How to say “As Much As” in Levantine Arabic

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If you’re going to learn Levantine Arabic grammar, what better way than through song, right? Twenty years later, I still find myself humming “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?” from Schoolhouse Rock. (Iykyk)

So when I heard Hussain Al Jassmi’s, “Ma B7ebak”, I knew it was the PERFECT song to learn how to express “as much as” and other comparisons in Levantine.

If you want to love the song as much as I do, here’s the video.

The PERFECT Song to Learn “As Much As”

The keyword to listen for is: “قَدْ”. Al Jassmi repeats the word in the chorus:

قَد السما ما بحِبَّك

I don’t love you as much as the sky

قَد البحِر ما بحِبَّك

I don’t love you as much as the ocean

قَد الهوا ما بحِبّك

I don’t love you as much as the air

!أكتر أكيد

Of course, I love you so much more

Y’all Arabic lyrics are so dramatic and cheesy, you seriously just have to embrace it for what it is! But this song is a clear example of how we can incorporate “قد” into our conversations to express “as much as”. Let’s break down its pronunciation and usages.

Pronunciation

قد is pronounced as “ed”. The ق is silent as you’ll find in most Lebanese and Syrian dialects, at least. So don’t walk around pronouncing the hard ق saying “ked”. You’ve been warned.

Usage

I. MUCH

a. “As much as”

Take as much as you want.

.‏ خُد قَدْ ما بِدَك

Or insert other adjectives, for example:

My room is not as big as your room.

.‏اُوْضَتي مو كَبير قد اُوْضَتَك

b. “This/that much”

He doesn’t talk this/that much at home.

.‏ما بيَحْكي كل هلقَدّ بالبِيت

c. “Not to that extent or not thaaaaat much”

But not to that extent.

.‏بَس مِش هالقَد

Note: I’ve only heard this used to express “not to that extent”, rather than “to that extent.”

To conceptualize how this could be used, imagine a scene where a detective is interviewing a murder suspect. The detective says, “You wrote in a text message that you hated Susie because she stole your husband. Sounds like you had motive to kill her.” The suspect says, “Sure, I hated Susie but not thaaaaat much/ not to that extent.”