Questions & Answers about لو معي محفظة اكبر، كنت حطيت فيها البطاقة والمصروف.
Why does the sentence start with لو معي instead of لو كان معي?
In Levantine, لو معي is a very common shortened way to say if I had.
- معي literally means with me
- So لو معي محفظة اكبر is literally something like if with me a bigger wallet
- In more expanded speech, many speakers could also say لو كان معي محفظة اكبر
So:
- لو معي ... = very natural spoken Levantine
- لو كان معي ... = also possible, a bit fuller
Both express an unreal or imagined condition here.
What does معي mean exactly?
معي means with me.
It is made of:
- مع = with
- ـي = me / my object pronoun
So:
- معي = with me
- معك = with you
- معه = with him
- معها = with her
In Arabic, possession is often expressed using with. So instead of saying I had a bigger wallet, the dialect often says something closer to if there were with me a bigger wallet.
Why is it محفظة اكبر and not something that agrees more obviously with the feminine noun محفظة?