Conditional in Arabic - Abu Arab Academy

Conditional propositions are statements in which a hypothetical condition must be met for something else to occur. Let’s see how to express conditionals in Arabic.

First, we have the possible condition, which is expressed in Arabic using إذا ‘idha or إِنْ ‘in.

With إذا, the verb that follows usually comes in the past tense, and this structure is the most commonly used.

The second verb can come in the present or the past depending on the meaning:

If the result is general, habitual, or always true, the second verb is usually in the present.
If the result refers to a specific situation or completed action, the second verb is usually in the past.

To negate the condition, you can use إذا لَم – ‘idha lam followed by the verb in the jussive, or you can use وإلّا – wa ‘illa.

Here are some examples:

As for إنْ – ‘in, this particle can be used with verbs in either the past tense or the jussive. إنْ is used more frequently in Classical Arabic than in Modern Standard Arabic.

As you can see, we used وَإنْ to express “although, even though”.

We can also express conditions with ما – ma. This particle can be added to adverbs or nouns to shift the meaning to “-ever”, as in whenever or wherever. Here are some examples:

Now let’s move on to unreal (impossible or unlikely) conditions in Arabic.

The particle used to express this is لَوْ – law, followed by either a verb in the past tense, or لَمْ + jussive for the negative.

When using لَوْ, the result clause is usually marked with the prefix لَـ to indicate the consequence of this unreal or impossible condition.

Here are some examples:

To express “even if”, you can use حَتّى لَو or حَتّى وَلَو. Here are some examples:

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