Lesson 74 · عِنْدَمَا
When, while, since: عِنْدَمَا, لَمَّا, بَيْنَمَا, مُنْذُ
عِنْدَمَا means “when” and joins two sentences: عِنْدَمَا وَصَلْتُ نِمْتُ (when I arrived, I slept). It works for the past, the present and habits: أَشْرَبُ الْقَهْوَةَ عِنْدَمَا أَسْتَيْقِظُ (I drink coffee when I wake up). To ask “when?”, use مَتَى (lesson 20) instead.
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
عِنْدَمَا وَصَلْتُ إِلَى الْبَيْتِ نِمْتُʿindamaa waṣaltu ila l-bayti nimtuWhen I got home, I slept.
أَشْرَبُ الْقَهْوَةَ عِنْدَمَا أَسْتَيْقِظُashrabu l-qahwata ʿindamaa astayqiẓuI drink coffee when I wake up.
لَمَّا رَأَى الْأَسَدَ هَرَبَlammaa ra’a l-asada harabaWhen he saw the lion, he ran away.
بَيْنَمَا كُنْتُ أَقْرَأُ رَنَّ الْهَاتِفُbaynamaa kuntu aqra’u ranna l-haatifuWhile I was reading, the phone rang.
أَتَعَلَّمُ الْعَرَبِيَّةَ مُنْذُ سَنَةٍataʿallamu l-ʿarabiyyata mundhu sanatinI have been learning Arabic for a year.
لَمْ أَرَهُ مُنْذُ الصَّبَاحِlam arahu mundhu ṣ-ṣabaaḥiI haven’t seen him since the morning.
Key points
- لَمَّا + past verb means “when, once”, and is common in stories: لَمَّا رَأَى الْأَسَدَ هَرَبَ (when he saw the lion, he ran away). With a silent present verb it means “not yet”: لَمَّا يَصِلْ (he hasn’t arrived yet).
- بَيْنَمَا means “while”, for something going on when something else happened: بَيْنَمَا كُنْتُ أَقْرَأُ رَنَّ الْهَاتِفُ (while I was reading, the phone rang). It can also mean “whereas”.
- مُنْذُ means “since” or “for” a period: أَسْكُنُ هُنَا مُنْذُ سَنَتَيْنِ (I have lived here for two years) · مُنْذُ الصَّبَاحِ (since the morning). Arabic uses the present here, where English says “have lived”.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “When the teacher came in, we stood up.”
عِنْدَمَا دَخَلَ الْمُعَلِّمُ قُمْنَا ʿindamaa dakhala l-muʿallimu qumnaa
Say “I have lived in Riyadh for a month.”
أَسْكُنُ فِي الرِّيَاضِ مُنْذُ شَهْرٍ askunu fi r-riyaaḍi mundhu shahrin
Say “While I was eating, my friend arrived.”
بَيْنَمَا كُنْتُ آكُلُ وَصَلَ صَدِيقِي baynamaa kuntu aakulu waṣala ṣadiiqii