How to use أَبَدًا correctly in Arabic

Native Arabic speakers, at least in Arabic countries, often have problems with the correct spelling of Hamza (همزة).

They also sometimes have problems with words with so-called weak letters (حَرْف عِلّة), especially when these letters are dropped according to grammar. Today, we will deal with another common mistake and will analyze how to use أَبَدًا and قَطُّ correctly.

The Arabic word for “never”

Let’s start with the following sentence: I have/had never visited him. How would you translate it into Arabic?

Many people would choose option A – which is wrong. So, which one is correct? Answer – example B is correct. Why is that?

• This is because the word أَبَدًا is an adverb that is used for the future (ظَرْف زَمان لِلمُسْتَقْبَل). It conveys the meaning of continuity.
• For this reason, you could say: لَنْ أَزُورَهُ أَبَدًا, which means: I will never visit him. This conveys a similar meaning, as it implies that you have never visited him before.

Sounds strange, but you can also find this type of construction in the Qur’an. Let’s look for example at Sura The Table Spread (سُورة الْمائِدة) – verse 5:24.

قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ إِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَّا دَامُوا فِيهَا ۖ فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ

They said, “O Moses, indeed we will not enter it, ever, as long as they are within it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight. Indeed, we are remaining right here.”

If you want to dig deeper, check out this article.

The word قَطُّ and how to use it

It means: never; ever, at all.

Watch out:The word قَطُّ must be used with the past tense in negative sentences.

For this reason, you cannot say (“I don’t do that at all.”):

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