# عندي - past tense



## Whodunit

،مرحبا يا أصدقاء عرب​​.عندي مسألة عن الكلمة "عندـــ". كيف يمكنني أن كون الماضي من ذلك؟ أود أن أقدم "كنت"، لا لكني أكيد​​.أشكر لكم من صميم القلب​​Hi friends,​ 
I have a question concerning the word "3ind...": How do you form the past tense? I'd put "kuntu" before it, but I'm not sure.

I really thank you all very much.


----------



## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> (but not everyone here is Arab! ) ،مرحبا يا ايها الأصدقاء العرب
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .عندي ﺴﺆال عن كلمة "عندـــ". كيف يمكنني أن اكون الماضي من هذه الكلمة؟ أود أن اقترح "كنت"، لا لكني لست متأكد
> 
> .أشكركم من صميم القلب​


​You were close.
​You add كان to form the past. It doesn't matter which person it is.


----------



## Whodunit

Okay, thank you very much for this clear reply and all the corrections. But what did you mean with "not everyone here's Arab"? How did it sound as I wrote it?


----------



## elroy

The way you wrote it was incorrect, so I could only guess at what you were trying to say.  I assumed you meant "Hello, Arab friends."  Please let me know if you meant something else.


----------



## Whodunit

Yes, that's what I meant. But what was wrong with my wording?


----------



## elroy

You needed to make it definite, because you were referring to a _specific _group of friends - not just friends.


----------



## Whodunit

That's a bit complicated to understand, but I think I get it.


----------



## ayed

Here is a poem I would sing when I was at elementary school:
قد كان عندي بلبل             حول طويل الذنب
اسكنته في غرفة             في قفص من ذهب



شكرا


----------



## Whodunit

Could you please translate those words? I can understand some of them, but not really in context.


----------



## ayed

It is hard to translate such a poem .However, let me try , at least .
​
I had a nightingale(bulbul)
That was beautiful of long tail
Harboured it I in a room
In a golden cage​
Thanks​


----------



## elroy

Let me try:

*I used to have a --- nightingale*
*With a long tail.*
*I let it live in a room,*
*In a golden cage.*

I'm lost as to the meaning of حول in the poem.


----------



## ayed

Wow! Sorry
حلو
pretty


----------



## Whodunit

Ah thank you so much, guys. Is حول colloquial Arabic?


----------



## elroy

No - it was a typo (see Ayed's post #12).  The word does exist, but it means "around" so it didn't make sense in this context.

Given that Ayed meant *حلو*, here is my updated translation:

*I used to have a pretty nightingale
With a long tail.
I let it live in a room,
In a golden cage.*


----------



## Whodunit

Thanks, now I understand everything. 

I found some very different translations for حول:
- to prevent
- to convert/to transform
- a squint
- power
- year
- about


----------



## elroy

Yes, those all work too - depending on context, of course.


----------



## Whodunit

I think this would go off-topic, but let me ask you briefly how you would use 7aul in the sense of "year". Thanks.


----------



## supernova

the word 7aul is mentioned many times in the Qur'an as "year" mainly agricultural year but also exists in other contexts, and like Elroy said, it doesn't make sense in the sentence of the nightingale, that's why Ayed corrected it to 7elw (pretty). but I can give you a sentence with the word "7aul" in it if you want meaning "year"


----------



## Whodunit

Yes, you even should. 

But please PM me, since otherwise we'll go too far off-topic.


----------



## elroy

Supernova has answered the question sufficiently.

This meaning of the word is not used on an everyday basis; it is rather archaic and literary.


----------

