_ - means "I'm still in a state of (just) having eaten something" - i.e., I'm definitely not hungry again yet.


----------



## asadxyz

Hi
Can anyone of you put this sentence in actual arabic text instead of transliteration ? Thanks


----------



## clevermizo

أنا لسا واكل

or, in feminine: أنا لسا واكلة


----------



## Josh_

clevermizo said:


> _Lissa_ is the equivalent of the English "still" or sometimes "yet." Sometimes as a single word response to a question "Did you do X (yet)" - "(la2,) lissa", it means "not yet." I don't know much about how Egyptian Arabic works, but my guess is the following:
> 
> _waakel_ - means "has eaten," in a state of having eaten something.
> 
> _ana lissa waakel_ - means "I'm still in a state of (just) having eaten something" - i.e., I'm definitely not hungry again yet.



That's a great explanation, clevermizo.  More simply put, 'lissa', in Egyptian Arabic has the meaning of 'just' or having recently done something, in addition to the meanings of still and not yet.  I could feel a connection with 'still' and 'just' (as they relate to the word lissa),  but could not seem to put it into words.


----------



## asadxyz

clevermizo said:


> أنا لسا واكل
> 
> or, in feminine: أنا لسا واكلة


Thanks a lot.
Instead of dialects ,if you want to translate the sentence i.e 

"I have not eaten yet" 

into classical Arabic or MSA (literary not dialect) ,then how you will translate it.
Is this 
لمّا اكل 
??


----------



## clevermizo

I believe we can say: لم آكل بعد.

لما آكل means _when I eat..._


----------



## Josh_

Yes, that would work, although that structure is more classical than modern (I think, anyway).  Other (more modern) expressions might include لم آكل إلى الآن or لم آكل بعد .

Edit:  Clevermizo beat me to it, again.

Actually, there is a structure, composed of لم and ما الديمومية , which has the meaning of not yet.


----------



## WadiH

"Already" is usually redundant, anyway, so it makes sense that not every language would have an exact equivalent for it.  In Arabic you could achieve the same effect by saying خلاص.  E.g. "أكلت خلاص", or "لا والله ماكل" (with ماكل being the equivalent of the Standard آكل). In southern Saudi Arabia you could use قدني, e.g. قدني أكلت.

(قدني is just the old قد with a pronoun attached it it; pronounced _gudni_).


----------



## asadxyz

clevermizo said:


> I believe we can say: لم آكل بعد.
> 
> لما آكل means _when I eat..._


Dear Brother :
أَأُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ مِن بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِّن ذِكْرِي بَلْ *لَمَّا يَذُوقُوا عَذَابِ*﴿38:8﴾ 
(38:8) Was he the only (fit) person among us to whom Allah's Admonition should have been sent down?" The fact of the matter is that they doubt My "Admonition", *10 and they say this because *they have not yet tasted My punishment.*


----------



## asadxyz

Hi everyone
How about the translation of this sentence? :
"I have already eaten"
= قد أكلت مسبقا
=قد أكلت قبلا


----------



## ayed

In Badawi dialect, we say :
*ماكل
قد كليت*
* متعشي*/*قد* تعشيتI've already dined .


----------

