Breakdown of ليس عندي سبب.
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
عند'inda
at / to have
ليسlaysa
to not be
سببsabab
reason
Questions & Answers about ليس عندي سبب.
Why do we use ليس here instead of لا to say 'don't'?
In Arabic, expressing 'to have' uses a nominal sentence structure (literally 'with me is a reason'). To negate a nominal sentence, we use ليس. So, 'I don't have' translates literally to 'Is not with me...'.
Why is ليس at the very beginning of the sentence?
ليس acts like a verb meaning 'is not' and naturally goes at the start of the sentence. Even though the English translation is 'I do not have', the Arabic structure is literally 'Is not with me a reason'.
How do we know to use the masculine form ليس instead of the feminine ليست?
ليس needs to match its subject in gender. In a 'to have' sentence, the actual subject is the thing you own (or in this case, the thing you don't own). Since سبب (a reason) is a masculine word, we use the masculine ليس.
What is the word عندي made of?
It is made of the preposition عند (with / at) and the attached pronoun ي (me / my). Together, they literally mean 'with me', which is the standard way to say 'I have' in Arabic.
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