Expressing “Have” in Arabic

In Brief

Arabic normally does not use one everyday verb that matches English have. Instead, it uses a preposition with an attached pronoun: عندي سيارة literally has the structure “at me [is] a car,” but naturally means “I have a car.” Use عند for general possession, مع for something with you or on you, لدى in more formal Standard Arabic, and لـ when something belongs or is assigned to someone.

Overview

English puts the owner before a verb: “I have a key.” Arabic usually builds the same idea as a short verbless sentence—a sentence with no present-tense form of “to be.” The owner appears inside a prepositional expression such as عندي (“at me”), and the thing possessed follows it: عندي مفتاح. The natural English translation is “I have a key,” not “At me is a key.”

This is an essential A1 pattern. You need it to talk about family, belongings, time, appointments, questions, needs, and what is available: عندي أخ (“I have a brother”), هل عندك وقت؟ (“Do you have time?”), and ليس لدينا خبز (“We do not have bread”).

The small endings on عند, مع, and لدى are attached pronouns—endings that mean “me,” “you,” “him,” “her,” and so on. This topic therefore builds directly on Arabic attached pronouns. The beginner rule is simple: learn عندي, عندك, and the other forms as complete chunks. The differences among the four possession patterns become useful as your Arabic grows.

How It Works

The basic pattern with عند

For ordinary possession, availability, or something in a person’s sphere, use:

عند + attached pronoun + thing possessed

Arabic pattern	Natural English	Note
عندي كتاب	I have a book.	ـي means “me/my.”
عندك سؤال	You have a question.	Without vowel marks, masculine and feminine عندك look the same.
عندها موعد	She has an appointment.	ـها means “her.”
عندنا وقت	We have time.	ـنا means “us/our.”

In the present tense, do not add a form of “to be.” عندي سيارة is complete. The noun after the possession phrase is often indefinite (it refers to “a” thing or an unspecified amount), although Arabic has no separate word for the English indefinite article a/an.

The most useful person forms

Owner	عند “have / at”	مع “with”	لدى “have / in the possession of”
I	عندي	معي	لديّ
you, masculine singular	عندكَ	معكَ	لديكَ
you, feminine singular	عندكِ	معكِ	لديكِ
he	عنده	معه	لديه
she	عندها	معها	لديها
we	عندنا	معنا	لدينا
you, masculine or mixed plural	عندكم	معكم	لديكم
they, masculine or mixed plural	عندهم	معهم	لديهم

Short vowel marks make gender clear in عندكَ and عندكِ, but ordinary Arabic writing usually omits them, leaving both as عندك. Context and spoken pronunciation identify the form. Formal Standard Arabic also has dual forms such as عندكما (“you two have”) and عندهما (“those two have”), plus specifically feminine plural forms such as عندكنّ and عندهنّ. Beginners can learn these when they study the dual and the full plural system.

عند: general possession and availability

عند is the safest all-purpose choice. It can describe ownership, a personal relationship, time available, information, or something that exists in someone’s home or sphere:

• عندي سيارة — I have a car.
• عندها طفلان — She has two children.
• عندنا اجتماع اليوم — We have a meeting today.
• هل عندك فكرة؟ — Do you have an idea?

The literal meaning of عند is related to “at” or “by,” but translating it word for word is usually unhelpful in this construction.

مع: something with you or on you

Use مع when the important point is that you are carrying something, have it with you, or are accompanied by someone:

• معي مفتاح — I have a key with me.
• هل معك جواز السفر؟ — Do you have your passport with you?
• معها صديقتها — Her friend is with her.

Compare عندي مفتاح (“I have/own or possess a key”) with معي مفتاح (“I have a key on me right now”). English often uses have for both, but Arabic can make the distinction explicit.

لدى: formal or written possession

لدى takes the same kinds of endings and is common in formal Modern Standard Arabic, news, official communication, academic prose, and careful writing. لديّ سؤال and عندي سؤال both mean “I have a question”; لديّ sounds more formal.

