Lebanese pairs من “from” with attached لـ “to” to mark the two boundaries of a range: من التمانية للخمسة “from eight to five,” من هون للمطار “from here to the airport.” The same architecture works for time, space, pages, responsibility, and other ordered scales.
English speakers often focus on translating the two words. The more important skill is identifying the two endpoints and deciding whether the listener knows what scale connects them. Lebanese من...لـ supplies the boundaries; context supplies inclusion, direction, and what happens inside the interval.
Clock-time ranges
With hours, the compact spoken pattern is من + hour + لـ + hour. The definite article commonly appears with both clock readings.
المحل فاتح من التمانية للخمسة.
el-maḥall fātiḥ min et-tmēnye lal-khamse.
The shop is open from eight to five. (business-hours range)
حجزنا القاعة من التلاتة للخمسة ونص.
ḥazhazna l-ʾāʿa min et-tlēte lal-khamse w-noṣṣ.
We booked the hall from three to five thirty. (appointment interval)
الدرس من الساعة ستة للساعة سبعة.
ed-dars min es-sēʿa sitte las-sēʿa sabʿa.
The class is from six to seven. (full repeated clock noun)
The full form من الساعة... للساعة... is useful when precision matters. Once clock time is established, من الستة للسبعة is lighter and fully natural. Do not drop so much that the scale becomes unclear in a conversation involving dates, floors, prices, and hours at once.
Days, dates, and repeated nouns
The same noun may appear at both boundaries or be shared. A work schedule can say من التنين للجمعة; a promotion can say من أول الشهر لنصه. The second phrase does not require an English word corresponding to through.
العيادة بتفتح من التنين للجمعة.
el-ʿiyēde btiftaḥ min et-tnēn lal-zhomʿa.
The clinic opens Monday through Friday. (weekly schedule)
العرض ماشي من أول الشهر لنصه.
el-ʿareḍ māshe min awwal esh-shaher la-noṣṣo.
The offer runs from the beginning of the month to its middle. (shared month, masculine suffix)
رح كون ببيروت من الخميس للأحد.
raḥ kūn b-Bayrūt min el-khamīs lal-aḥad.
I'll be in Beirut from Thursday to Sunday. (date-like stay)
Are the endpoints included?
من...لـ does not mechanically encode inclusive or exclusive endpoints. World knowledge and the type of schedule do most of the work. من التنين للجمعة for clinic days normally includes both Monday and Friday. فاتح من التمانية للخمسة normally means service stops at about five, not that the entire five-to-six hour is included.
When a boundary affects payment, access, or travel, say it explicitly:
الدوام من التنين للجمعة، شامل الجمعة.
ed-dawēm min et-tnēn lal-zhomʿa, shēmel el-zhomʿa.
The workweek is Monday to Friday, including Friday. (endpoint made explicit)
الحجز للخمسة، ولازم نطلع قبل الخمسة بعشر دقايق.
el-ḥazhez lal-khamse, w-lāzem niṭlaʿ ʾabel el-khamse b-ʿashar dʾāyeʾ.
The booking is until five, and we need to leave ten minutes before five. (operational endpoint clarified)
There is no honest universal shortcut. If inclusion matters legally or practically, add شامل “including,” لآخر نهار “through the end of the day,” or a separate sentence stating the cutoff.
Spatial routes and abstract transfers
Spatially, من identifies the origin and لـ the endpoint. With ordinary motion verbs, destination على may appear elsewhere, but the paired range strongly favors the balanced من...لـ frame.
المشوار من هون للمطار بياخد نص ساعة بلا عجقة.
el-mishwār min hōn lal-maṭār byēkhod noṣṣ sēʿa bla ʿazhʾa.
The trip from here to the airport takes half an hour without traffic. (route endpoints)
مشينا من البيت للجامعة عمهلنا.
mshīna min el-bēt lal-zhēmʿa ʿa-mahlna.
We walked from home to the university at our own pace. (completed route)
The same source-to-goal path can be abstract:
المسؤولية انتقلت مني لإلك من أول الشهر.
el-masʾūliyye intaʾalit minne la-ilak min awwal esh-shaher.
