كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل
“كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل” (кяна заалик мунзу заман тавииль) — it was long ago in Arabic. Phrase, level A2, topic — time, days and hours. Literally "that was since a long time": mundhu, "since", was in "since then". "Long ago" for Arabic is time with length: tawiil, "long". In a live sentence: “كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل، ولا أتذكر اليوم” — It was long ago; I do not remember the day.
In short
| Written in Arabic | كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل |
| Read in Latin letters | кяна заалик мунзу заман тавииль |
| Translation | it was long ago |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "that was since a long time": mundhu, "since", was in "since then". "Long ago" for Arabic is time with length: tawiil, "long"
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل، ولا أتذكر اليومкяна заалик мунзу заман тавииль, ва-ля атзакар аль-йаумIt was long ago; I do not remember the day
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- ساعةсааʿаhourBoth the unit of time and the device: a wristwatch is also saaʿa. Kam as-saaʿa? — what time is it?
- يومйаумdayThe same yawm as in the Quran’s "day of judgement". The days of the week are counted "first", "second"… after Friday
- اليومаль-йаумtodayLiterally "the day". The article has glued on for good, and the phrase has become one adverb
- غداгаданtomorrowThe gh is the gargled one (غ), close to the French r; the sound stretches, and in speech the word comes out ghaadan
- أمسамсyesterdayA short word with a hamza at the front. "Yesterday" does not change the verb: the past tense has said it already
- صباحсабаахmorningKnown from sabah al-khayr. The morning in Arab countries starts early: the market comes alive before the heat
- مساءмасааeveningKnown from masaa al-khayr. The evening begins at sunset, and after noon nobody says "morning" anymore
- ليلлайлnightThe same word as in "A Thousand and One Nights". Layla — "a night" with the ta marbuta — is a woman’s name from the same source
- فطورфутуурbreakfastFrom the root "to break": breakfast breaks the pause of the night. "For breakfast" is fi al-futuur; the same word names the evening meal of the fasting month
- غداءгадааlunchThe main meal of the day, around one or two: the heat sets the schedule. The word shares a root with ghaadan: ghadwa is noon, when the sun stands high
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “it was long ago” in Arabic?
Literally "that was since a long time": mundhu, "since", was in "since then". "Long ago" for Arabic is time with length: tawiil, "long"
- How do you say “evening” in Arabic?
Known from masaa al-khayr. The evening begins at sunset, and after noon nobody says "morning" anymore
- How do you say “today” in Arabic?
Literally "the day". The article has glued on for good, and the phrase has become one adverb
- How do you say “lunch” in Arabic?
The main meal of the day, around one or two: the heat sets the schedule. The word shares a root with ghaadan: ghadwa is noon, when the sun stands high
- How do you say “morning” in Arabic?
Known from sabah al-khayr. The morning in Arab countries starts early: the market comes alive before the heat
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “it was long ago” in Arabic?
«كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل», read “кяна заалик мунзу заман тавииль”. In a live sentence: “كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل، ولا أتذكر اليوم” — It was long ago; I do not remember the day. Phrase, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ك, ا, ن, ذ, ل, ك, م, ن, ذ, ز, م, ن…
How is “كان ذلك منذ زمن طويل” written in Latin letters?
кяна заалик мунзу заман тавииль. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "that was since a long time": mundhu, "since", was in "since then". "Long ago" for Arabic is time with length: tawiil, "long". A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.