Expressing Negative Purpose with حتى لا
In the previous lesson, we learned how to express why we do things using positive purpose clauses. But what if you want to explain what you are trying to avoid? To say "so that not" or "in order not to," one of the most common phrases is حتى لا.
Just like positive purpose particles, حتى لا causes the present tense verb that follows it to enter the subjunctive mood. For standard verbs, this means the final short vowel changes to a fatha (the "a" sound).
| We must avoid fat so that we do not feel pain in the stomach. | يجب أن نتجنب الدهن حتى لا نشعر بألم في المعدة.yajibu an natajannaba ad-duhna hattâ lâ nash'ura bi'alamin fî al-ma'idati |
| We do not put fat in the soup so that we do not eat many calories. | نحن لا نضع دهنا في الحساء حتى لا نأكل سعرات كثيرة.nahnu lâ nada'u duhnan fî al-hasâ'i hattâ lâ na'kula su'arâtin kathîratan. |
The Particle لئلا (So as not to)
Another way to express negative purpose is the word لئلا. It means "so as not to" or "lest."
While it looks like a single word, لئلا is actually a contraction of three smaller words merged together: the prefix لِـ (in order to), the particle أن (that), and لا (not). Because it has the hidden أن inside it, it operates exactly like حتى لا and triggers the subjunctive mood on the following verb.
You will see both لئلا and حتى لا used frequently when discussing healthy habits, like watching your nutrition, keeping a diet, or preventing conditions like diabetes and obesity.
| The patient started a new diet so as not to become sick with diabetes. | بدأ المريض حمية جديدة لئلا يصبح مريضا بالسكري.bada'a al-marîdu himyatan jadîdatan li'allâ yusbiha marîdan bis-sukkarî. |
| We will eat meat without fat so that diabetes does not increase. | سوف نأكل لحما بدون دهن لئلا يزيد السكري.sawfa na'kulu lahman bidûni duhnin li'allâ yazîda as-sukkariyyu |
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 something you hear in the audio but never see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:
| present | negative purpose |
|---|---|
| نَشْعُرُ | حَتَّى لَا نَشْعُرَ بِأَلَمٍ |
| يُصْبِحُ | لِئَلَّا يُصْبِحَ مَرِيضًا |
| تَزِيدُ | حَتَّى لَا تَزِيدَ السِّمْنَةُ |
لئلا is لِـ + أَنْ + لَا run together, so the verb is subjunctive, as after أن. حتى لا does the same. This لا is not a negative command: the verb keeps its fatha (لَا تَزِيدَ). The command would be the jussive لَا تَزِدْ.
