Arabic vocabulary
لوif
How to say “if” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
لَو تَخَيَّلت قرب الأحباب لأقمت المأتم على بعْدك
If you imagined the closeness of loved ones, you would hold a funeral for your distance.
لَو — if. The particle 'law' of an unreal / counterfactual 'if'. Its answer will carry the 'la-' of the apodosis.
From: Night Prayer and Nearness to God →لَو استنشقت ريح الأسحار لأفاق مِنْك قَلْبك المخمور
If you inhaled the dawn breeze, your intoxicated heart would awaken.
لَوِ — if. The 'law' of the counterfactual 'if' again; its vowel shifts to '-i' before the next word. The answer-clause will carry 'la-'.
From: Night Prayer and Nearness to God →لَو عرفت قدر نَفسك عندنَا مَا أهنتها بِالْمَعَاصِي
If you knew your worth with Us, you would not have degraded it with sins.
لَوْ — if. The particle 'law' of an unreal / counterfactual 'if'. Its answer-clause will be marked accordingly.
From: Remembering and Loving God →لَو كَانَ فِي قَلْبك محبَّة لبان أَثَرهَا على جسدك
If there was love in your heart, its effect would appear on your body.
لَوْ — if. The 'law' of the counterfactual 'if'. Its answer carries the 'la-' of the apodosis.
From: Remembering and Loving God →لَو تغذى الْقلب بالمحبة لذهبت عَنهُ بطنة الشَّهَوَات
If the heart were nourished with love, the gluttony of desires would depart from it.
لَوْ — if. The 'law' of the counterfactual 'if'. Its answer carries 'la-'.
From: Remembering and Loving God →لَو صحّت محبتك لاستوحشت مِمَّن لَا يذكرك بالحبيب
If your love were true, you would feel alienated from those who do not remind you of the beloved.
لَوْ — if. The 'law' of the counterfactual 'if'. Its answer carries 'la-'.
From: Remembering and Loving God →قال يقول فكيف لو رأوها؟
He said: He says: How would it be if they saw it?!
لَوْ — if. The counterfactual 'if' — 'if they saw it', a case contrary to fact. The imagined result follows.
From: Where Angels Gather →قال يقولون لو أنهم رأوها كانوا أشد عليها حرصًا، وأشد لها طلبًا، وأعظم فيها رغبة
He said: They say: If they had seen it, they would be more eager for it, more earnest in seeking it, and greater in their desire for it.
لَوْ — if. The counterfactual 'if' — here strengthened by a 'that'-clause coming next ('if [it were] that they...'). It opens an unreal condition about their seeing Paradise.
From: Where Angels Gather →فيقول كيف لو رأوها؟
He says: How would it be if they saw it?!
لَوْ — if. The counterfactual 'if' — 'if they saw it', a case contrary to fact. The imagined result follows.
From: Where Angels Gather →قال يقولون لو رأوها كانوا أشد فرارًا، وأشد لها مخافة
He said: They say: If they saw it, they would flee from it more and fear it more.
لَوْ — if. The counterfactual 'if' — 'if they saw it', contrary to fact. The imagined dread follows in a 'would be' clause.
From: Where Angels Gather →بَلْ لَوْ فَكَّرْتُمْ فِيمَا تُبْصِرُونَ وَمَا لَا تُبْصِرُونَ لَدَلَّكُمْ ذَلِكَ عَلَى أَنَّ الْقُرْآنَ حَقٌّ
But if you considered what you see and what you do not see, that would guide you to the Quran's truth.
لَوْ — if. A conditional particle 'if', setting up an 'if you had X, Y would follow' frame about a hypothetical. It pairs with a later 'would' clause to state an unfulfilled condition.
From: Proofs of Scripture →وَلَوْ كَانَتْ إِضَافَتُهُ إِلَيْهِ إِضَافَةَ إِنْشَاءِ وَابْتِدَاءٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ رَسُولًا،
And if it were attributed to him as origination and initiation, he would not be a messenger.
وَلَوْ — and if. This couples 'and' with law, the word for an unreal, contrary-to-fact 'if'. Law specifically frames a supposition that did not actually happen and signals that an equally unreal result is coming. It differs from the ordinary 'if' of real possibilities; this one says 'had it been so, which it was not'.
From: Proofs of Scripture →اِسْتَعْجَمْتُ دَارِ نِعَمٍ مَا تَكَلَّمْنَا وَالدَّارُ لَوْ كَلَّمَتْنَا ذَاتُ أَخْبَارٍ
I was astonished at the House of Blessings; we did not speak, and if the house spoke to us, it would have many stories.
لَوْ — if. A conditional word marking an unreal, contrary-to-fact 'if', the kind used for things that did not actually happen. Its job is to set up a 'had it been so, then...' frame, signaling the result clause is hypothetical.
From: Permissible Laughter and Conduct →
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