Editor’s Note & Disclaimer: The core content and linguistic structure of this lesson were originally authored by Chris Hitchcock for the Team Maha website. This post is part of an effort to preserve, organize, and share these invaluable resources for Arabic learners worldwide.

Conditional sentences in Modern Standard Arabic (FuSHa) rely on particles like in, idha, and law. In Levantine Arabic (Shami), the formal particle in is restricted to classicisms, but the core distinction between اذا (iza) and لو (law) is fully maintained with simplified colloquial syntax.

In this lesson, we will cover open conditionals with اذا (iza), closed/hypothetical conditionals with لو (law), tense agreement between condition and result clauses, and resultative assumptions using بكون (bikuun).

1. Open Conditionals: اذا (iza)

Open conditionals describe realistic or possible scenarios (“if X happens, Y will happen”). In Shami, virtually any tense form can appear in the conditional clause following اذا (iza).

A. Present / Future Real Scenarios

When the condition refers to present desires or future possibilities, use the present tense or pseudo-verbs:

• اذا بدك فيني احكي معو (iza béddak fiini é7ki ma3o → ‘if you want, I can talk to him’)
• اذا بتشوفو بكرا خبرني (iza bétshuufo bukra khabbérni → ‘if you see him tomorrow, let me know’)

B. Past Tense with Future / Polite Meaning

Using a past tense verb in the iza clause softens the condition, adding politeness or expressing a polite “if you happen to…”:

• اذا فضيت خبرني (iza fDiit khabbérni → ‘if you happen to be free / become free, let me know’)

C. Real Past Scenarios & Assumptions with بكون (bikuun)

When checking whether an event took place in the past, the result clause frequently uses بكون (bikuun) to express an inference or assumption:

• اذا طلع امبارح بكون وصل اليوم (iza Téle3 @mbaare7 bikuun waSSal élyoom → ‘if he left yesterday, he will have arrived today’)

2. Closed & Hypothetical Conditionals: لو (law)

Hypothetical or “closed” conditionals describe unlikely or contrary-to-fact scenarios (“if X were true, Y would be true”).

A. Single Action Conditions (Past Verb Stem)

When the hypothetical condition refers to a single action, لو (law) is followed by a past tense verb:

• لو درس بينجح (law daras byénja7 → ‘if he studied, he would pass’)

B. Semi-Verbal, Nominal, and General Conditions

Pseudo-verbs, adjectives, nominal clauses, or general b- present statements follow لو (law) directly (or optionally preceded by كان / kaan):

• لو معي بعطيك (law ma3i ba3Tiik → ‘if I had money with me, I would give it to you’)
• لو بدي ارجع (law béddi érja3 → ‘if I wanted to come back…’)
• لو بيحكو الحيوانات (law byé7ku l7eewaanaat → ‘if animals could talk…’)

3. Result Clauses in لو (law) Sentences

The tense of the result clause determines whether the hypothetical situation belongs to the present or the past:

A. Present / General Reference

For hypothetical situations in the present, the result clause uses the b- present (optionally preceded by كان / kaan or بكون / bikuun):

• لو معي بعطيك (law ma3i ba3Tiik → ‘if I had [money], I’d give it to you’)
• لو كنتي مشتاقتيلي كنتي بتيجي لعندي (law kénti mushtaa2tii-li kénti btiiji la-3éndi → ‘if you really missed me, you would come see me’)
• لو كان المناخ انشف بشوي بكون احسن بكتير (law kaan ilmanaakh anshaf bi-shwayy bikuun a7san bi-ktiir → ‘if the climate were a bit drier, it would be much better’)

B. Past Reference (Unfulfilled Past / Counterfactual)

For hypothetical situations in the past (“if X had happened, Y would have happened”), the result clause uses past tense verbs combined with كان (kaan):

• لو طلعت امبارحة كانت وصلت اليوم (law Tél3et @mbaar7a kaanet wéSlet ilyoom → ‘if she had left yesterday, she would have arrived today’)
• لو قلتلي كنت رحت معك (law 2élt-élli kén@t ra7@t ma3ek → ‘if you had told me, I would have gone with you’)

Summary Checklist

1. Real / Possible: Use اذا (iza) + any tense.
2. Unlikely / Contrary-to-Fact: Use لو (law) + past verb / state.
3. Present Result: Use the b- present verb form.
4. Past Result: Use كان (kaan) + past verb.

What’s Next?

In Part #16, we will cover Relative Clauses.