لا بأس.

no problem

Questions & Answers about لا بأس.

How do I pronounce لا بأس?

It is pronounced lā baʾs.

• لا = lā with a long aa sound.
• بأس = baʾs, where ʾ represents a hamza: a small pause or glottal stop, like the break in uh-oh.

So it is not pronounced like la baas as one smooth syllable. The hamza matters.

What does بأس mean by itself?

بأس often means harm, trouble, difficulty, or something bad/serious. In some contexts it can also mean might or violence, but in لا بأس it has the sense of problem or harm.

So the phrase literally suggests something like no harm or no problem.

Why is there no verb in this sentence?

Arabic often allows short expressions without an explicit verb, especially in common phrases and nominal sentences.

So لا بأس literally looks like no harm rather than a full English sentence like There is no problem. The idea of there is is simply understood.

This is very normal in Arabic.

What kind of لا is this?