Breakdown of لو كانت عندي شرفة أكبر، لوضعت فيها طاولة وكرسيا.
Questions & Answers about لو كانت عندي شرفة أكبر، لوضعت فيها طاولة وكرسيا.
What kind of لو sentence is this?
This is a hypothetical / counterfactual conditional.
With لو, Arabic often expresses an unreal situation, like:
لو كانت عندي شرفة أكبر، لوضعت فيها طاولة وكرسيا
= If I had a bigger balcony, I would put a table and a chair in it.
So the speaker does not have a bigger balcony in reality; this is just imagining what would happen if they did.
Why are the verbs in the past tense if the English meaning is would put?
Because Arabic commonly uses the past tense form in both parts of a counterfactual لو sentence.
So:
- كانت literally looks like was
- وضعت literally looks like I put
But with لو, the whole pattern means something like:
- if I had...
- I would put...
This is very normal in Arabic. The past form here does not mean simple past time.
Why is it كانت and not كان?
Because شرفة is a feminine singular noun, and كان agrees with it:
- كان = masculine singular
- كانت = feminine singular
So:
- شرفة = balcony, feminine
- therefore كانت
Why does the second clause begin with لوضعت? Is that another لو?
No. Here لوضعت is not the conditional particle لو again.
It is best understood as:
لَ + وضعتُ → لَوَضَعْتُ
This لَـ is the lām often used in the result clause after لو. It adds the sense of then I would...
So the pronunciation is:
- first لو = law
- لوضعت here = la-waḍaʿtu, not law waḍaʿtu
That is an important distinction.
How does عندي mean I have?
Arabic often expresses possession with a phrase meaning at me / with me, rather than a verb exactly like English have.
- عندي = at me / with me
- so كانت عندي شرفة literally means something like there was, at me, a balcony
- natural English: I had a balcony
This is a very common Arabic way to express possession.
What are the grammar roles of عندي and شرفة in كانت عندي شرفة أكبر?
In grammatical terms:
- عندي is the predicate of كان (خبر كان) placed first
- شرفة is the noun of كان (اسم كان) placed later
So the structure is roughly:
- كانت = was
- عندي = with me / at me
- شرفة = a balcony
A fully vocalized form would be:
لَوْ كانَتْ عِنْدي شُرْفَةٌ أَكْبَرُ
Here شرفةٌ is nominative because it is the اسم كان.
Why is it شرفة أكبر and not a feminine form like شرفة كبرى?
Because أكبر here is a regular comparative meaning bigger.
In ordinary comparison, Arabic usually uses the أفعل form:
- أكبر = bigger / أكبر
So:
- شرفة أكبر = a bigger balcony
The form كبرى does exist, but it is more often used in certain fixed expressions, titles, or superlative-like uses, such as القضية الكبرى or الشرفة الكبرى in a more specific context. For a simple everyday comparative like a bigger balcony, شرفة أكبر is the normal choice.
Why doesn’t أكبر have tanwīn in a fully vocalized version?
Because أكبر is on the أفعل pattern, and words of this type are usually diptotes.
That means they do not take tanwīn.
So you get:
- شرفةٌ أكبرُ
- not شرفةٌ أكبرٌ
This is normal for many comparative/superlative forms like أكبر، أصغر، أحسن، أفضل.
What does فيها mean exactly?
فيها = في + ها
- في = in
- ها = her / it (feminine singular)
Since شرفة is feminine, ها refers back to it.
So فيها means:
- in it
- more literally: in her, but in English we say in it
Here it means in the balcony.
Why are طاولة and كرسيا in the accusative?
Because they are the direct objects of وضعتُ:
- وضعتُ طاولةً = I would put a table
- وكرسيًّا = and a chair
So in full vocalization:
طاولةً وكرسيًّا
In ordinary unvocalized writing, those endings are usually not shown, so you may simply see:
طاولة وكرسيا
Why is كرسيا written that way?
In fully vocalized Arabic, this word would be:
كُرْسِيًّا
But in normal writing, short vowels and shadda are often omitted, so it can appear as:
كرسيا
So this spelling is just the unvocalized written form of the accusative indefinite كرسيًّا.
Could I say لدي instead of عندي?
Yes. That would also be correct:
لو كانت لدي شرفة أكبر، لوضعت فيها طاولة وكرسيا.
Both are acceptable in Modern Standard Arabic.
Very roughly:
- عندي is common and natural
- لدي is often felt to be a bit more formal or written
How would this sentence look with full vowels, and how is it pronounced?
A fully vocalized version is:
لَوْ كانَتْ عِندي شُرْفَةٌ أَكْبَرُ، لَوَضَعْتُ فيها طاوِلَةً وَكُرْسِيًّا.
Approximate pronunciation:
law kānat ʿindī shurfatun akbaru, lawaḍaʿtu fīhā ṭāwilatan wa-kursiyyan
A few important points in pronunciation:
- first لو = law
- لوضعت = la-waḍaʿtu
- فيها = fīhā
- أكبر = akbaru
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning ArabicMaster Arabic — from لو كانت عندي شرفة أكبر، لوضعت فيها طاولة وكرسيا to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions