Word
اسمك علي؟
Meaning
Is your name Ali?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
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Questions & Answers about اسمك علي؟
How do you pronounce اسمك علي؟ in Levantine Arabic?
Usually:
- to a man: ismak ʿAli?
- to a woman: ismik ʿAli?
A rough English guide would be:
- ismak / ismik = is-mak / is-mik
- ʿAli = roughly a-LEE, but with the Arabic sound ع at the start
That ع sound, called ʿayn, does not exist in English, so learners usually need time to get used to it.
What does -ك mean in اسمك?
-ك is the attached pronoun meaning your.
So:
- اسم = name
- اسمك = your name
In Levantine, the vowel before -ك changes depending on who you are talking to:
- اسمك pronounced ismak when speaking to a man
- اسمك pronounced ismik when speaking to a woman
The spelling usually stays the same in normal writing.
Why is there no word for is in this sentence?
Because in Arabic, especially in the present tense, sentences often do not use a verb meaning "to be".