إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، أكتب الواجب في المساء.

Yes. إذا means if in this sentence.

It is commonly used for a condition that is:

• real or likely
• general
• often future-related

So إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، أكتب الواجب في المساء means something like:

• If I don’t have time in the morning, I write the homework in the evening
• or more naturally in English, If I don’t have time in the morning, I do the homework in the evening

In many contexts, إذا suggests a realistic situation, while إن can sound a bit more neutral or more open-ended.

Because لم is the standard particle used to negate a verb in the past form while giving a present/future meaning in many contexts.

Here is the pattern:

• كان = he was / was being
• يكون = he is / will be
• لم يكن = was not / is not / does not have been

In this sentence, لم يكن لدي وقت literally means there was not time with me or more naturally I don’t have time.

Arabic often uses لم + past-form verb in conditional sentences like this, even when English uses the present:

• If I don’t have time...

So لم يكن is completely normal here.

Because لم puts the following verb into the jussive mood.

The jussive form of يكون is يكن.

So:

• يكون = indicative form
• لم يكن = jussive form after لم

This is a very common pattern in Arabic:

• يفعل → لم يفعل
• يذهب → لم يذهب
• يكون → لم يكن

So the shortened form يكن is required after لم.

لدي means I have in this kind of sentence, but literally it is closer to with me or in my possession.

So:

• لدي وقت = I have time
• literally: there is time with me

Arabic often expresses possession this way rather than with a verb exactly like English to have.

You can think of لدي as:

• I have
• with me there is

Both ideas help.

Yes, absolutely.

• لدي وقت = more formal, very common in Modern Standard Arabic
• عندي وقت = also very common and natural, especially in speech

So these are both understandable:

• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح...
• إذا لم يكن عندي وقت في الصباح...

In MSA writing, لدي often sounds a bit more formal or polished.

Because the meaning is time in a general, indefinite sense.

• لدي وقت = I have time
• لدي الوقت = I have the time

In English, we often say just I have time, not I have the time, unless we mean a specific time or opportunity.

So وقت without ال is the natural choice here.

Because expressions like the morning and the evening are commonly definite in Arabic.

• في الصباح = in the morning
• في المساء = in the evening

This is very normal. Arabic often uses the definite article in time expressions where English does too.

Because the sentence expresses a general or habitual result:

• If I don’t have time in the morning, I write/do the homework in the evening.

Using أكتب gives the sense of a regular pattern or typical action.

If you wanted to stress one future instance, you could say:

• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، فسأكتب الواجب في المساء.
• If I don’t have time in the morning, then I will do the homework in the evening.

So:

• أكتب = general/habitual or simple consequence
• سأكتب = more explicitly future

Both can work, depending on context.

It can be understood either way depending on context, but without extra context it often sounds like a general pattern:

• If I don’t have time in the morning, I do the homework in the evening.

Because the result clause uses أكتب rather than سأكتب, many learners will hear it as habitual or generally true.

If the speaker clearly means one future event, Arabic can still allow this, but adding سـ or فـ would make the future meaning clearer:

• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، فسأكتب الواجب في المساء.

الواجب means the homework or the assignment.

Using ال makes it definite, which often matches English expressions like:

• the homework
• my homework in context

Arabic often uses the definite form where English might use:

• the homework
• or sometimes simply homework

So أكتب الواجب means:

• I write the homework
• more naturally: I do the homework / I write the assignment

If you said أكتب واجبًا, it would sound more like:

• I write an assignment / some assignment

That is less likely here.

Literally, yes:

• أكتب = I write
• الواجب = the homework / the assignment

But in natural English, the best translation depends on what kind of homework it is.

Possible translations:

• I do the homework in the evening
• I write the assignment in the evening
• I work on the homework in the evening

If the homework specifically involves writing, I write the homework is possible, but in everyday English do the homework is usually more natural.

Literally, it is something like:

• لم يكن = there was not / was not
• لدي = with me / in my possession
• وقت = time

So the whole phrase is roughly:

• There was not with me time

Natural English:

• I didn’t have time
• I don’t have time in this conditional context

This is a useful reminder that Arabic often expresses to have through a possession phrase like لدي rather than with a direct equivalent of the English verb have.

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly.

• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، أكتب الواجب في المساء.
• إن لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، أكتب الواجب في المساء.

Both can mean If I don’t have time in the morning, I do the homework in the evening.

General difference:

• إذا often suggests a real, expected, or likely condition
• إن can sound a bit more neutral or less certain

In many learning situations, إذا is the more common choice for everyday realistic conditions like this one.

It is helpful, but not absolutely essential.

Modern Arabic writing often uses punctuation similarly to English, so a comma after the conditional clause is very normal:

• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، أكتب الواجب في المساء.

It helps the reader separate:

1. the condition
2. the result

Without the comma, the sentence would still usually be understood.

Yes.

Both are correct:

• في الصباح = in the morning
• صباحًا = in the morning / mornings, used adverbially

So you could say:

• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت في الصباح، أكتب الواجب في المساء.
• إذا لم يكن لدي وقت صباحًا، أكتب الواجب مساءً.

The version with في الصباح / في المساء is very clear and beginner-friendly. The adverbial forms صباحًا / مساءً are also common and elegant.

Because Arabic verbs already include the subject information.

• أكتب means I write
• the prefix أ- tells you the subject is I

Likewise in لم يكن لدي:

• the subject of أكتب is built into the verb
• possession is shown through لدي = I have / with me

Arabic usually does not need a separate word for I unless you want emphasis:

• أنا أكتب الواجب في المساء = I write the homework in the evening

That is grammatical, but the sentence works perfectly without أنا.