Lesson 36 · A2
The house I lived in it
English has who, which and that. Darija has lli, for everything. And like English, it puts the preposition at the end, “the house I lived in”, but adds an “it”: the house lli skent fiha.
- Describe someone or something with a clause: “the man who sells fish”.
- Use lli as subject and object.
- Add the returning pronoun when it's needed.
- Read a short biography.
Twenty-one words
For telling lives. The third family is biography verbs: be born, die, bring up.
Someone
-
لِّي
lli
who; which; that
Never changes. Written attached or separate: lli, elli.
-
شِي وَاحْدْ
shi wa7ed
someone
“Some one”.
-
حْتَّى وَاحْدْ
7tta wa7ed
nobody
With negation: ma ja 7tta wa7ed, nobody came.
- كُلّْ وَاحْدْ kull wa7ed everyone; each one
Old professions
-
الرَّحَّالَة
r-re77ala
traveller; explorer
Intensive form: someone who travels a great deal.
-
الْكَاتْبْ
l-kateb
writer; scribe
Participle of kteb.
-
الْعَالِمْ
l-3alim
scholar
Root 3lm, knowledge: hence “ulema”.
-
الْقَاضِي
l-qadi
judge
The “cadi” of English histories.
- السُّلْطَانْ s-sultan sultan
A life
-
تْزَادْ
tzad
to be born
Hollow: tzadit, I was born.
-
مَاتْ
mat
to die
Hollow with u in the present: kaymut.
-
حْكَى
7ka
to tell (a story)
Defective: 7kit. Hence 7kaya, story.
-
دَامْ
dam
to last
Hollow: damet, it lasted.
-
رَبَّى
rebba
to bring up; to raise
rebbatni, she raised me.
-
عَاشْ
3ash
to live
Lesson 24's verb.
Travel and fame
-
الرِّحْلَة
r-ri7la
journey
And the name of Ibn Battuta's book: r-Ri7la.
-
الْبْلَادَاتْ
l-bladat
countries
Plural of blad.
- الْقَرْنْ l-qern century
- الْحَجّْ l-7ejj the pilgrimage to Mecca
- مَشْهُورْ mash-hur famous
-
فْعُمْرُو
f 3omru
at the age of
“In his age”: f 3omru 21 3am, aged 21.
lli and the returning pronoun
Four sentences with lli. In the third, look at the very end.
- ابْنْ بَطُّوطَة هُوَ الرَّحَّالَة لِّي خْرَجْ مْنْ طَنْجَةIbn Battuta huwa r-re77ala lli khrej mn Tanja
- الْكْتَابْ لِّي خْلَّا مَشْهُورْ بْزَّافْl-ktab lli khella mash-hur bzzaf
- هَادِي هِيَ الْمْدِينَة لِّي تْزَادْ فِيهَاhadi hiya l-mdina lli tzad fiha
- شْكُونْ لِّي حْكَى لِيكْ؟shkun lli 7ka lik?
Does lli change for people and things? What does fiha at the end of the third mean?
The rule
lli is the relative: who, which, that. It never changes: r-rajel lli ja, the man who came; l-ktab lli qrit, the book that I read.
When lli is the object of a preposition, the preposition goes to the end, as in English, but carries a returning pronoun: d-dar lli skent fiha, “the house I lived in it”.
With a direct object, the pronoun is optional: l-ktab lli qrit or lli qritu.
With no noun in front, lli means “whoever”, “the one who”: lli bgha yji, yji, whoever wants to come can come.
lli in eight sentences
| Sentence | Say it | Means |
|---|---|---|
| الرَّاجْلْ لِّي جَا | r-rajel lli ja | the man who came |
| الْمْرَا لِّي جَاتْ | l-mra lli jat | the woman who came |
| النَّاسْ لِّي جَاوْ | n-nas lli jaw | the people who came |
| الْكْتَابْ لِّي قْرِيتْ | l-ktab lli qrit | the book (that) I read |
| الدَّارْ لِّي سْكْنْتْ فِيهَا | d-dar lli skent fiha | the house I lived in |
| الصَّاحْبْ لِّي هْضَرْتْ مْعَاهْ | s-sa7eb lli hdert m3ah | the friend I talked to |
| الْبْنْتْ لِّي عْطِيتْهَا الْكْتَابْ | l-bent lli 3titha l-ktab | the girl I gave the book to |
| لِّي بْغَا يْجِي، يْجِي | lli bgha yji, yji | whoever wants to come, can come |
Rows 5 to 7 end in a preposition, like the English. Darija just adds the pronoun you'd leave out.
