Lesson 79 · غَيْرُ
Other than: غَيْرُ and سِوَى
In lesson 42 you met إِلَّا (except). غَيْرُ and سِوَى mean the same, but they are nouns: the word after them is the second half of a possession pair, so it always ends in -i. حَضَرَ الطُّلَّابُ غَيْرَ عَلِيٍّ (the students came, except Ali).
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Examples
حَضَرَ الطُّلَّابُ غَيْرَ عَلِيٍّḥaḍara ṭ-ṭullaabu ghayra ʿaliyyinThe students came, except Ali.
مَا عِنْدِي غَيْرُ رِيَالٍmaa ʿindii ghayru riyaalinI have only one riyal.
مَا شَرِبْتُ سِوَى الْمَاءِmaa sharibtu siwa l-maa’iI drank nothing but water.
هٰذَا غَيْرُ مُمْكِنٍhaadhaa ghayru mumkininThis is impossible.
الْجَوَابُ غَيْرُ صَحِيحٍal-jawaabu ghayru ṣaḥiiḥinThe answer is incorrect.
زُرْتُ الْمُدُنَ كُلَّهَا سِوَى جُدَّةَzurtu l-muduna kullahaa siwaa juddataI visited all the cities except Jeddah.
Key points
- غَيْرُ itself takes the ending that إِلَّا would give the noun. After a complete positive sentence it is غَيْرَ: نَجَحَ الطُّلَّابُ غَيْرَ وَاحِدٍ (the students passed, except one). After a negative it means “only” and fits into the sentence: مَا عِنْدِي غَيْرُ رِيَالٍ (I have only a riyal).
- سِوَى ends in a long -aa that never changes, so you only put -i on the noun after it: مَا شَرِبْتُ سِوَى الْمَاءِ (I drank nothing but water) · لَا أَعْرِفُ سِوَاهُ (I know no one but him).
- غَيْرُ before an adjective means “not” or “un-”: غَيْرُ مُمْكِنٍ (impossible) · غَيْرُ صَحِيحٍ (incorrect). You recite it in Al-Fatiha: غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ (not of those who earned anger).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “The students went, except Khalid” with غَيْرَ.
ذَهَبَ الطُّلَّابُ غَيْرَ خَالِدٍ dhahaba ṭ-ṭullaabu ghayra khaalidin
Say “I have nothing but this book” with سِوَى.
لَيْسَ عِنْدِي سِوَى هٰذَا الْكِتَابِ laysa ʿindii siwaa haadha l-kitaabi
Say “impossible”.
غَيْرُ مُمْكِنٍ ghayru mumkinin
