Arabic Creating negative “to be” sentences
Although Arabic doesn’t have a “to be” regular verb to create “I am” or “you
are” phrases, it does have a verb you use to say “I am not” or “you are not.”
This special irregular verb laysa (lay-sah) creates negative “to be” sentences.
The following table shows laysa conjugated using all the personal pronouns.
Form Pronunciation Translation
‘anaa lastu ah-nah las-too I am not
‘anta lasta an-tah las-tah You are not (MS)
‘anti lasti an-tee las-tee You are not (FS)
huwa laysa hoo-wah lay-sah He is not
hiya laysat hee-yah lay-sat She is not
naHnu lasnaa nah-noo las-nah We are not
‘antum lastum an-toom las-toom You are not (MP)
‘antunna lastunna an-too-nah las-too-nah You are not (FP)
hum laysuu hoom lay-soo They are not (MP)
hunna lasna hoo-nah las-nah They are not (FP)
antumaa lastumaa an-too-mah las-too-mah You are not (dual/MP/FP)
humaa laysaa hoo-mah lay-sah They are not (dual/MP)
humaa laysataa hoo-mah lay-sah-tah They are not (dual/FP)
Following are some examples of negative “to be” sentences using the verb
laysa.
‘anaa lastu Taalib. (ah-nah las-too tah-leeb; I am not a student.)
‘anta lasta mariiD. (an-tah las-tah mah-reed; You are not sick.) (M)
naHnu lasnaa fii al-madrasa. (nah-noo las-nah fee al-mad-rah-sah; We are
not in the school.)
al-kura laysat taHta as-sayyaara. (al-koo-rah lay-sat tah-tah ah-sah-yahrah;
The ball is not under the car.)
al-maT’am laysa bijaanibi al-funduq. (al-mat-ham lay-sah bee-jah-nee-bee
al-foon-dook; The restaurant is not next to the hotel.)
al-madrasa laysat kabiira. (al-mad-rah-sah lay-sat kah-bee-rah; The
school is not big.)
‘anta lasta al-walad aS-Saghiir. (an-tah las-tah al-wah-lad ah-sah-geer; You
are not the small boy.) (MS)
al-bint aT-Tawiila laysat Da’iifa. (al-bee-net ah-tah-wee-lah lay-sat dah-eefah;
The tall girl is not weak.)