To express that an action has not happened yet, Arabic pairs the negative particle لم with the adverb بَعْدُ.
The Unannexed Adverb بَعْدُ
You already know لم is used with a present-tense verb to negate an action in the past. To add the meaning of "yet," we place بَعْدُ at the end of the phrase.
Notice the vowel on بَعْدُ. Usually, the word بعد (after) is followed by a noun. However, when it stands alone without a following noun, it acts as an "unannexed" adverb. In this unannexed state, it takes a fixed damma ending (بَعْدُ) regardless of its role in the sentence.
| The librarian has not restored the torn manuscript yet. | لم ترمم أمينة المكتبة المخطوطة الممزقة بعد.lam turammim amînatu al-maktabati al-makhtûtata al-mumazzaqata ba'du |
| We have not used the optical scanner in the archive yet. | لم نستخدم الماسح الضوئي في الأرشيف بعد.lam nastakhdimi al-mâsiha ad-daw'iyya fi al-arshîfi ba'du |
Placement in a Sentence
بَعْدُ consistently sits at the very end of the negated clause or sentence.
| The researcher has not written the report about the archive yet. | الباحثة لم تكتب التقرير عن الأرشيف بعد.al-bâhithatu lam taktubi t-taqrîra 'ani l-arshîfi ba'du. |
| The librarian has not fixed the optical scanner yet. | أمينة المكتبة لم تصلح الماسح الضوئي بعد.amiinatu al-maktabati lam tuslihi al-mâsiha ad-dawiyya ba'du |
You will often see this structure used to contrast an action that has begun with a step that is still pending, or to answer a question about completed tasks.
| The researchers began reading the manuscript, but they have not finished yet. | بدأ الباحثون يقرؤون المخطوطة، لكنهم لم ينتهوا بعد.bada'a al-bâhithûna yaqra'ûna al-makhtûtata, lâkinnahum lam yantahû ba'du. |
| Have you restored twenty torn manuscripts? | هل رممتم عشرين مخطوطة ممزقة؟hal rammamtum 'ishrîna makhtûtatan mumazzaqatan? |
| No, we have not restored twenty manuscripts yet. | لا، لم نرمم عشرين مخطوطة بعد.lâ, lam nurammim 'ishrîna makhtûtatan ba'du. |
