صارلـ: For and Since Durations | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Lebanese صارلـ + person + duration starts an elapsed-time clock and connects it to a state or activity: صارلي تلات شهور عم بشتغل هون “I've been working here for three months.” The person suffix identifies whose clock is being measured; the duration says how much time has accumulated.

English usually packages this meaning in a present perfect—have lived, have been waiting. Lebanese does not translate that auxiliary. It builds the elapsed frame with صار, the dative لـ suffix, a duration, and then the situation that has continued.

The core frame

The dependable order is:

صار + لـ-person + duration + ongoing situation

صارلي تلات شهور عم بشتغل بهالمشروع.

ṣārle tlēt shhūr ʿam bishtaghel b-hal-mashrūʿ.

I've been working on this project for three months. (ongoing activity; Beirut عم + b-imperfect baseline)

صارلها أسبوع تعبانة وما عم بتنام منيح.

ṣārla osbūʿ taʿbēne w-ma ʿam btinēm mnīḥ.

She's been tired for a week and hasn't been sleeping well. (ongoing state; Beirut عم + b-imperfect baseline)

صارلنا سنة ساكنين حد البحر.

ṣārlna sane sāknīn ḥadd el-baḥer.

We've been living by the sea for a year. (plural participial state)

The construction looks back from a reference point. By default that point is now: the project work, tiredness, and residence still hold. It does not merely locate their beginning.

💡

Picture a stopwatch ending now: صارلي + duration displays the elapsed reading, while the following adjective, participle, location, or progressive says what has occupied that time.

Common suffix forms

The suffix is obligatory when a person is the duration holder. These are the frequent Beirut forms (informal/neutral spoken):

Holder	Form	Reading
me	صارلي	ṣārle
you, masculine/feminine	صارلك	ṣārlak / ṣārlik
him	صارله	ṣārlo
her	صارلها	ṣārla
us	صارلنا	ṣārlna
you plural	صارلكن	ṣārlkon
them	صارلهن	ṣārlon

Written ه is normally silent in the Beirut production forms صارله، صارلها، صارلهن. Neighboring Levantine varieties and careful speakers may preserve different vowels or a more audible h (regional: Levant); do not mix paradigms mid-sentence.

صارله نص ساعة عالتلفون.

ṣārlo noṣṣ sēʿa ʿat-tilifōn.

He's been on the phone for half an hour. (location/state with no extra verb)

صارلكن زمان بتعرفوا بعض؟

ṣārlkon zamēn btaʿrfo baʿḍ?

Have you all known each other for a long time? (stative b-imperfect)

Activities naturally use Beirut-baseline عم + b-imperfect; adjectives and participles readily describe states; stable lexical states such as بيعرف “knows” may keep the b-imperfect. عم + bare imperfect also occurs across Lebanon and the northern Levant, but it is a recognition variant here. The construction does not force one single following predicate type.

Amount versus starting point

صارلك قديش...؟ asks for elapsed amount: “for how long?” من إمتى...؟ asks for a calendar or situational starting point: “since when?” English how long can obscure this distinction.

صارلك قديش بتعرف رامي؟

ṣārlak ʾaddēsh btiʿraf Rāme?

How long have you known Rami? (elapsed amount; masculine addressee)

من إمتى بتعرفه؟ من أيام الجامعة؟

min imta btiʿrafo? min ayyēm el-zhēmʿa?

Since when have you known him? Since university? (starting point)

صارلي أربع سنين هون، من أول ما فتح الفرع.

ṣārle arbaʿ snīn hōn, min awwal ma fataḥ el-fareʿ.

I've been here for four years, since the branch first opened. (amount plus starting event)

The amount and the starting point can coexist because they answer different questions. See قديش for price, degree, and duration question frames.

Negation changes scope

To say that an event has not occurred during the interval, put negative ما before that event: صارلي شهر ما شفتها “I haven't seen her for a month.” The elapsed frame remains affirmative.

صارلي شهر ما شفتها ولا حكيت معها.

ṣārle shaher ma shifta wala ḥkēt maʿa.

I haven't seen her or spoken with her for a month. (affirmative elapsed frame; negated events)

صارلنا فترة ما اجتمعنا كلنا سوا.

ṣārlna fatra ma izhtamaʿna killna sawa.

