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Learn Hardcore Arabic (Egyptian): ناقشنا القانون. - We discussed the law.

Hardcore Arabic (Egyptian)
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/ناقشنا القانون.

ناقشنا القانون.

ناقشنا القانون.na'ashna el'ânûn

We discussed the law.

Breakdown of ناقشنا القانون.

يناقشyunâqish

القانونal-qânûn

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Questions & Answers about ناقشنا القانون.

How would I pronounce ناقشنا القانون in Egyptian Arabic?

A common Egyptian-style pronunciation would be:

nāʔašnā el-ʔānūn

A more formal / MSA-style pronunciation would be:

nāqašnā al-qānūn

A few useful notes:

In Egyptian Arabic, ق is often pronounced as a glottal stop ʔ.
The article ال is usually pronounced el- in Egyptian, not al-.
The ending ـنا in ناقشنا is pronounced -nā and means we here.

Is this sentence actually Egyptian Arabic, or is it more formal Arabic?

It is understandable in Egypt, but it sounds a bit more formal / educated / written than very casual everyday speech.

In everyday Egyptian, people might also say:

اتكلمنا عن القانون = we talked about the law
تناقشنا في القانون or similar expressions in some contexts

So ناقشنا القانون is perfectly good Arabic, but it leans a little more toward formal spoken Arabic / MSA-influenced Egyptian than very casual street speech.

What does ناقشنا break down into?

ناقشنا = ناقش + نا

ناقش = discussed
نا = we

So the whole word means we discussed.

Arabic often packs the subject into the verb itself, so one word can contain both the action and the subject.

Why is there no separate word for we?

Because Arabic verbs often already include the subject.

So:

ناقشنا = we discussed

You do not need to add a separate word for we unless you want emphasis or contrast.

If you wanted to emphasize it, you could say:

إحنا ناقشنا القانون = We discussed the law

But the basic sentence works perfectly without إحنا.

Could ناقشنا also mean something else, like he discussed us?

Yes, in unvowelled writing, ناقشنا could theoretically be read in more than one way.

For example:

nāqašnā = we discussed
nāqašanā = he discussed us

They are written the same way without vowel marks.

But in this sentence, the meaning is clear from context:

ناقشنا القانون naturally means we discussed the law

The version he discussed us the law does not make sense here, so learners can safely understand this as we discussed.

Why is there no word for about? In English we often say talk about something.

Because ناقش works like the English verb discuss, not like talk about.

So in Arabic:

ناقشنا القانون = we discussed the law

The object comes directly after the verb.

Compare:

ناقشنا القانون = we discussed the law
اتكلمنا عن القانون = we talked about the law

So with ناقش, you normally do not use عن.

What does القانون mean grammatically here?

القانون is the direct object of the verb.

So the structure is:

ناقشنا = we discussed
القانون = the law

This is a very normal verb + object pattern in Arabic.

In full MSA grammar, since it is a direct object, it would technically be accusative: القانونَ. But short vowel endings are usually not written, and in Egyptian Arabic they are not pronounced in normal speech.

What does ال in القانون do, and how is it pronounced?

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

قانون = a law / law
القانون = the law

Also, ق is a moon letter, so the ل in ال is pronounced.

That means:

MSA: al-qānūn
Egyptian: el-ʔānūn

If it were a sun letter, the ل would assimilate, but that does not happen here.

What kind of verb is ناقش?

ناقش is a Form III verb.

Its root letters are usually given as:

ن ق ش

Form III often gives a sense of interaction or an action involving another party, which fits the idea of discussing something.

For a learner, the most useful thing is simply to recognize:

dictionary form: ناقش
past, we form: ناقشنا
present, we form: بنناقش in Egyptian or نناقش in MSA-style Arabic

Could the word order be different?

Yes.

ناقشنا القانون starts with the verb, which is very natural in Arabic.

But you could also hear:

إحنا ناقشنا القانون = We discussed the law

That version adds the subject explicitly for emphasis, clarity, or contrast.

A more advanced topicalized structure is also possible, such as:

القانون ناقشناه = The law, we discussed it

So Arabic word order is flexible, but ناقشنا القانون is a very normal basic sentence.

Why are there no vowel marks in the sentence?

Because normal Arabic writing usually leaves out short vowels.

So you usually see:

ناقشنا القانون

not a fully vowelled version.

If it were fully vowelled in MSA, it could look like:

ناقَشْنا القانونَ

But in everyday texts, books, messages, newspapers, and most normal writing, those short vowels are omitted.

This is especially normal for adult readers, and in Egyptian Arabic speech those final case endings are generally not used anyway.

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