Responsibility transferred from me to you at the start of the month. (abstract transfer; masculine addressee)
Here مني minne and إلك ilak are suffixed preposition forms, not free subject pronouns. The extra directional لـ produces لإلك la-ilak “to you.” The complete paradigms belong on preposition suffixes.
Asking for both boundaries
Use من إمتى لإمتى؟ for time and من وين لوين؟ for a route. Notice the contractions: attached لـ + وين gives لوين; لـ + إمتى is written لإمتى. Neither preposition is stranded.
من إمتى لإمتى رح تكونوا مسافرين؟
min imta l-ēmta raḥ tkūno msēfrīn?
From when until when will you all be away? (time boundaries)
من وين لوين بتوصل هالبوسطة؟
min wēn la-wēn btūṣal hal-bōsṭa?
From where to where does this bus run? (route question)
Route and appointment dialogue
البوسطة من وين لوين؟
el-bōsṭa min wēn la-wēn?
Passenger: What are the start and end points of the bus route?
من ساحة ساسين للحمرا، وبتمر من هون.
min Sāḥet Sāsīn lal-Ḥamra, w-bitmorr min hōn.
Driver: From Sassine Square to Hamra, and it passes here.
والمواعيد من أي ساعة لأي ساعة؟
wil-mawēʿīd min ayya sēʿa la-ayya sēʿa?
Passenger: And what hours does it run?
من الستة الصبح للعشرة بالليل.
min es-sitte ṣ-ṣoboḥ lal-ʿashara bil-lēl.
Driver: From six in the morning to ten at night.
Common Mistakes
❌ القاعة محجوزة من التلاتة ل خمسة.
Incorrect spacing — لـ attaches to the following noun or number phrase.
✅ القاعة محجوزة من التلاتة للخمسة.
el-ʾāʿa maḥzhūze min et-tlēte lal-khamse.
The hall is booked from three to five.
❌ وين البوسطة بتمشي من لوين؟
Incorrectly scrambled boundary question — keep each preposition with its wh-word.
✅ من وين لوين بتمشي البوسطة؟
min wēn la-wēn btimshe l-bōsṭa?
From where to where does the bus run?
❌ المسؤولية انتقلت من أنا لإنت.
Incorrect — pronouns after prepositions require suffixed forms.
✅ المسؤولية انتقلت مني لإلك.
el-masʾūliyye intaʾalit minne la-ilak.
Responsibility transferred from me to you. (masculine addressee)
❌ من التنين للجمعة دايما يعني الجمعة مش داخلة.
Incorrect — endpoint inclusion comes from the schedule and context, not from لـ alone.
✅ الدوام من التنين للجمعة، والجمعة نهار دوام كامل.
ed-dawēm min et-tnēn lal-zhomʿa, wil-zhomʿa nhār dawēm kēmel.
The workweek is Monday to Friday, and Friday is a full workday. (inclusion explicit)
Key Takeaways
Use paired من...لـ to identify a start and endpoint in time, space, or an abstract transfer. Repeat the scale noun when clarity requires it; omit predictable repetition in lighter conversation. Do not assume that لـ alone settles endpoint inclusion. Attach لـ in writing, use suffixed forms after prepositions, and keep both prepositions before their question words in من إمتى لإمتى؟ and من وين لوين؟
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- من: From, Of, and ThanA1 — Use من for sources, materials, partitives, causes, and comparisons, with natural connected pronunciation and suffix forms.
- لـ: To, For, and BelongingA1 — Use لـ for recipients, beneficiaries, purposes, belonging, and deadlines, with the Lebanese إلـ suffix forms.
- لحدّ: Until and Up ToA2 — Mark temporal, spatial, and degree limits with Lebanese لحد, including لحد ما clauses and the contrast between continuation and deadlines.
- Clock Time in Lebanese ArabicA1 — Ask and tell the time in Lebanese Arabic using colloquial hour forms, fractions, exact minutes, and day-part labels.
- Dates, Years, and DecadesA2 — Say and write Lebanese dates using day-month order, Lebanon's month names, chunked years, and conversational decade expressions.
- إمتى: WhenA1 — Ask about event times, schedules, past and future points, starting points, and deadlines with Lebanese إمتى.