Lebanese قدامʾoddēm places something in front of a landmark, and وراwara places it behind. The pair creates a front–back axis: a building has a street-facing front, a person has a direction of gaze, and a moving line has a leader and followers.
That axis extends naturally to an audience (قدام الكل “in front of everyone”), sequence (واحد ورا التاني “one after another”), pursuit (ركض ورا الباص “ran after the bus”), and discourse (قدامنا شغل “we have work ahead”). These meanings are connected, but not every English before, after, front, or back uses this pair.
Static front and back
Put قدام or ورا before the landmark. With buildings and objects that have a conventional front, the relation is usually intrinsic: قدام الفندق is the area by its front entrance, while ورا الفندق is the rear side.
السيارة واقفة قدام مدخل البناية.
es-sayyāra wēʾfe ʾoddēm madkhal el-binēye.
The car is parked in front of the building entrance. (informal; static location)
في موقف زغير ورا الفندق.
fī mawʾaf zghīr wara l-fondoʾ.
There's a small parking lot behind the hotel. (neutral)
حط الكرسي قدام الشباك، مش وراه.
ḥoṭṭ el-korse ʾoddēm esh-shobbēk, mish warāh.
Put the chair in front of the window, not behind it. (informal command)
With a person, viewpoint matters. قدامي is in the space I face or farther along my path; وراي is behind my body or following me. If people turn around, their front–back axis turns too.
The suffixed forms
Both relation words attach pronoun suffixes: قدامي “in front of me,” قدامك “in front of you,” قدامه “in front of him/it,” and وراي، وراك، وراه “behind me/you/him.” Plural forms include قدامنا، قدامكن، قدامن and ورانا، وراكن، وراهن in the course baseline.
الباص قدامنا بمية متر.
el-bāṣ ʾoddēmna b-miyye meter.
The bus is a hundred meters ahead of us. (informal; path axis)
ما توقف وراها لأنو رح ترجع لورا.
ma twaʾʾef warāha laʾanno raḥ tirzhaʿ la-wara.
Don't stop behind her because she's going to reverse. (informal driving warning)
المدخل قدامك دغري عاليسار.
el-madkhal ʾoddēmak doghre ʿal-yasār.
The entrance is straight ahead of you on the left. (informal directions)
The suffix is the landmark. Do not add a separate pronoun after it unless contrast is genuinely intended. See Prepositions with Pronoun Suffixes for the complete system.
Motion around the front–back axis
Other prepositions can turn the static regions into paths. من قدام means “from in front of / past the front of,” من ورا “from behind,” and لورا gives backward direction.
مرق من قدام المكتب وما فات.
maraʾ men ʾoddēm el-maktab w-ma fēt.
He passed in front of the office and didn't go in. (informal path)
طلع الولد من ورا الباب وفاجأنا.
ṭiliʿ el-walad men wara l-bēb w-fēzhaʾna.
The boy came out from behind the door and surprised us. (informal source path)
رجع لورا شوي كرمال تفتح البوابة.
rzhaʿ la-wara shwayy kermēl tiftaḥ el-bawwēbe.
Move back a little so the gate can open. (informal direction)
Bare قدام and ورا can also name the front and back sections of a vehicle or room: اقعد قدام “sit in front,” في محل ورا “there is space in back.”
In another person's presence
قدام + person/group means that the event happens in their presence and is open to their perception. English “in front of” may sound purely spatial, but Lebanese commonly uses this audience meaning for speech, embarrassment, praise, or disagreement.
ما تحكوا بهالموضوع قدام الولاد.
ma tiḥko b-hal-mawḍūʿ ʾoddēm el-wlād.
Don't talk about this subject in front of the children. (informal; audience presence)
شكرها قدام كل الفريق.
shakara ʾoddēm kill el-farīʾ.
He thanked her in front of the whole team. (professional spoken; public acknowledgment)
ما بدي ناقشك قدام الزباين.
ma badde nāʾshak ʾoddēm ez-zabāyen.
I don't want to argue with you in front of the customers. (informal; face-sensitive context)
The people need not be literally lined up behind the event. Their role as witnesses makes them the relevant “front” audience.
Sequence with ورا
When events or people follow a path, ورا marks succession. واحد ورا التاني is the everyday “one after another.” This is not the same as temporal بعد in a clause such as “after we arrived.”
فوتوا واحد ورا التاني، مش كلكن سوا.
fūto wāḥad wara t-tēne, mish killkon sawa.
Go in one after another, not all together. (informal instruction)
إجت تلات اتصالات ورا بعض.
izhit tlēt ittiṣālāt wara baʿḍ.
Three calls came one after another. (informal sequence)
بعد ما وصلنا، فاتوا الضيوف واحد ورا التاني.
baʿd ma wiṣilna, fēto ḍ-ḍyūf wāḥad wara t-tēne.
After we arrived, the guests entered one after another. (بعد introduces time; ورا orders the series)
The last example makes the division visible: بعد ما relates two time periods, while ورا arranges members inside a sequence.
Pursuit and searching
The follower can actively pursue what is ahead. With motion verbs, ورا means “after” in the sense of chasing or going to get—not temporal “after.”
