Learn ArabicB1 › لَعَلَّ

لَعَلَّ

perhaps /laˈʕal.la/

particleB1#2249 most common

Also: maybe, it may be that, hopefully

Example sentences

لَعَلَّهُ نائِمٌ.
Perhaps he is asleep.
لَعَلَّكَ تَعْرِفُ الجَوابَ.
Maybe you know the answer.
لَعَلَّ الطَّقْسَ يَكونُ جَميلاً غَداً.
Perhaps the weather will be nice tomorrow.
لَعَلَّها تَصِلُ قَبْلَ المَغْرِبِ.
Perhaps she will arrive before sunset.
لَعَلَّ في تَأْخيرِهِ سَبَباً وَجيهاً لا نَعْرِفُهُ.
Perhaps there is a good reason for his delay that we do not know.
لَعَلَّ اللهَ يُحْدِثُ بَعْدَ ذلِكَ أَمْراً.
Perhaps God will bring about, after that, a new matter.

Word family

عَلَّperhaps
لَيْتَwould that, if only
إِنَّindeed, verily
كَأَنَّas if

Etymology

لَعَلَّ combines the emphatic prefix لَ (la-) with the older particle عَلَّ, which alone means "perhaps." Both carry a sense of doubt mixed with hope. The word belongs to the Arabic and broader Semitic stock and has no established Indo-European ancestry.

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