Negating States and Descriptions with ليس
In Arabic, nominal sentences (sentences describing a state or condition without a main action verb) are negated using the verb ليس, which translates to "to not be".
Although ليس is used to negate present states, it takes past-tense conjugation endings. It must always match the subject of your sentence in gender and number.
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | لست | هو | ليس |
| أنت | لست | هي | ليست |
| أنتم | لستم | هم | ليسوا |
When describing a state, the adjective or noun following ليس changes to the accusative case. For most masculine words, this means adding an ا (or ـا) to the end. For regular masculine plurals, the ending changes from ون to ين.
| I am not ready now. | أنا لست جاهزا الآن.ana lastu jâhizan al-ân |
| The reason is not clear. | السبب ليس واضحا.as-sababu laysa wâdiḥan |
| The new idea is not clear. | الفكرة الجديدة ليست واضحة.al-fikratu al-jadîdatu laysat wâdihatan |
| They are not angry. | هم ليسوا غاضبين.hum laysû ghâdibîn. |
Negating Possession
To say you do not have something, use ليس followed by a possession word like عند (with / at) and its attached pronoun.
When negating possession, the thing you do not have is actually the grammatical subject of the sentence. Therefore, you must match ليس to the gender of the possessed object, not the person who owns it. Place ليس right before the possession word (like عندي or عندنا).
| I do not have time. | ليس عندي وقت.laysa 'indî waqtun |
| I do not have a new idea. | ليست عندي فكرة جديدة.laysat 'indî fikratun jadîdatun |
| We do not have a solution. | ليس عندنا حل.laysa 'indanâ hallun |
| He does not have a difficult exam tomorrow. | ليس عنده امتحان صعب غدا.laysa 'indahu imtihânun sa'bun ghadan |