ركض ورا الباص بس ما لحقه.
rikiḍ wara l-bāṣ bass ma liḥʾo.
He ran after the bus but didn't catch it. (informal pursuit)
راحت ورا ابنها عالمدرسة.
rāḥet wara ibna ʿal-madrase.
She went to the school to pick up her son. (informal; going after someone to retrieve him)
من زمان عم بيركض ورا هالفرصة.
men zamēn ʿam byirkoḍ wara hal-forṣa.
He's been pursuing this opportunity for a long time. (informal pursuit metaphor)
The last frame is lexical and presents the goal as something being chased. Lebanese normally uses دور على for a plain “look for”; do not conclude that every search verb freely takes ورا.
What lies ahead and what is behind something
Front–back space maps onto prospects and hidden causes. قدامنا can describe work, options, or time ahead. ورا can identify the person or motive driving an event from behind the visible scene.
قدامنا شغل كتير قبل الافتتاح.
ʾoddēmna shoghol ktīr ʾabel el-iftitēḥ.
We have a lot of work ahead of us before the opening. (informal prospect metaphor)
قدامك خيارين، وإنت بتقرر.
ʾoddēmak khyārēn, w-inte btʾarrer.
You have two options before you, and you decide. (informal deliberation metaphor)
مين ورا هالحملة الإعلامية؟
mīn wara hal-ḥamle l-iʿlēmiyye?
Who's behind this media campaign? (neutral; agency behind a visible action)
These are conventional metaphors, not proof that ورا always means “cause.” A plain causal explanation normally uses لأنو or a noun such as سبب.
Dialogue: locating a pickup point
أنا قدام المحطة، بس ما عم بشوف السيارة.
ana ʾoddēm el-maḥaṭṭa, bass ma ʿam bshūf es-sayyāra.
Passenger: I'm in front of the station, but I can't see the car. (informal phone call)
نحنا ورا المحطة، عند موقف الباصات.
niḥna wara l-maḥaṭṭa, ʿand mawʾef el-bāṣāt.
Driver: We're behind the station, by the bus stop.
بمشي من قدام المبنى لورا؟
bimshe men ʾoddēm el-mabna la-wara?
Passenger: Should I walk from the front of the building toward the back?
إي، وخليك حد الحيط. بتشوفنا قدامك.
ē, w-khallīk ḥadd el-ḥēṭ. btshūfna ʾoddēmak.
Driver: Yes, and stay beside the wall. You'll see us ahead of you.
Pronunciation and regional range
This page uses urban Beirut قدامʾoddēm, with ordinary ق realized as ʾ. Lebanese speakers also produce vowel qualities closer to ʾiddēm or ʾaddēm (regional/individual variation: Lebanon). Formal أمام and خلف / وراء are common in MSA (formal); everyday Lebanese normally uses قدام and ورا.
Common Mistakes
Pronouncing urban ق as q in قدام
❌ قدام
qoddām
Incorrect for this guide's urban Beirut baseline — ordinary ق is a glottal stop here.
✅ قدام الباب
ʾoddēm el-bēb
in front of the door (urban Beirut pronunciation)
Using ورا for temporal “after”
❌ ورا ما خلص الاجتماع اتصلت فيك.
Incorrect for the intended time clause — temporal ‘after’ uses بعد ما.
✅ بعد ما خلص الاجتماع اتصلت فيك.
baʿd ma khiliṣ el-izhtimēʿ ittaṣalet fīk.
After the meeting ended, I called you.
Stranding the relation word
❌ أي بناية السيارة ورا؟
Incorrect English-style stranding — ورا must introduce its landmark or take a suffix.
✅ ورا أي بناية السيارة؟
wara ayya binēye s-sayyāra?
Which building is the car behind?
Mixing formal and everyday forms without a register reason
❌ ناطر قدام المدخل الخلفي وراء الفندق.
Register mixture — وراء is formal/MSA-like beside everyday قدام in this casual location message.
✅ ناطر قدام المدخل الخلفي ورا الفندق.
nāṭer ʾoddēm el-madkhal el-khalfe wara l-fondoʾ.
I'm waiting in front of the rear entrance behind the hotel. (informal Lebanese)
Key Takeaways
Use قدام and ورا for a front–back axis supplied by a landmark, facing direction, or route. Attach suffixes directly for “ahead of me” and “behind them.” قدام also marks an audience’s presence and prospects ahead; ورا extends to sequence, pursuit, and hidden agency. Keep those meanings distinct from temporal قبل/بعد, and use everyday قدام/ورا rather than unlabeled MSA alternatives in casual speech.
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- تحت and فوق: Below and AboveA2 — Use Lebanese تحت and فوق for vertical location and paths, distinguish فوق from contact على, and extend both words to hierarchy, pressure, and thresholds.
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- قبل and بعد: Before and AfterA2 — Order Lebanese events, people, and time periods with قبل and بعد, including noun complements, clauses with ما, and suffixed forms.
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- Urban Lebanese Qāf as ʾA1 — Pronounce written qāf as a glottal stop in ordinary Beirut speech while recognizing formal q and community q/g outcomes without stigma.