لسه ابي بالشغل.

my

Breakdown of لسه ابي بالشغل.

• ال: the
• ب: at
• شغل: work

Questions & Answers about لسه ابي بالشغل.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

Because Arabic often uses a nominal sentence in the present tense, with no separate verb for to be.

So:

• أبي = my father
• بالشغل = at work
• لسه = still

Together, the meaning is understood as my father is still at work, even though Arabic does not usually say a present-tense is here.

If you wanted a past or future meaning, then Arabic would use other words or verbs.

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What does لسه mean, exactly?

لسه is a very common Levantine word meaning still or yet, depending on the sentence.

In this sentence, it means still:

• لسه أبي بالشغل = My father is still at work

You will also hear it in other common patterns, for example:

• لسه ما إجى = He still hasn’t come / He hasn’t come yet
• لسه صغير = He’s still young

So لسه is a very useful everyday word in spoken Arabic.

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What does أبي mean here? Does it have anything to do with the verb I want?