3
Negating the past with مَا
Arabic A2 · Unit 3
GoalSay “did not” with مَا and a past verb.
New words
مَا ذَهَبْتُ (mā dhahabtu) · I did not goمَا أَكَلَ (mā ʾakala) · he did not eatمَا شَرِبَتْ (mā sharibat) · she did not drinkمَا كَتَبْنَا (mā katabnā) · we did not writeمَا دَخَلُوا (mā dakhalū) · they did not enterمَا فَهِمْتُ (mā fahimtu) · I did not understand
Explanation
To say that something did not happen, put مَا in front of the past verb. The verb does not change: مَا ذَهَبْتُ is “I did not go”. So the pattern is مَا + past verb. Remember the pair: لَا + present verb for “do not”, and مَا + past verb for “did not”. The word مَا also means “what” in questions, but before a verb in a statement it means “not”. You can answer a question with لَا and then use مَا.
| Yes (past) | No (مَا + past) |
|---|---|
| ذَهَبْتُ | مَا ذَهَبْتُ |
| ذَهَبَتْ | مَا ذَهَبَتْ |
| دَخَلْنَا | مَا دَخَلْنَا |
| خَرَجُوا | مَا خَرَجُوا |
| فَتَحْتَ | مَا فَتَحْتَ |
Worked examples
Four sentences with مَا.
Hassan
هَل ذَهَبْتِ إِلَى السُّوق؟
Dina
لَا، مَا ذَهَبْتُ.
Hassan
وَأَحْمَد؟ هَل ذَهَبَ؟
Dina
لَا، هُوَ مَا ذَهَبَ أَيْضًا.
Present and past, side by side.
Class activity
Not yesterday. Write six things you did not do yesterday, for example “I did not go to the market”. Use مَا and a past verb in each one. Then write the same six sentences in the present with لَا, and read both lists aloud to feel the difference.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Did the speaker hear something?
…
No: مَا سَمِعْتُ (mā samiʿtu), “I did not hear”.
2
Make negative: فَهِمَ الْوَلَد الدَّرْس.
مَا فَهِمَ الْوَلَد الدَّرْس.
3
The picture shows a door. Write: “we did not open the door.”
مَا فَتَحْنَا الْبَاب.
4
The picture shows a woman. Say: “she did not drink.”
مَا شَرِبَتْ.
5
Which word makes the present negative and which makes the past negative?
لَا + present verb, مَا + past verb.