ليس is not in Arabic
ليس is how you say “is not” in Arabic.
Root ل ي س l-y-s. verb (defective, past tense only). laysa.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of is not in Arabic
- is not negates a nominal predicate; puts the subject in the nominative and the predicate in the accusative, like كان and its sisters
- except, other than used as an exceptive particle in the place of إلّا
- not at all, by no means used in the sense of the emphatic, all-denying لا
Example sentence
وَلَيْسَ بِشَاغِلٍ يَشْغَلُكَ عَنِ اللَّهِ كَنَفْسِكَ الَّتِي هِيَ بَيْنَ جَنْبَيْكَ
And nothing can distract you from Allah like your own self between your sides.
وَلَيْسَ And is not
'wa-' = 'and'; 'laysa' = 'is not, there is not', a negating verb.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
ليس is grammatically a verb but exists only in this one past-tense form, with no imperative, participle, or verbal noun. It works like كان and its sisters: the subject stays nominative and the predicate goes accusative, and the predicate may optionally take بِ for emphasis, as in لَيْسَ زَيْدٌ بِمُنْطَلِقٍ, 'Zeyd is not going away.'
Words from the same root
- لَسْتُ I am not
- لَسْتَ you are not
- لَيْسَتْ she/it is not
- لَيْسُوا they are not
- أَلَيْسَ is it not?
More example sentences
وَقسم سِيبَوَيْهٍ الْكَلَام إِلَى اسْم وَفعل وحرف جَاءَ لِمَعْنى لَيْسَ باسم وَلَا فعل،
And Sibawayh divided speech into noun, verb, and letter that comes for meaning, not as a noun or a verb.
لَيْسَ not
'is not' — the one-word 'is-not' verb, opening the defining 'neither a noun nor a verb'. Its predicate takes a special 'bi' next.
لَكِن خَاصَّة الثَّالِث أَنه حرف جَاءَ لِمَعْنى لَيْسَ باسم
But specifically the third, it is a letter that comes for meaning, not as a noun.
لَيْسَ not
'is not' — the 'is-not' verb opening the defining exclusion 'not a noun'. Its predicate takes the emphatic 'bi' next.
الْحبّ غَدِير فِي صحراء لَيست عَلَيْهِ جادة
Love is a spring in the desert without a path leading to it.
لَيْسَتْ she is not
The present-negation verb 'is not' with the feminine '-at' tail agreeing with 'desert', opening a description of it. It raises its subject ('a path') to the nominative.
لَيْسَ للعابد مستراح إِلَّا تَحت شَجَرَة طُوبَى
For the worshipper, there is no resting place except under the Tree of Tuba.
لَيْسَ not
The present-negation verb 'there is not', which raises its delayed subject to the nominative. It opens 'the worshipper has no rest except…'.
والبعد مِنْهُ لَيْسَ فِي أعدائك أضرّ عَلَيْك مِنْك
And being far from Him — among your enemies, none is more harmful to you than yourself.
لَيْسَ is not
The present-negation verb 'there is not', raising its later subject to the nominative. It opens 'among your enemies none is more harmful…'.
فيهم فلان ليس منهم، إنما جاء لحاجة،
Among them is so-and-so who is not one of them; he only came for a need.
لَيْسَ is not
This is the negating verb 'is not' — denying that the man belongs. Unlike particle-negators it behaves like a verb. Its predicate follows.
فَقَالَ لَيْسَ بِكَلَامِي وَلَا كَلَامِ صَاحِبِي، هَذَا كَلَامُ اللَّهِ
He replied: 'It is neither my word nor the word of my companion; this is the word of Allah.'
لَيْسَ It is neither
A special verb meaning 'is not', used to deny a present state. Unlike a mere particle, it behaves like a verb and reshapes what follows accordingly. Here it negates the claim that the speech belongs to the speaker, 'it is not...'.
فليس له إلا الرضا والتسليم
so he has nothing but acceptance and submission.
فَلَيْسَ so not
A special negating verb, 'there is not', fused with the connector 'so'. Unlike the particle 'not', this is a verb that denies existence or possession, and it reshapes the sentence around it; here it sets up 'he has nothing but...'.
Common questions
- How do you say "is not" in Arabic?
- لَيْسَ (laysa).
- How does لَيْسَ behave grammatically?
- Like كان and its sisters: it negates a nominal sentence, keeping the subject nominative and putting the predicate in the accusative.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).