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When you need to put a firm stop to office rumors, standard negation might not be enough. To add strong emphasis to a formal denial, Arabic pairs the negative verb **ليس** with the preposition **بـ**.

### The Emphatic بـ

To make a denial emphatic (meaning "is *not at all*..."), attach the prefix **بـ** directly to the *predicate* (the news or descriptor) of a nominal sentence negated by **ليس**.

Grammatically, this **بـ** is considered "redundant" because it doesn't translate to its usual meanings like "in" or "with"—it is there purely for emphasis. However, it still acts like a preposition. This means it forces the predicate attached to it into the **genitive case (مجرور)**, ending in a *kasra* or *kasratayn*.

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Notice how the verb changes to **ليست** for feminine subjects like **استقالة** (resignation) or **إقالة** (dismissal). The predicate attached to **بـ** continues to agree in gender with the subject, while staying locked in the genitive case.

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### Seeing the endings

This course writes Arabic the way books and newspapers print it, without the short-vowel marks, so the ending this lesson is about is usually something you hear in the audio but cannot see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:

| as written | fully vocalized | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| الاستقالة ليست بملفقة. | الِاسْتِقَالَةُ لَيْسَتْ بِمُلَفَّقَةٍ. | The resignation is not fabricated. |
| الاندماج الإجباري ليس بوارد أبدا. | الِانْدِمَاجُ الإِجْبَارِيُّ لَيْسَ بِوَارِدٍ أَبَدًا. | The mandatory merger is not plausible at all. |
| لا تضحكي، السبب ليس بسخيف. | لَا تَضْحَكِي، السَّبَبُ لَيْسَ بِسَخِيفٍ. | Do not laugh, the reason is not ridiculous. |

The predicate after بـ is genitive, with a kasra you only hear: **بِمُلَفَّقَةٍ**, **بِوَارِدٍ**, **بِسَخِيفٍ**. Without بـ, ليس would make it accusative, and on an indefinite masculine word you would usually see the alif: **لَيْسَ وَارِدًا**. That is why the drills write ليس بوارد with no alif.

Emphatic negation with laysa (ليس ... بـ)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
resignation	استقالةistiqâla
emphatic marker (adds emphasis, no English equivalent)	بbi
fabricated	ملفقmulaffaq
The resignation is not fabricated.	الاستقالة ليست بملفقة.al-istiqâlatu laysat bimulaffaqah.
merger	اندماجindimâj
mandatory	إجباريijbâriyy
plausible	واردwârid
The mandatory merger is not plausible at all.	الاندماج الإجباري ليس بوارد أبدا.al-indimâju al-ijbâriyyu laysa bi-wâridin abadan
dismissal	إقالةiqâla
intentional	مقصودmaqsûd
The dismissal of the employee is not intentional.	إقالة الموظف ليست بمقصودة.iqâlatu al-muwazzafi laysat bimaqsûdah
ridiculous	سخيفsakhîf
Do not laugh, the reason is not ridiculous.	لا تضحكي، السبب ليس بسخيف.lâ tadhakî, as-sababu laysa bisakhîfin.
The resignation of the worker is not mandatory.	استقالة العامل ليست بإجبارية.istiqâlatu al-âmili laysat bi-ijbâriyyah
Nothing is fabricated, and the matter is not impossible.	لا شيء ملفق، والأمر ليس بمستحيل.lâ shay'a mulaffaq, wal-amru laysa bimustahîl.
You must know that the dismissal is not plausible.	عليك أن تعرفي أن الإقالة ليست بواردة.alayki an ta'rifi anna al-iqâlata laysat biwâridah
embezzlement	اختلاسikhtilâs
The embezzlement rumor is not fabricated.	شائعة الاختلاس ليست بملفقة.shâ'iatu al-ikhtilâsi laysat bimulaffaqatin
leak	تسريبtasrîb
The leak about the merger is not intentional.	التسريب عن الاندماج ليس بمقصود.at-tasrîbu 'anil-indimâji laysa bimaqsûd
The mandatory rule is not ridiculous.	القاعدة الإجبارية ليست بسخيفة.al-qâ'idatu al-ijbâriyyatu laysat bisakhîfah
This is not a leak, but a ridiculous rumor about an embezzlement in the company.	هذا ليس بتسريب، بل شائعة سخيفة عن اختلاس في الشركة.hâdhâ laysa bitasrîbin, bal shâ'i'atun sakhîfatun 'ani ikhtilâsin fî ash-sharikah.

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