Lebanese

In Lebanese Arabic “tree” is شجرة (shajara). Trees in general are شجر (shajar). You can say في شجرة كبيرة (fī shajara kbīre) for “there is a big tree”.

In Lebanese Arabic “tomato” is بندورة (bandūra). The same word works for one tomato and for tomatoes in general.

The everyday Lebanese word for pain is وجع (waja3).

To a male friend you can say مرحبا يا صاحبي (marḥaba yā ṣāḥbi). The more formal choice is مرحبا يا صديقي (marḥaba yā ṣadīʾi).

The Lebanese way to say “give me a kiss” is عطيني بوسة (ʿṭīni bōse). A shorter version is بوسني (bōsni), “kiss me”.

To tell a man “come here” in Lebanese Arabic, say تعا لهون (taʿa la-hōn). A woman is told تعي لهون (taʿi la-hōn) and a group تعو لهون (taʿo la-hōn).

In Lebanese Arabic “son” is ابن (ibn), and “my son” is ابني (ibni). People also say ولد (walad), which means both “boy” and “son”.

The Lebanese word for king is ملك (malek). The plural is ملوك (mlūk), and الملك (el-malek) means “the king”. Lebanon itself is a republic and has no king.

In Lebanese Arabic “what” is شو (shū). It is short, used constantly and works at the start of nearly every question.

A man says آسف (ʾāsef) and a woman says آسفة (ʾāsfe) to mean “I am sorry”. To ask for forgiveness, use سامحني (sāmeḥni), “forgive me”.