Must, may, must not
Three words close all modality, and mixing them up is costly. yumkin — it is possible: impersonal, with no subject at all. yajib — one must: impersonal too, and the action after it is introduced by "an": yajib an adhhab — one must go. Neither has personal forms: whom exactly must, Arabic adds in words if it matters. For example: “هل يمكن الدفع بالبطاقة؟” — May I pay by card? A rule from the Arabic course: worked out…
How it works
Three words close all modality, and mixing them up is costly. yumkin — it is possible: impersonal, with no subject at all. yajib — one must: impersonal too, and the action after it is introduced by "an": yajib an adhhab — one must go. Neither has personal forms: whom exactly must, Arabic adds in words if it matters.
Permission is asked with the familiar pair: hal yumkin? — may I? The answer is "naam, yumkin" or "laa, laa yumkin". The strict ban is mamnuuʿ — forbidden: it lives on entrance signs more than in speech, and sounds final.
"Must not" and "need not" are different things. laa yumkin — it is not possible, not allowed. And laa daaʿii — there is no need: a refusal, polite, without a ban. To mix them up is to forbid what you merely declined.
After "yumkin" the action stands as a noun: yumkin ad-dafʿ bi-l-baataqa — one can pay by card.
Table
| sense | statement | negation |
|---|---|---|
| may | يمكن الدفع بالبطاقة — yumkin ad-dafʿ bi-l-baataqa | لا يمكن — laa yumkin |
| must | يجب أن أذهب — yajib an adhhab | لا داعي — laa daaʿii (no need) |
| forbidden | ممنوع التدخين — mamnuuʿ at-tadkhiin | — |
| I can | أستطيع الفتح — astatiiʿ al-fatḥ | لا أستطيع — laa astatiiʿ |
By example
- هل يمكن الدفع بالبطاقة؟халь юмкин ад-дафʿ би-ль-баатака؟May I pay by card?
- يجب أن أذهب الآنяджиб ан азхаб аль-аанI must go now
- التدخين ممنوع هناат-тадхийин мамнууʿ хунаSmoking is forbidden here
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Must, may, must not: how does it work in Arabic?
Three words close all modality, and mixing them up is costly. yumkin — it is possible: impersonal, with no subject at all. yajib — one must: impersonal too, and the action after it is introduced by "an": yajib an adhhab — one must go. Neither has personal forms: whom exactly must, Arabic adds in…
What does it look like in a Arabic example sentence?
“هل يمكن الدفع بالبطاقة؟” (халь юмкин ад-дафʿ би-ль-баатака؟) — May I pay by card? A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.