Learn Arabic › A1 › لِ
لِ
for /ˈli/
particleA1#12 most common
Also: to, belonging to, in order to
Example sentences
هَذَا القَلَمُ لِي.
This pen is mine.
الهَدِيَّةُ لِأُمِّي.
The gift is for my mother.
كَتَبْتُ رِسَالَةً لِصَدِيقِي.
I wrote a letter to my friend.
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى السُّوقِ لِأَشْتَرِيَ الخُبْزَ.
I went to the market in order to buy bread.
لَا وَقْتَ لِلرَّاحَةِ اليَوْمَ.
There is no time for rest today.
وَلِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى.
And for every person is only what he intended.
Word family
لَهُfor him / he has
لِأَنَّbecause
لِكَيْin order to
لِمَاذَاwhy (for what)
لِلَّهِfor/to God
Etymology
لِ is the inherited Semitic proclitic preposition of direction, benefit, and possession (the so‑called lām al‑jarr). It continues a Proto‑Semitic particle *la‑ 'to, for', which is reflected almost unchanged across the family. In Arabic it cliticizes onto the following word, elides the alif of the article (لِ + الـ → لِلـ), and shifts its vowel to fatḥa before most pronominal suffixes (لَهُ, لَكَ) while keeping kasra in لِي.
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