Expressing 'to not be' with لَيْسَ

01

Conjugating ⁧لَيْسَ⁩ (laysa)

The form of ⁧⁧لَيْسَ⁩⁩ (laysa) changes to match the subject of the sentence (the person or thing being discussed). You must select the correct form based on gender and number.

Common forms include:

• He is not: ⁧⁧لَيْسَ⁩⁩ (laysa)
• She is not: ⁧⁧لَيْسَتْ⁩⁩ (laysat)
• I am not: ⁧⁧لَسْتُ⁩⁩ (lastu)
• You are not (masculine): ⁧⁧لَسْتَ⁩⁩ (lasta)
• You are not (feminine): ⁧⁧لَسْتِ⁩⁩ (lasti)
• We are not: ⁧⁧لَسْنَا⁩⁩ (lasnālasnālasnālasna)
• They are not: ⁧⁧لَيْسُوا⁩⁩ (laysūlaysūlaysuwlaysw)

• ⁧لَسْتُ طَالِبًا.⁩

  lastu ṭāliban.lastu ṭāliban.lastu ṭāliban.lastu ṭaliban.

  I am not a student.

• ⁧لَسْنَا جَاهِزِينَ.⁩

  lasnā jāhizīna.lasnā d͟jāhizīna.lasnā ǧāhiziyna.lasna jahizyna.

  We are not ready.

02

Changing the Predicate Case

The most important grammatical rule regarding ⁧⁧لَيْسَ⁩⁩ (laysa) is how it affects the predicate (the adjective or noun describing the subject).

In a normal sentence, the predicate ends with a "u" or "un" sound (Nominative case). When you add ⁧⁧لَيْسَ⁩⁩ (laysa), the predicate changes to the Accusative case (⁧⁧مَنْصُوب⁩⁩ (manṣūbmanṣūbmanṣuwbmanṣwb)).

• For singular nouns and adjectives, the ending changes to ⁧ـًا⁩ (-an). This usually requires adding an extra ⁧⁧ا⁩⁩ (alifalifʾalifalif) to support the ⁧⁧تَنْوِين⁩⁩ (tanwīntanwīntanwiyntanwyn).
• If the word ends in a ⁧ة⁩ (tāʾ marbūṭahtāʾ marbūṭahtāʾ marbuwṭahtaʾ marbwṭah), you simply add the ⁧⁧تَنْوِين⁩⁩ (tanwīntanwīntanwiyntanwyn) ⁧ـً⁩ (-an) without an extra ⁧⁧أَلِف⁩⁩ (alifalifʾalifalif).

• ⁧لَيْسَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرًا.⁩

  laysa al-baytu kabīran.laysa al-baytu kabīran.laysa ʾal-baytu kabiyran.laysa al-baytu kabyran.

  The house is not big.

• ⁧لَيْسَتِ السَّيَّارَةُ جَدِيدَةً.⁩

  laysati al-sayyāratu jadīdatan.laysati al-sayyāratu d͟jadīdatan.laysati ʾal-sayyāratu ǧadiydatan.laysati al-sayaratu jadydatan.

  The car is not new.

03

Agreement with the Subject

When the subject is explicitly mentioned as a noun (e.g., "The man," "The teacher"), ⁧⁧لَيْسَ⁩⁩ (laysa) comes first. It must agree with the subject's gender.

Use ⁧⁧لَيْسَ⁩⁩ (laysa) for masculine subjects:

• ⁧لَيْسَ الرَّجُلُ طَوِيلًا.⁩

  laysa al-rajulu ṭawīlan.laysa al-rad͟julu ṭawīlan.laysa ʾal-raǧulu ṭawiylan.laysa al-rajulu ṭawylan.

  The man is not tall.

Use ⁧⁧لَيْسَتْ⁩⁩ (laysat) for feminine subjects. Note that if the following word starts with ⁧⁧ال⁩⁩ (al-al-ʾal-al-), the silence on the ⁧⁧تْ⁩⁩ (t) often changes to a short i sound (⁧⁧تِ⁩⁩ (ti)) to help pronunciation flow:

• ⁧لَيْسَتِ الْمَدِينَةُ بَعِيدَةً.⁩

  laysati al-madīnatu baʿīdatan.laysati al-madīnatu baʿīdatan.laysati ʾal-madiynatu baʿiydatan.laysati al-madynatu baʿydatan.

  The city is not far.