Institutions and organizations often appear after لدى as nouns rather than pronoun endings: لدى الشركة فروع كثيرة (“The company has many branches,” literally “At the company are many branches”). In everyday conversation, speakers usually prefer a regional spoken form related to عند.

لـ: belonging, allocation, and relationships

The preposition لـ basically means “to” or “for.” With an attached pronoun, it can express that something belongs to someone, is intended for someone, or stands in a relationship to someone:

Arabic	English	Main idea
لي أخ	I have a brother.	A family relationship; literally “to me [is] a brother.”
له بيت كبير	He has a large house.	Belonging or possession.
هذه الغرفة لنا	This room is ours.	Ownership or assignment.
لك رسالة	You have a message.	Something addressed or assigned to you.

The first-person form is لي, not لـي written as two pieces. With other people, common forms include لكَ, لكِ, له, لها, لنا, لكم, and لهم.

Questions and negation

Add هل at the beginning to make a neutral yes/no question in Standard Arabic:

• هل عندك وقت؟ — Do you have time?
• هل معكم نقود؟ — Do you have money with you?
• هل لديها خبرة؟ — Does she have experience?

To negate present possession in Standard Arabic, a dependable pattern is ليس + possession phrase + possessed thing:

• ليس عندي وقت — I do not have time.
• ليس لدينا خبز — We do not have bread.
• ليست معها الحقيبة — She does not have the bag with her.

ليس is a negative verb used to negate a present state. It changes for gender and number when required. In ليس عندي وقت, the later noun وقت is masculine singular, so ليس is masculine singular. In ليست معها الحقيبة, الحقيبة is feminine singular, so the form is ليست.

Examples in Context

Arabic	English	Note
عندي سيارة.	I have a car.	General possession with عند.
هل عندك وقت؟	Do you have time?	A neutral yes/no question.
ليس لدينا خبز.	We do not have bread.	Present negation in Standard Arabic.
عندها أختان.	She has two sisters.	A family relationship.
عندهم بيت قريب من البحر.	They have a house near the sea.	General possession.
عندنا درس في الساعة التاسعة.	We have a lesson at nine o’clock.	A scheduled event.
هل عندكم أي أسئلة؟	Do you have any questions?	Addressing a group.
معي مفتاح.	I have a key with me.	The key is on the speaker’s person.
هل معك هاتفك؟	Do you have your phone with you?	Focus on present availability.
ليست معها الحقيبة الآن.	She does not have the bag with her now.	Feminine ليست agrees with الحقيبة.
لديّ فكرة جديدة.	I have a new idea.	Formal or careful Standard Arabic.
لدى الجامعة مكتبة كبيرة.	The university has a large library.	Formal institutional style.
لي صديق في عمّان.	I have a friend in Amman.	A personal relationship with لـ.
هذه المقاعد لنا.	These seats are ours.	Assignment or belonging.

Common Mistakes

Looking for a direct equivalent of English “have”

• Wrong: أنا أكون سيارة.
• Right: عندي سيارة.
• Why: أكون is a form of “be,” not an everyday possession verb. Arabic expresses basic present possession with a preposition and an attached pronoun. The wrong sentence would not mean “I have a car.”

Leaving off the attached pronoun

• Wrong: عند سيارة.
• Right: عندي سيارة.
• Why: The ending ـي identifies the owner as “me.” Without an owner or another suitable complement, the intended possession structure is incomplete.

Using a separate pronoun after the preposition

• Wrong: عند أنا سؤال.
• Right: عندي سؤال.
• Why: After عند, Arabic uses an attached ending, not the independent subject pronoun أنا. Learn عندي as one written word.

Using مع when ownership is the point

• Unnatural for the intended meaning: معي بيت في القاهرة.
• Better: عندي بيت في القاهرة.
• Why: معي normally suggests “with me,” which suits a phone, key, document, or companion. A house is generally possessed or available to you, not carried with you, so عندي is the natural choice.

