Other prepositions in Arabic
Some words may function in many ways like prepositions, but they aren’t truly prepositions because they are derived from different roots or can be preceded by other prepositions.
They usually act as adverbs, and are normally followed by a noun in the genitive case or by a pronoun suffix.
Let’s look at some examples of the most common ones:
Now let’s go over a group of prepositions that carry a double meaning. Besides their role as prepositions, they can also convey the sense of “having.”
We’ll start with لدى (lada). This one is more formal, and it can either express possession: “I have, he has…”, or indicate being at / with in a formal context.
Let’s look at some examples:
Moving on to the next one, we have مَع (ma’a). This is used in everyday speech, both in colloquial Arabic and in MSA. It can express possession: “I have (with me now)”, or function as a preposition meaning “with (someone)” (companionship, accompaniment).
Let’s see some examples:
And lastly, we’ll go over عِند (‘inda), which we’ve seen before. This is very common in both spoken and written Arabic. It can indicate possession: “I have” (neutral), or be used as a preposition meaning “at, near” (location or time).
Let’s see some examples:
