GoalUse with, about, by and for, and add endings: لِي، لَك، لَه، مَعِي.
New words
مَعَ (maʿa) · with (a person)عَن (ʿan) · aboutبِـ (bi-) · with, by (a thing)لِـ (li-) · for, belonging toلِي (lī) · for me, mineلَك (lak) · for you (m.)لَه (lah) · for himمَعِي (maʿī) · with me
Explanation
مَعَ means “with” a person: مَعَ صَدِيقِي, “with my friend”. بِـ means “with” a thing or “by”: بِالْقَلَم, “with the pen”. عَن means “about”; before الْ it takes a helping i: عَنِ الْمَدْرَسَة. لِـ means “for” or “belonging to”: لِأَحْمَد, “for Ahmad”. بِـ and لِـ are written together with the next word. After لِـ and مَعَ you can add the same endings as for nouns: لِي, لَك, لَكِ, لَه, لَهَا, لَنَا and مَعِي, مَعَك, مَعَه.
Who
لِـ (for)
مَعَ (with)
I
لِي
مَعِي
you (m.)
لَك
مَعَك
you (f.)
لَكِ
مَعَكِ
he
لَه
مَعَه
she
لَهَا
مَعَهَا
we
لَنَا
مَعَنَا
Worked examples
With a pen, with a friend, for Ahmad. Listen and repeat.
Mona
مَعَ مَن تَذْهَبِين إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة؟
Salma
أَذْهَب مَعَ أَخِي.
Mona
هَل مَعَكِ كِتَاب؟
Salma
نَعَم، مَعِي كِتَاب.
Mona asks Salma about school. Press each line.
About and for. Listen.
Class activity
Say it with people. Think of six people (your friend, your mother, your teacher…). For each one write a sentence with مَعَ (I go with …), and for three of them a sentence with لِـ (this is for …). Use the endings when you can: مَعَه, لَهَا. Read the sentences aloud.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Does the word mean “for me”, “for us” or “for them”?
For them: لَهُم (lahum). The ending ـهُم is for “they”.
2
Write in Arabic: “with you” (to a woman).
مَعَكِ
3
The picture shows a book. It is for Omar. Write “this book is for Omar”.