Using the wrong gender ending

• Wrong: عنده موعد. when referring to a woman
• Right: عندها موعد.
• Why: ـه refers to “him,” while ـها refers to “her.” The owner—not the thing possessed—determines this pronoun ending.

Copying colloquial negation into formal Standard Arabic

• Colloquial: ما عندي وقت.
• Standard Arabic: ليس عندي وقت.
• Why: Many dialects naturally use ما with their local form of عند. That is not a learner error in conversation, but ليس عندي is the safer choice in formal Modern Standard Arabic writing.

Usage Notes

عند is fully usable in Modern Standard Arabic and is also the basis of very common spoken patterns, although pronunciation and endings vary by region. لدى belongs mainly to formal Standard Arabic; using it in relaxed everyday conversation can sound bookish. A learner who wants one productive beginner pattern should start with عند.

The choice can change the message rather than just the style. عندي جواز سفر says that you possess a passport. معي جواز السفر says that the passport is with you now. Likewise, عندها طفل normally means “She has a child,” while معها طفل means “A child is with her.”

Arabic can place the possessed item first when it is already the topic: السيارة عندي means “The car is with me” or “I have the car.” This is different from the neutral introduction عندي سيارة, “I have a car.” English learners should pay attention to the article: سيارة is “a car,” while السيارة is “the car.”

An independent pronoun may be added for contrast or emphasis: أنا عندي وقت، لكنه ليس عنده وقت (“I have time, but he does not”). The ـي in عندي is still required. أنا does not replace it; it establishes or contrasts the topic.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master these patterns at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Past and future possession

Because the basic present expression is verbless, Arabic adds كان (“was”) for the past and سيكون (“will be”) for the future:

• كانت عندي درّاجة. — I had a bicycle.
• كانت لديها فرصة. — She had an opportunity.
• سيكون لدينا وقت غدًا. — We will have time tomorrow.

The form of كان or سيكون may agree with the thing possessed. This becomes clearer when you study Arabic nominal sentences and كان in detail.

Explicit verbs of ownership

Arabic does have verbs connected with owning and possessing; it simply does not use one of them as a universal match for English have. يملك can mean “owns,” and يمتلك can mean “possesses/owns.” They are useful when legal ownership, control, or resources are important:

• يملك أبي متجرًا صغيرًا. — My father owns a small shop.
• تمتلك الشركة ثلاث حافلات. — The company owns three buses.

These verbs are stronger and more specific than عند. They are usually not the natural choice for “I have a headache,” “I have time,” or “I have a question.”

Existence and availability

The expression يوجد عند... literally introduces something that exists or is available at a place or with a person:

• هل يوجد عندكم هذا الكتاب؟ — Do you have this book? / Is this book available at your place?
• لا يوجد لديّ جواب الآن. — I do not have an answer now.

This pattern is common when asking a shop, office, or institution whether something is available. It shifts attention from ownership to existence or availability.

Compact formal questions

Formal writing may place the question marker أَ directly before the possession phrase: أعندك سؤال؟ (“Do you have a question?”). For a beginner, هل عندك سؤال؟ is easier to recognize and use reliably.

Practice Tips

1. Build person-form pairs. Say a simple noun with each common form: عندي كتاب، عندك كتاب، عنده كتاب، عندها كتاب، عندنا كتاب، عندهم كتاب. Then repeat with وقت, سؤال, and موعد.
2. Sort examples by meaning. For each object, ask whether you mean general possession (عند), something physically with you (مع), formal possession (لدى), or belonging/assignment (لـ). A passport, key, house, appointment, and reserved seat make useful contrasts.
3. Practise three sentence types together. Turn عندك وقت into the question هل عندك وقت؟ and the negative ليس عندك وقت. This prevents you from learning affirmative forms in isolation.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Attached Pronouns — these endings identify the owner after عند, مع, لدى, and لـ.