النقلة كانت صعبة.

to be

Breakdown of النقلة كانت صعبة.

• نقلة: the move; relocation
• صعب: difficult

Questions & Answers about النقلة كانت صعبة.

How do you pronounce النقلة كانت صعبة in Levantine Arabic?

A common Levantine pronunciation is:

en-naʔle kaanet saʕbe

You may also hear slight regional differences, like kaanit instead of kaanet.

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• ال before ن is pronounced with assimilation, so النقلة sounds like en-naʔle, not al-naqla.
• ق in many Levantine varieties is pronounced as a glottal stop ʔ, so نقلة becomes naʔle.
• صعبة is commonly pronounced saʕbe.
• The letter ع in صعبة is the deep throat sound ʕ, which English does not have.

So if you want a practical learner-friendly version, en-naʔle kaanet saʕbe is a good way to say it.

Why is ال in النقلة pronounced en- and not al-?

Because ن is a sun letter.

In Arabic, when ال comes before a sun letter, the l sound assimilates into the next consonant. So:

• ال + نقلة
• becomes pronounced en-naʔle

The n sound gets doubled in pronunciation.

This is very common in Arabic. For example:

• الشمس → esh-shams
• الناس → en-naas