The spelling لا serves several grammatical jobs. Before an indicative imperfect verb, it normally negates a present, habitual, or general statement: لا يعمل “he does not work.” Before a second-person jussive, it prohibits: لا تعملْ “do not work.” Before a suitable indefinite noun, it can deny an entire category: لا مشكلةَ “there is no problem.” Repeated as لا...ولا, it coordinates negative alternatives.
The listener identifies the function from syntax, not from the two letters alone. This page keeps those structures separate and shows what لا governs in each one.
Present, habitual, and general negation
The ordinary negative of an imperfect verb is لا + indicative imperfect. It can describe what is not happening now, what someone does not habitually do, or what is generally untrue.
لا أفهم هذه العبارة.
lā ʾafhamu hādhihi l-ʿibāra.
I do not understand this expression. (Formal neutral.)
لا يعمل هذا الفرع يوم الجمعة.
lā yaʿmalu hādhā l-farʿu yawma l-jumuʿa.
This branch does not operate on Fridays. (General schedule.)
لا تعتمد الدراسة على مصدر واحد.
lā taʿtamidu d-dirāsatu ʿalā maṣdarin wāḥid.
The study does not rely on a single source. (Academic.)
Declarative لا does not change the indicative mood. In fully inflected pronunciation, a sound singular verb therefore keeps -u: لا يعملُ. English needs do/does not before a lexical verb; Arabic places لا directly before the imperfect and uses no equivalent of do.
This لا is not the normal negator for one completed past event. Use لم + jussive or ما + perfect for “did not,” and لن + subjunctive for an explicit future “will not.” The ما page separates that particle’s negative and pronominal functions.
لم يصل القطار أمس، لكنه يصل عادة في موعده.
lam yaṣili l-qiṭāru ʾamsi, lākinnahu yaṣilu ʿādatan fī mawʿidih.
The train did not arrive yesterday, but it usually arrives on time. (Formal neutral.)
Prohibitive لا: “do not” plus the jussive
When لا addresses someone and tells that person not to act, it is لا الناهية, prohibitive لا. It governs a second-person imperfect verb in the jussive. Context and mood separate it from declarative لا.
لا تترك الباب مفتوحا.
lā tatruki l-bāba maftūḥan.
Do not leave the door open. (Formal neutral prohibition to one man.)
لا تتأخروا عن بدء الجلسة.
lā tataʾakhkharū ʿan badʾi l-jalsa.
Do not be late for the start of the session. (Addressed to a male or mixed group.)
لا تنسي إرفاق النسخة الموقعة.
lā tansay ʾirfāqa n-nuskhati l-muwaqqaʿa.
Do not forget to attach the signed copy. (Addressed to one woman.)
The jussive is visible in different ways:
| Indicative statement | Prohibition | Jussive signal |
|---|---|---|
| تَتْرُكُ | لَا تَتْرُكْ | final sukūn |
| تَتَأَخَّرُونَ | لَا تَتَأَخَّرُوا | deletion of nūn |
| تَنْسَيْنَ | لَا تَنْسَيْ | deletion of nūn |
| تَسْعَى | لَا تَسْعَ | deletion of final weak letter |
The normal prohibition addresses a second person. Prohibitive لا can also govern a third-person jussive, as in فلا يتأخرْ “then let him not be late,” in a regulated or elevated style; everyday directives generally recast the sentence more directly.
على المتقدم ألا يتأخر عن الموعد المحدد.
ʿalā l-mutaqaddimi ʾallā yataʾakhkhara ʿani l-mawʿidi l-muḥaddad.
The applicant must not be late for the specified appointment. (Formal administrative wording; ألّا is أنْ + لا.)
Here ألّا is not prohibitive لا directly governing a jussive. It is the contraction of أنْ لا, and أنْ makes يتأخرَ subjunctive. Similar-looking negative strings must be parsed before their mood can be explained.
Categorical noun negation: لا النافية للجنس
In expressions such as لا شكَّ “there is no doubt” and لا أحدَ “there is no one,” لا denies the existence of any member of a category. Traditional grammar calls this لا النافية للجنس. Its noun is indefinite, immediately follows لا, and is in the accusative domain. A singular noun without an annex or dependent complement is built on the form associated with its accusative and takes no tanwīn: لا شكَّ، لا حلَّ، لا أحدَ.
لا شك في أهمية هذه الخطوة.
lā shakka fī ʾahammiyyati hādhihi l-khuṭwa.
There is no doubt about the importance of this step. (Formal set expression.)
لا أحد في المكتب بعد الساعة السادسة.
lā ʾaḥada fī l-maktabi baʿda s-sāʿati s-sādisa.
