These are expressions I’m learning to use in Palestinian/Jordanian Arabic, with examples from my diary and a few practice sentences of my own. The new examples haven’t yet been checked by a native speaker.
Here’s the sentence from the diary that holds most of them:
From the diaryمن اليوميات
جزء كبير من السبب اللي كان يخليني أشيل هم الأعياد هو إني كنت أحس بالذنب، وكأني عم بخيّب أمل أهلي.
A big part of what made me dread the holidays was that I felt guilty, as if I were letting my family down.
Worry: أشيل هم#
Examplesأمثلة
لا تشيل هم، كل شي رح يزبط.
Don't worry, it'll all work out.
لا تشيلي هم، كل شي رح يزبط.
Don't worry, it'll all work out.
بشيل هم الامتحان من هلّق.
I'm already worried about the exam.
Guilt: أحس بالذنب#
Examplesأمثلة
بحس بالذنب إني ما اتصلت فيها.
I feel guilty that I didn't call her.
ليش حاسس بالذنب؟ إنت ما عملت إشي غلط.
Why do you feel guilty? You didn't do anything wrong.
Disappointing someone: خيّب أمل#
The same entry also uses خاب أمل. خيّبت أملي means “You disappointed me.” خاب أملي means “I was disappointed” — literally, “my hope fell through.” Someone can still have caused it; the grammar just presents the hope as failing rather than someone actively disappointing another person. To say who disappointed me, add فيك: خاب أملي فيك.
In the diary: «أخاف يخيب أمل الناس اللي بحبوني فيي» — “I’m afraid the people who love me will be disappointed in me.” (فيي = “in me.”)
Examplesأمثلة
ما بدي أخيّب أملك.
I don't want to disappoint you.
خيّبت أملي.
You disappointed me.
خيّبتي أملي.
You disappointed me.
خاب أملي لما ما إجا.
I was disappointed when he didn't come.
Being hard on yourself: بعذّب حالي#
It’s stronger than “being hard on myself”: عذّب is to torment, so the phrase means “I’m tormenting myself” or “I’m putting myself through misery.”
Examplesأمثلة
بطّل تعذّب حالك.
Stop tormenting yourself.
بطّلي تعذّبي حالك.
Stop tormenting yourself.
Audio on this page is generated text-to-speech, not a native speaker’s recording.
