Learn Arabic › B2 › لَمّا
لَمّا
when /ˈlam.maː/
particleB2#3029 most common
Also: not yet (Classical/Quranic, with a jussive verb), as soon as
Example sentences
لَمّا وَصَلَ الوَلَدُ إلى البَيْتِ، أَكَلَ الطَّعامَ.
When the boy arrived home, he ate the food.
لَمّا كُنتُ صَغيراً، كُنتُ أَلعَبُ في الحَديقةِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.
When I was young, I used to play in the garden every day.
لَمّا سَمِعَتِ الخَبَرَ، بَكَتْ مِنَ الفَرَحِ.
When she heard the news, she cried from joy.
لَمّا اتَّصَلَ بي صَديقي أَمْسِ، كُنتُ في اجْتِماعٍ مُهِمٍّ.
When my friend called me yesterday, I was in an important meeting.
لَمّا انْتَهَتِ الحَرْبُ، بَدَأَتِ الدُوَلُ بِإِعادَةِ بِناءِ ما دَمَّرَتْهُ السِنونَ الطَويلةُ.
When the war ended, the countries began rebuilding what the long years had destroyed.
وَلَمّا يَدْخُلِ الإيمانُ في قُلوبِكُم.
and faith has not yet entered your hearts.
Word family
لمdid not (negates a jussive verb)
عندماwhen
كلماwhenever, every time
حينماwhen, at the time that
ماwhat, that, or a negator, depending on contextEtymology
Lammā combines the jussive negative particle lam ('not') with mā, a relative or indefinite element that also appears in words like ʿindamā and kullamā. Originally it negated a verb in the jussive mood, giving the sense 'not yet,' a use kept alive in Classical Arabic and the Quran. Over time the same combination grammaticalized into a temporal conjunction meaning 'when,' introducing a clause about something that already happened. Arabic is a Semitic language, so lammā has no Indo-European root or PIE cognates.
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