How to Say "Yes and No" in Arabic

نَعْم وَلَا

naʕm walā

The phrase "yes and no" is translated into Arabic as نَعْم وَلَا (naʕm walā). Wiktionary also lists بَلَى وَنَعْم (balā wanaʕm).

Meaning: indicating there is no simple "yes" or "no" answer (phrase)

Ways to say it

“yes and no” in Arabic
Arabic	Romanization (Wiktionary)
نَعْم وَلَا	naʕm walā
بَلَى وَنَعْم	balā wanaʕm

This phrase is used to indicate that a situation or question cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no".

The phrase is composed of the word for "yes" (naʕm) and the word for "no" (lā).

naʕm walā

In some contexts, نَعْم is used as a polite way to say 'I beg your pardon?' when a speaker did not hear what was said.
While نَعْم is the standard 'yes', the alternative form بَلَى is used specifically to answer 'yes' to a negative question, such as 'don't you like this?'
In many Arabic dialects, speakers rarely use نَعْم for 'yes' in casual conversation, preferring the word أيوه or simply nodding the head.

Example sentences for Arabic are not verified yet.

Yousef and Maryam are discussing if a movie was good.

يوسف Youssef

هَلْ أَعْجَبَكَ الفِيلمُ يَا مَرْيَم؟
hal a'jabaki al-film ya Maryam?
Did you like the movie, Maryam?
مريم Maryam

نَعْم وَلَا، القِصَّةُ جَمِيلَةٌ لَكِنَّهَا طَوِيلَةٌ.
na'am wa la, al-qissah jamilah lakinaha tawilah.
Yes and no, the story is beautiful but it's long.
يوسف Youssef

لِمَاذَا لَمْ تَقُولِي نَعْم فَقَط؟
limadha lam taquli na'am faqat?
Why didn't you just say yes?
مريم Maryam

لِأَنَّ الفِيلمَ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِثَالِيًّا.
li'anna al-film lam yakun mithaliyyan.
Because the movie wasn't perfect.

Sources

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