لَمْ … حَتَّى الْآنَ
lam … ḥattā al-ʔāna
In Arabic, "not yet" can be expressed using the forms لَمْ … حَتَّى الْآنَ (lam … ḥattā al-ʔāna) or لَمْ … بَعْدُ.
Meaning: not for the moment, though expected later (adv)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| لَمْ … حَتَّى الْآنَ | lam … ḥattā al-ʔāna |
| لَمْ … بَعْدُ | lam … baʕdu |
Both forms are used to indicate that an action has not occurred for the moment, though it is expected to happen at a later time.
What does it mean word for word?
In the construction لَمْ … بَعْدُ, the word بَعْدُ literally means "after" or "yet".
Which one should you use?
The form لَمْ … بَعْدُ is more concise and is commonly found in classical or highly formal literary contexts. In contrast, لَمْ … حَتَّى الْآنَ is more explicit.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Modern Standard Arabic, لَمْ … حَتَّى الْآنَ is a standard way to express "not yet", frequently appearing in news reports or formal writing. The form لَمْ … بَعْدُ is also used in Modern Standard Arabic to express that an action has not occurred up to the present moment.
How do you pronounce it?
lam … ḥattā al-ʔāna
Did you know?
- In some Arabic dialects, instead of saying 'not yet' with a verb, people simply say لِسَّه accompanied by a specific hand gesture, such as a slight wave of the hand.
- The particle لَمْ used in these phrases technically pushes the verb into the past tense, even though the meaning of 'not yet' refers to the present moment.
- In many Arabic dialects, such as Egyptian or Levantine, the formal لَمْ … بَعْدُ is almost never used in daily speech. Instead, people use different particles or simply the word 'lissa' to convey the same idea.
Examples in context
- متى ستصل؟ – ليس بعد.When will you arrive? – Not yet.
- هل جرت المقابلة؟ – لم تحدث بعد.Has the interview taken place? – Not yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “not yet” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
