Questions & Answers about لست غاضبا، أنا متعب.
Where did the middle letter yaa go in لست? I thought the word for 'not' was ليس.
لست is the 'I' form of ليس. When we attach the 'I' ending (the letter ت) to this verb, the middle letter ي drops out to make pronunciation flow better. You will also see this happen for 'you' forms like لست (lasta).
Why does the word غاضبا (angry) have an extra alif at the end?
This is a major rule for ليس: the word describing what you are not takes the 'accusative' case. For most undefined words, this means adding an alif with a double-fatha sound (tanween) at the end, changing غاضب to غاضبا (ghaadiban).
Is it okay to say أنا لست for 'I am not' instead of just لست?
Yes, but it is optional. The ت suffix on لست already contains the full meaning of 'I'. Adding أنا before it is grammatically correct but usually only done if you want extra emphasis.
Why doesn't متعب (tired) have an extra alif like غاضبا does?
Because أنا متعب is a regular, positive sentence. The rule that adds the extra alif only applies to the specific word being negated by ليس. Since you actually are tired, متعب stays in its normal, default dictionary form.
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