There is no one in the office after six o’clock. (Formal neutral.)
لا حل من دون تعاون الأطراف.
lā ḥalla min dūni taʿāwuni l-ʾaṭrāf.
There is no solution without cooperation among the parties. (Formal argumentative prose.)
This construction is categorical: لا حلَّ excludes every solution in the stated conditions. By contrast, verbal لا نجد حلًّا means “we do not find a solution” and negates an action. A definite noun cannot simply fill the categorical slot. To negate “the manager is not here,” use ليس المدير هنا, not categorical لا المدير.
This is only the core preview. Complex forms with annexes, شبه المضاف, repeated nouns, and intervening material have additional case behavior. The reliable A2 pattern is لا + immediately adjacent indefinite singular noun + predicate or prepositional phrase.
Repeated لا...ولا: neither...nor
To negate coordinated items or actions, repeat لا and attach و to the second occurrence: لا...ولا. The repeated elements should be parallel in form and scope.
لا أريد القهوة ولا الشاي.
lā ʾurīdu l-qahwata wa-lā sh-shāy.
I want neither coffee nor tea. (Formal neutral.)
لا ارتفعت الأسعار ولا تحسنت جودة الخدمة.
lā rtafaʿati l-ʾasʿāru wa-lā taḥassanat jawdatu l-khidma.
Prices did not rise, nor did service quality improve. (Formal/literary contrastive coordination.)
القرار لا عادل ولا عملي.
al-qarāru lā ʿādilun wa-lā ʿamaliyy.
The decision is neither fair nor practical. (Formal evaluative prose.)
The last pattern coordinates two predicative adjectives under repeated negation. It is not categorical لا النافية للجنس: عادل and عملي describe القرار, and their nominative role comes from the nominal clause.
The second form is spelled ولا, because conjunction و attaches to لا. But لا remains separate from the following content word: ولا الشاي, not ولاشاي.
Standalone and contrastive uses
Standalone لا is the ordinary negative answer “no.” It can also reject one item before a correction with بل “rather,” a useful formal pattern.
هل تحتاج إلى نسخة ورقية؟ لا، تكفي النسخة الإلكترونية.
hal taḥtāju ʾilā nuskhatin waraqiyyatin? lā, takfī n-nuskhatu l-ʾiliktrūniyya.
Do you need a paper copy? No, the electronic copy is enough. (Formal neutral.)
نحتاج إلى حل دائم لا مؤقت، بل إلى إصلاح شامل.
naḥtāju ʾilā ḥallin dāʾimin lā muʾaqqat, bal ʾilā ʾiṣlāḥin shāmil.
We need a permanent solution, not a temporary one—rather, a comprehensive reform. (Formal argumentative prose.)
Register
All four core uses are standard MSA. Present-tense and prohibitive لا are neutral in formal speech. لا النافية للجنس ranges from ordinary fixed expressions such as لا شك and لا بأس to highly formal analytical prose. Some regional varieties use different negative frames; those dialect patterns should be labeled separately and not mixed into an MSA paradigm.
Common Mistakes
Joining لا to an ordinary following word
❌ لاأفهم السؤال.
Incorrect—ordinary verbal لا is written as a separate word.
✅ لا أفهم السؤال.
lā ʾafhamu s-suʾāl.
I do not understand the question.
Keeping the indicative nūn in a plural prohibition
❌ لا تتأخرون عن الموعد.
Incorrect as a command to a group—prohibitive لا requires the jussive, which deletes the final nūn.
✅ لا تتأخروا عن الموعد.
lā tataʾakhkharū ʿani l-mawʿid.
Do not be late for the appointment.
Using present لا for a completed past event
❌ لا وصل القطار أمس.
Incorrect in neutral MSA for one completed event yesterday—use لم with the jussive or ما with the perfect.
✅ لم يصل القطار أمس.
lam yaṣili l-qiṭāru ʾams.
The train did not arrive yesterday.
Putting a definite noun after categorical لا
❌ لا المدير في المكتب.
Incorrect for ‘the manager is not in the office’—categorical لا requires an indefinite category noun.
✅ ليس المدير في المكتب.
laysa l-mudīru fī l-maktab.
The manager is not in the office.
Key Takeaways
- Declarative لا + indicative imperfect negates present, habitual, and general statements.
- Prohibitive لا + second-person jussive means “do not”; look for sukūn, nūn deletion, or weak-letter deletion.
- لا النافية للجنس categorically denies an indefinite noun class: لا شكَّ، لا أحدَ.
- Repeated لا...ولا coordinates negative items, while each item keeps the case or mood required by its own sentence role.
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