It's been a while since all of us met together. (time since last occurrence)

By contrast, ما صارلي شهر هون negates the threshold: the speaker has been here, but not for a full month.

ما صارلي شهر بالشغل الجديد، وبعدني عم بتعلم النظام.

ma ṣārle shaher bish-shoghol el-zhdīd, w-baʿdne ʿam btaʿallam en-niẓām.

I haven't been at the new job for a month yet, and I'm still learning the system. (negated duration threshold)

💡

Position of ما changes the claim: صارلي شهر ما شفته = a month has elapsed without seeing him; ما صارلي شهر = a full month has not elapsed.

Ongoing versus completed duration

Plain صارلي normally measures up to now. A finished interval in a completed past story instead uses an ordinary past verb plus a duration.

صارلي ساعتين ناطر هون.

ṣārle sēʿtēn nāṭer hōn.

I've been waiting here for two hours. (still waiting now; masculine speaker)

نطرت ساعتين مبارح وبعدين فليت.

nṭaret sēʿtēn mbēreḥ w-baʿdēn fallēt.

I waited for two hours yesterday and then left. (completed past interval)

To measure up to a past reference point, add كان: كان صارلي سنة بالشغل لما نقلوني “I had been at the job for a year when they transferred me.”

كان صارلي سنة بالشغل لما نقلوني عفرع تاني.

kēn ṣārle sane bish-shoghol lamma naʾalūne ʿa-fareʿ tēne.

I had been at the job for a year when they transferred me to another branch. (past reference point)

Appointment dialogue

صارلك قديش ناطر دورك؟

ṣārlak ʾaddēsh nāṭer dawrak?

Receptionist: How long have you been waiting for your turn? (masculine patient)

شي أربعين دقيقة، وصارلي أسبوع حاجز الموعد.

shī arbaʿīn daʾīʾa, w-ṣārle osbūʿ ḥāzhez el-mawʿed.

Patient: About forty minutes, and I've had the appointment booked for a week.

حقك علينا، الدكتورة صارلها عشر دقايق مع مريض تاني.

ḥaʾʾak ʿalēna, d-doktōra ṣārla ʿashar dʾāyeʾ maʿ mrīḍ tēne.

Receptionist: You're right to complain; the doctor has been with another patient for ten minutes.

ما في مشكلة، بس صارلي من الصبح بلا قهوة.

ma fī mishkle, bass ṣārle min eṣ-ṣoboḥ bla ʾahwe.

Patient: No problem, but I've been without coffee since this morning. (elapsed state plus starting phrase)

Common Mistakes

❌ عندي تلات سنين عم اشتغل هون.

Incorrect English-influenced duration frame — possession with عند does not replace صارلـ.

✅ صارلي تلات سنين عم بشتغل هون.

ṣārle tlēt snīn ʿam bishtaghel hōn.

I've been working here for three years.

❌ أنا صار ساعتين هون.

Incorrect in the target construction — attach the first-person dative suffix to صار.

✅ صارلي ساعتين هون وناطر دوري.

ṣārle sēʿtēn hōn w-nāṭer dawre.

I've been here for two hours waiting for my turn. (masculine speaker)

❌ ما صارلي شهر ما شفته، إذا المقصود إني ما شفته خلال شهر كامل.

Incorrect scope for the intended meaning — the first ما says a month has not elapsed.

✅ صارلي شهر ما شفته.

ṣārle shaher ma shifto.

I haven't seen him for a month.

❌ صارلي ساعتين ناطر مبارح وبعدين فليت.

Incorrect time anchoring — plain صارلي points to the current reference point, but the story explicitly ended yesterday.

✅ استنيت بالمكتب ساعتين مبارح وبعدين رجعت عالبيت.

istannēt bil-maktab sēʿtēn mbēreḥ w-baʿdēn rzhiʿet ʿal-bēt.

I waited at the office for two hours yesterday and then went home.

Key Takeaways

Build ongoing duration with صار + لـ-suffix + duration + situation. The suffix marks whose elapsed clock is being measured; it is not an English-style subject pronoun or direct object. Ask صارلك قديش؟ for an amount and من إمتى؟ for a starting point. Put ما before the following event to deny that it occurred during the interval, but before صارلي to deny that the duration threshold has been reached. Use an ordinary past verb for a finished interval and كان صارلي for elapsed time viewed from a past point.

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