Arabic - English Dictionary
/laː/
لا is the primary negation word in Arabic, used to express disagreement, denial, or to negate verbs and sentences. It translates to 'no', 'not', or 'don't' depending on context.
| # | Type | Arabic | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | particle | لا used to show disagreement or negation | no |
| 2 | noun | لا a negating expression | no |
| 3 | adverb | لا negates meaning of another word | not |
| 4 | conjunction | لا And not | not |
| 5 | determiner | لا not any | no |
| 6 | verb | لا do not | don't |
| 7 | noun | لا sixth note of a major scale | la |
| 8 | particle | لا | not; negates an indicative present-tense verb |
| 9 | particle | لا | do not; expresses prohibition with a jussive verb |
| 10 | particle | لا | there is not, there is no, there is nothing, nothing is |
| 11 | particle | لا | not; negates any non-verbal sentence element |
| 12 | particle | لا | neither, nor |
| 13 | particle | لا | A negation particle used to convey a prayer or wish. |
| 14 | conjunction | لا | not, and not |
هل تريد قهوة؟ لا، شكراً.
Do you want coffee? No, thank you.
لا تنسَ مفاتيحك قبل أن تغادر.
Don't forget your keys before you leave.
لا يوجد وقت كافي لإنهاء المشروع اليوم.
There is not enough time to finish the project today.
لا negates present-tense verbs when placed directly before them (e.g. لا تذهب 'don't go'). With non-verbal sentences, it can mean 'there is not' or negate any element. Learners often confuse it with other negation particles like ما or لم, which have different grammatical functions.
Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0