Word
لما وصلنا عالطابق التاني، شفت المصعد مفتوح.
Meaning
When we reached the second floor, I saw the elevator open.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Questions & Answers about لما وصلنا عالطابق التاني، شفت المصعد مفتوح.
What does لما mean here?
In this sentence, لما means when or once/as soon as in a past-time story.
So لما وصلنا... means something like:
- when we arrived...
- once we got to...
In Levantine, لما is very common in narration and everyday speech.
Why are there no separate words for we and I?
Because Arabic verbs usually already include the subject.
In this sentence:
- وصلنا = we arrived
- شفت = I saw
The subject is built into the verb, so you do not need separate pronouns like نحن or أنا unless you want extra emphasis.
Why does وصلنا mean we arrived, but شفت means I saw?
The verb endings are different:
- وصلنا → -نا = we
- شفت → -ت = I
So the sentence starts with a shared action, we arrived, and then switches to the speaker’s personal action, I saw.
If the speaker wanted to say we saw, it would be:
- شفنا = we saw
What exactly is عالطابق?