# They haven't read the book yet



## Asker😊

Hi all.
How can I translate this sentence into Arabic?

They haven't read the book yet.


Thank you


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## Ahmed Abdelraouf Shaheen

لم يقرأوا الكتاب حتي الآن


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## Asker😊

شکرا جزیلا
so we always use 
لم+فعل المضارع for present perfect?


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## Ahmed Abdelraouf Shaheen

If you begin the sentence with لم، you must follow it with مضارع


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## elroy

لم يقرأوا الكتاب بعد


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## Ali Smith

In MSA you could say لَمّا يقرؤوا الكتابَ


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## cherine

Ali Smith said:


> In MSA you could say لَمّا يقرؤوا الكتابَ


Not MSA but Classical Arabic. In MSA, this could be misunderstood for "when".


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## Asker😊

What's MSA?


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## cherine

Modern Standard Arabic, the modern usage, or form, of اللغة العربية الفصحى.


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## Asker😊

Aha, and what do we say for present perfect in non-standard arbic for the same sentence?


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## Tilmeedh

Asker😊 said:


> Aha, and what do we say for present perfect in non-standard arbic for the same sentence?



In Lebanese, perhaps (ما قرأوا الكتاب بعد) ['ma 2ara2o il-ktéb ba3d'] or (هنّا مش قاريين الكتاب بعد) ['hinné mish 2aariyiin il-ktéb ba3d'].


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## Anatoli

Tilmeedh said:


> In Lebanese, perhaps (ما قرأوا الكتاب بعد) ['ma 2ara2o il-ktéb ba3d'] or (هنّا مش قاريين الكتاب بعد) ['hinné mish 2aariyiin il-ktéb ba3d'].


It must be considered colloquial but in a story I am reading in MSA, a character used this phrase
*حتى *جسمي لم يجف *بعد *... (... *ḥattā *jismi lam yajiff *baʿd*.)
"my body is not dry *yet*" (after a shower).
So بعد can be used in MSA as well to mean "yet"? But there is also حتى in the beginning. Pls confirm or explain this usage.

(For the context, the son is responding to his father is rushing him to get ready quickly to go to the airport).


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## Ghabi

Hi Anatoli! 


Anatoli said:


> So بعد can be used in MSA as well to mean "yet"?


Yeah, "lam yaf3al ba3du" is the standard usage in MSA, as shown by Elroy in post#5.


Anatoli said:


> *حتى *جسمي لم يجف *بعد *... (... *ḥattā *jismi lam yajiff *baʿd*.)


May we know what's the whole sentence (or the sentence before it)?


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## elroy

Asker😊 said:


> Aha, and what do we say for present perfect in non-standard arbic for the same sentence?


In Palestinian:
بعدهم/لسا/لساتهم ما قرأوش الكتاب
_baʿidhom/lissa/lissāthom maqaraʾūš li-ktāb _


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## Anatoli

Ghabi said:


> Hi Anatoli!
> 
> Yeah, "lam yaf3al ba3du" is the standard usage in MSA, as shown by Elroy in post#5.
> 
> May we know what's the whole sentence (or the sentence before it)?


دخل أبي غرفتي ونظر إليّ في دهشة ثم سألني: 'لماذا لم ترتد ملابسك *حتى الآن*؟'
'أرتدي ملابسي؟ لقد إستيقظت منذ وقت قصير وتحممت منذ خمس دقائق فقط، *حتى *جسمي لم يجف *بعد*.'

Thanks, Ghabi, you're right, Elroy mentioned this and I missed it. In the full example, the expected حتى الآن is also used (by the father).
Providing more context on request. I guess حتى has the meaning "even", so it's not part of the "not yet" construct, so the full translation of my original sentence is "my body is not *even *dry *yet*".


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## elroy

Yes, that's the intended meaning; however, the construction doesn't seem right to me.  I would say حتى *أَنَّ* جسمي لم يجف بعد.  To me, حتى جسمي لم يجف بعد works if you're comparing your body to other things that haven't dried yet, which is not the case here.


Anatoli said:


> it's not part of the "not yet" construct


That's right.


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## Anatoli

Thanks, Elroy. It makes sense. The book is called "Short Stories in Arabic", the very first story الرحلة المجنونة, the author is Olly Richards. There could be some possible grammatical inaccuracies.


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## bearded

Ahmed Abdelraouf Shaheen said:


> حتي


Shouldn't this be حتى?


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## fenakhay

bearded said:


> Shouldn't this be حتى?


Yes.


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