When: ʿindamaa, baynamaa, qabla an, hattaa
Two events are tied into one sentence by the unions of time, and each has its own job. For example: “عندما وصلت، كان البيت مفتوحا” — When you arrived, the house was open. A rule from the Arabic course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Two events are tied into one sentence by the unions of time, and each has its own job.
ʿindamaa and hiina — when: "ʿindamaa wasalta, kaana al-bayt maftuuhan" — when you arrived, the house was open. For the question there remains "mataa" — when?: "mataa tadhhab?"
Baynamaa — while: "baynamaa astannii, aqraʾ" — while I wait, I read. Qabla an — before; baʿda an — after: after "an" the verb loses the future "sa-".
The trap is in hattaa. In the sense "until" it expects the verb in the present, and there is no negation with it. "Intazir hattaa yaʿuud" — wait until he returns. With a noun after it, hattaa means simply "until": "hattaa as-saaʿa al-ʿaashira" — until ten o'clock.
Table
| union | sense | example | trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| عندما | when | عندما وصلت | not "mataa" |
| حين | when (bookish) | حين سمعت الخبر | the same as ʿindamaa |
| بينما | while | بينما أنتظر، أقرأ | two actions at once |
| قبل أن | before | قبل أن تنام | no "sa-" after "an" |
| بعد أن | after | بعد أن أكل، نام | two words |
| حتى | until | انتظر حتى يعود | present, no "laa" |
| حتى | until (with a noun) | حتى العاشرة | simply "until" |
| منذ أن | since | منذ أن انتقلت | the start of the count |
By example
- عندما وصلت، كان البيت مفتوحاʿиндама васалта, кян аль-бейт мафтууханWhen you arrived, the house was open
- انتظر حتى يعود أخوكинтазир хатта йяʿууд ахуукWait until your brother returns
- قبل أن تنام، اغلق النافذةгабль анн танаам, аглик ан-наафизаBefore sleeping, close the window
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
When: how does it work in Arabic?
Two events are tied into one sentence by the unions of time, and each has its own job.
What does it look like in a Arabic example sentence?
“عندما وصلت، كان البيت مفتوحا” (ʿиндама васалта, кян аль-бейт мафтуухан) — When you arrived, the house was open. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.