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### Negating the Future with لن

To negate an action in the future—saying "will not" or strongly denying that something will happen—Arabic uses the particle لن. It is placed directly before a present tense verb.

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### لن and the Subjunctive Mood

Just like the particles أن and لـ, لن changes the present tense verb that follows it into the subjunctive mood (المضارع المنصوب).

For subjects like "I", "he", "she", "you (masc.)", and "we", the subjunctive mood changes the verb's final short vowel to a fatha.

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### Dual and Plural Subjunctive

When the verb following لن is dual (two people) or plural (such as "they" or "you all"), the subjunctive mood drops the final ن from the standard present tense conjugation. For plural verbs, a silent ا is added at the end after dropping the ن.

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This rule applies to all verbs in these forms, even those that end in weak letters. For example, the plural "you all survive" (تنجون) drops the ن to become تنجوا.

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### Seeing the endings

After لن the singular verb ends in a fatha. Unvocalized text cannot show it, so the drills look like the ordinary present. With the vowels written:

| present | after لن |
|---|---|
| يَدْخُلُ | لَنْ يَدْخُلَ |
| نَنَامُ | لَنْ نَنَامَ |
| نَجْمَعُ | لَنْ نَجْمَعَ |

The plural change, on the other hand, is visible: تُشْعِلُونَ becomes لَنْ تُشْعِلُوا.

Future negative (لن)

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
will not	لنlan
tent	خيمةkhayma
safe	آمنâmin
We will not sleep in the tent because it is not safe.	لن ننام في الخيمة لأنها ليست آمنة.lan nanâma fil-khaymati li'annahâ laysat âminah.
to light	أشعلash'ala
fire	نارnâr
firewood	حطبhatab
You all will not light the fire without firewood.	لن تشعلوا النار بدون حطب.lan tushilu an-nâra bidûni hatabin
The two boys will not sit beside the fire.	الولدان لن يجلسا بجانب النار.al-waladâni lan yajlisâ bijânibi n-nâri
darkness	ظلامzhalâm
We will not collect the firewood in the darkness.	لن نجمع الحطب في الظلام.lan najma'a al-hataba fi az-zalâm
bear	دبdubb
The big bear will not enter our tent.	الدب الكبير لن يدخل خيمتنا.ad-dubbu l-kabîru lan yadkhula khaymatanâ
to survive	نجاnajâ
compass	بوصلةbûsla
We will not survive in the forest without a compass.	لن ننجو في الغابة بدون بوصلة.lan nanjuwa fi al-ghâbati bidûni bûslah
You all will never survive in the darkness without the compass.	لن تنجوا أبدا في الظلام بدون البوصلة.lan tanjoo abadan fee az-zhalâm bidoon al-boosalah
The two bears will not find food inside the tent.	الدبان لن يجدا طعاما داخل الخيمة.ad-dubbâni lan yajidâ ta'âman dâkhila al-khaymah
We are in a safe place, and we will not light the fire today.	نحن في مكان آمن، ولن نشعل النار اليوم.nahnu fi makânin âminin, walan nush'ila an-nâra al-yawma
We will not sleep before dawn.	لن ننام قبل الفجر.lan nanâma qabla al-fajri.

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