Breakdown of ما ببعت طلب التوظيف الا اذا ارفقت السيرة الذاتية.
Questions & Answers about ما ببعت طلب التوظيف الا اذا ارفقت السيرة الذاتية.
What does ما ... إلا إذا mean in this sentence?
This pattern means not ... unless or, more naturally in English, only if.
So:
ما ببعت طلب التوظيف إلا إذا أرفقت السيرة الذاتية
= I don’t send the job application unless I attach/have attached the CV
= I only send the job application if I attach/have attached the CV
Literally, it is something like I do not send the job application except if...
Why is the sentence negated with ما instead of لا?
In Levantine Arabic, ما is the normal way to negate a present-tense verb:
- ببعت = I send
- ما ببعت = I don’t send
Using لا here would sound more like Modern Standard Arabic or a more formal register. In everyday Levantine, ما is the expected choice.
What does the بـ in ببعت do?
In Levantine, بـ on a verb usually marks the present / habitual / regular action.
So ببعت means something like:
- I send
- I am sending
- I usually send
The exact English tense depends on context.
Why are there two ب sounds in ببعت?
Because two different things come together:
- the present marker بـ
- the verb stem, which itself starts with ب
So the spelling becomes ب + بعت = ببعت.
This is completely normal in Levantine verbs.
Why is أرفقت in the past/perfect form after إلا إذا?
Arabic often uses the perfect after إذا / إلا إذا when the condition is understood as something that must be completed.
Here, the idea is:
I won’t send the application unless I have attached the CV first.
So أرفقت can feel like:
- if I attached
- if I have attached
- or simply if I attach, depending on how naturally you translate it into English
It sounds a bit more formal, which fits a job-application context.
How do we know أرفقت means I attached, not you attached?
In normal Arabic writing, short vowels are usually not written, so أرفقت by itself can be ambiguous.
It could theoretically be:
- أرفقتُ = I attached
- أرفقتَ = you (masculine singular) attached
But here the earlier verb ببعت is clearly I send, so the natural reading is also I attached.
Context tells you the subject.
Why is it طلب التوظيف and not الطلب التوظيف?
Because طلب التوظيف is an iḍāfa structure, often called a construct phrase.
It literally means:
- طلب = request/application
- التوظيف = employment/hiring
Together: job application / employment application
In an iḍāfa:
- the first noun does not take ال
- the second noun can make the whole phrase definite
So طلب التوظيف is correct, not الطلب التوظيف.
Why is السيرة الذاتية definite, with الـ?
Because this is the standard term for the CV / the résumé, and in context it refers to the specific document you are expected to attach.
Arabic often uses the definite article in places where English might say a CV or the CV, depending on context.
Also, السيرة الذاتية is a fixed expression meaning résumé/CV.
Is this sentence fully colloquial Levantine?
It is mostly Levantine in structure, but the vocabulary is somewhat formal, which is very normal for work-related language.
- ما ببعت = clearly colloquial Levantine
- طلب التوظيف
- أرفقت
- السيرة الذاتية
These are more formal or standard words, but they are exactly the kind of words people often use when talking about jobs, applications, and documents.
So the sentence is best described as Levantine with formal job-related vocabulary.
Could إلا إذا also be translated as only if?
Yes. In fact, that is often the most natural English translation.
So:
- ما ببعت طلب التوظيف إلا إذا أرفقت السيرة الذاتية
- can be translated as I only send the job application if I attach the CV
That is the same basic meaning as I don’t send the job application unless I attach the CV.
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