A friend in Ramallah texts you one line: shu ra7 ti3mal bukra? What are you doing tomorrow? Maybe you're heading to Jerusalem. Maybe you'll sleep till noon. Maybe you'll swing by after work. Every one of those answers hangs on the same small word.
That word is ra7, and it's how Palestinian talks about anything that hasn't happened yet.
One little word for the whole future
ra7 means "going to" and "will," rolled into one. You park it in front of a verb and the action moves into the future. The best part: ra7 itself never changes. Not for I, you, he, she, or them. Same three letters every single time.
- ra7 asaafer bukra — I'm going to travel tomorrow
- ra7 yiji 3a-s-saa3a sitte — he'll come at six
Notice how ra7 sat there untouched in both, while the verb behind it did the work of saying who's acting.
ra7 wants the bare verb
The verb after ra7 shows up in its bare form, the "that I do" shape with no b- on the front. If you've met the everyday b- present where baroo7 means "I go," this is that same verb with the b- peeled off. The little prefix that's left still tells you who:
- aroo7 — that I go
- troo7 — that you go
- yiroo7 — that he goes
- niroo7 — that we go
So the front vowel carries the person: a- for I, ti- for you, yi- for he, ni- for we. Slot ra7 ahead of any of these four and the future is done.
Leave the b- off, though. ra7 baroo7 is the one slip people make. The future wants the bare verb.
The squeeze: 7a-
In quick speech, ra7 barely survives as its own word. It collapses onto the front of the verb as 7a-, and nobody thinks twice.
- ra7 aroo7 = 7aroo7 — I'll go
- ra7 troo7 = 7atroo7 — you'll go
- ra7 yiji = 7ayji — he'll come
You'll hear both out in the world. The full ra7 is a touch more deliberate. The squeezed 7a- is what comes out when someone's mid-sentence and not slowing down for you. Same meaning either way.
Saying it won't happen
To say something won't happen, you don't touch the verb at all. You wrap mish around the front and leave the bare verb sitting where it is.
- mish ra7 aji — I'm not going to come
So 7aroo7 (I'll go) flips to mish ra7 aroo7, and 7ayji (he'll come) flips to mish ra7 yiji. One catch worth holding onto: the squeezed 7a- doesn't take a mish. You can't say mish 7aroo7. For the negative, you spell ra7 back out and put mish in front of it.
When, exactly?
ra7 earns its keep the moment you pin a time onto the sentence.
- — tomorrow
- — later, afterwards
- ba3d bukra — the day after tomorrow
Drop one in and the plan gets concrete. 7aroo7 3a-l-quds bukra means "I'm going to Jerusalem tomorrow." Naming a day of the week? ra7 slots in front the same way: ra7 aji yowm il-jum3a (I'll come Friday).
If this, then that
ra7 and "if" are natural partners. You set up the condition with iza, then the part that follows lands in ra7.
- iza shatti, mish ra7 niTla3 — if it rains, we're not going out
- iza ijeet 3a-l-beet, 7anaakol sawa — if you come to the house, we'll eat together
One thing trips people up here. The verb right after iza comes out past tense even when you mean it about tomorrow. That's just how iza is built. The forward-looking half is the one that takes ra7, and that's the half doing the projecting.
ra7, biddi, or the plain b-?
Three ways of pointing at what's ahead, and they don't land the same.
The everyday b- present is for now and for habits. baroo7 3a-sh-shughul kull yowm is "I go to work every day." Nothing future about it.
biddi is wanting, and it shades into planning. biddi aroo7 is "I want to go," with your own wish sitting behind it.
ra7 is the flat prediction. 7aroo7 just says it's going to happen, no opinion attached. When all you mean is that something will occur, ra7 is the one you reach for.
So when that text lands, shu ra7 ti3mal bukra, you answer in one word and a bare verb: 7aroo7 3a-l-quds. Sorted.
