Kept on: ظل
ظل(dhalla) + a present verb means kept doing, went on doing. ظل is a doubled verb, so its past un-doubles before a consonant ending (ظل، ظلت، but ظللنا). The present verb after it agrees with the same subject.
| The baby kept crying for two hours. | ظل الرضيع يبكي ساعتين.dhalla ar-radee'u yabki sâ'atayn. |
| We kept waiting at the station for a whole hour. | ظللنا ننتظر في المحطة ساعة كاملة.zhalilnâ nantazhiru fil-mahattati sâ'atan kâmilatan. |
No longer: لم يعد
لم يعد(lam ya'ud) + a present verb means no longer. It is لم with the jussive of عاد to return: he did not go back to (doing). Both verbs change for the person.
| person | no longer smokes |
|---|---|
| I | لم أعد أدخن |
| you (m) | لم تعد تدخن |
| he | لم يعد يدخن |
| she | لم تعد تدخن |
| they (m) | لم يعودوا يدخنون |
| The driver no longer smokes on the bus. | لم يعد السائق يدخن في الحافلة.lam ya'udi s-sâ'iqu yudakhkhinu fi l-ĥâfilati |
| I can no longer wait. | لم أعد أستطيع أن أنتظر.lam a'ud astatî'u an antazira. |
About to: على وشك
على وشك('alâ washki) means about to: on the edge of something that has not happened yet. Follow it with أن + a subjunctive verb, or with a verbal noun.
| The bus is about to move. | الحافلة على وشك أن تتحرك.al-ḥâfilatu 'alâ washki an tataḥarraka. |
| We are about to arrive. | نحن على وشك الوصول.nahnu 'alâ washki l-wusûli |
على وشك or كاد?
كاد + present is almost, said of something that nearly happened and then did not. على وشك looks at the moment just before.
| The baby almost fell asleep, but he kept crying. | كاد الرضيع ينام، لكنه ظل يبكي.kâda ar-radîu yanâmu, lâkinnahu dhalla yabkî |
| The baby was about to fall asleep, then he started crying. | كان الرضيع على وشك أن ينام، ثم بدأ يبكي.kâna ar-radî'u 'alâ washki an yanâma, thumma bada'a yabkî. |
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