What English gives you, and what it costs
Free: the preposition at the end. “The house I lived in”, “the friend I talked to”: English does it. Darija does too.
Free: “that”. Invariable, for people and things. Think of lli as “that”.
Costly: the pronoun. English stops at “in”; Darija needs “in it”, fiha.
Your mistake, not someone else's
English ends “the house I lived in” with a bare preposition, and so do you. But a Darija preposition can't stand alone: it needs its pronoun.
×الدَّارْ لِّي سْكْنْتْ فْ“The house that I lived in”. Bare preposition.
✓الدَّارْ لِّي سْكْنْتْ فِيهَا“The house I lived in (it)”.
And looking for “who”: shkun is the question word, not the relative. r-rajel shkun ja is wrong. r-rajel lli ja.
Ibn Battuta
A short biography of the traveller from Tangier, written for this lesson from the facts found in ary.wikipedia and any encyclopedia. He returns in lessons 47, 75 and 100.
ابْنْ بَطُّوطَة
ابْنْ بَطُّوطَة رَحَّالَة مَغْرِبِي لِّي تْزَادْ فْطَنْجَة عَامْ 1304.
فْعُمْرُو 21 عَامْ خْرَجْ لْلْحَجّْ، وْ الرِّحْلَة لِّي بْدَا دَامْتْ كْتَرْ مَنْ 25 عَامْ.
زَارْ الْبْلَادَاتْ لِّي كَانُو فْإِفْرِيقْيَا، فْآسْيَا وْ فْالْأَنْدَلُسْ.
فْالْهِنْدْ خْدَمْ قَاضِي عَنْدْ السُّلْطَانْ.
مْلِّي رْجَعْ لْلْمَغْرِبْ، حْكَى كُلّْشِي لْكَاتْبْ لِّي كْتَبْ الرِّحْلَة فْفَاسْ.
الْكْتَابْ لِّي خْرَجْ مَنْ هَادْ الْحْكَايَة هُوَ «الرِّحْلَة»، وْ النَّاسْ مَازَالْ كَيْقْرَاوْهْ.
Did you follow?
Where and when was he born?
Show answers
Tangier, 1304.
Why did he set out?
Show answers
For the pilgrimage to Mecca: l l-7ejj.
What job did he have in India?
Show answers
Judge for the sultan.
Did he write the book himself?
Show answers
No: he told it all to a writer, who wrote it down in Fez.
Check
Two here, three more in the A2 book.
Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the A2 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.
1Join with lli
Make one sentence out of two. Add the returning pronoun where needed.
- شْفْتْ رَاجْلْ. الرَّاجْلْ كَيْبِيعْ الْحُوتْ.
- قْرِيتْ كْتَابْ. خْتِي عْطَاتْنِي الْكْتَابْ.
- هَادِي دَارْ. سْكْنْتْ فْهَادْ الدَّارْ.
- عْرَفْتْ بْنْتْ. هْضَرْتْ مْعَ الْبْنْتْ.
2Fill in
With the returning pronoun or with lli.
فِيهَامْعَاهْلِيهْلِّي
- الْمْدِينَة لِّي تْزَادْ ___ هِيَ طَنْجَة
- الصَّاحْبْ لِّي مْشِيتْ ___ مْرِيضْ
- الرَّاجْلْ لِّي قُلْتْ ___ جَا
- النَّاسْ ___ كَيْسْكْنُو هْنَا ظْرَافْ
3True or false?
According to the biography.
- Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier.
4Match
Join the two halves of each sentence.
| 1 | ابْنْ بَطُّوطَة هُوَ الرَّحَّالَة | a | لِّي خْدَمْ فِيهَا قَاضِي |
|---|
5A life
Write five sentences about someone important to you. Use lli at least three times.
لِّيتْزَادْعَاشْمَشْهُورْفِيهَا
The rest is in the A2 book
The A2 bookShow answers
| 1. Join with lli | شْفْتْ الرَّاجْلْ لِّي كَيْبِيعْ الْحُوتْ · قْرِيتْ الْكْتَابْ لِّي عْطَاتْنِي خْتِي · هَادِي الدَّارْ لِّي سْكْنْتْ فِيهَا · عْرَفْتْ الْبْنْتْ لِّي هْضَرْتْ مْعَاهَا |
|---|---|
| 2. Fill in | فِيهَا · مْعَاهْ · لِيهْ · لِّي |
The A2 book: In preparation
Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.
I can now
- Describe someone with lli: r-rajel lli...
- Add the returning pronoun: lli skent fiha.
- Say “whoever” with lli alone.
- Read a short biography.