The adjective فاضي

The adjective فاضي (faaDy) can have various meanings depending on the context. It’s also a verb that is used both in Levantine Arabic as well as Modern Standard Arabic. Its definitions include being empty, vacant, unoccupied, not busy, or unoccupied.

المدرسة فاضية اليوم (il-madrasa faaDiya il-yom) translates to “the school is empty today”. Since the noun, المدرسة, is feminine, then you change the gender of the adjective as well. Don’t forget that in Levantine Arabic you would pronounce the ta marbuta as “eh” rather than “ah”, which is how you would pronounce it in MSA.

هات لي قنينة فاضية (haat li ganiina faaDiya) translates to “bring me an empty bottle”.  هات is a command to bring or to fetch and لي reflects who to bring it to, who in this instance is oneself. قنينة can be pronounced with a “g” replacing the ق, which is how men typically pronounce it. Alternatively, it can be pronounced as “aniina” with a hamza replacing the ق, which is how women typically pronounce the ق. As an aside, I’ve heard men pronounce their ق as a hamza, but I’ve never heard a woman pronounce the ق as a “g”.

هسا أنا مش فاضي لك (hessa ana mish faaDy lek) translates to “I don’t have time for you right now”. You can use هسا or هلق (hella) to denote “now” and by adding the لك at the end, it changes the meaning of the sentence from “I don’t have time now” to “I don’t have time for you now”.

هو بيحكي كلام فاضي (huwa bi7ky kalaam faaDy) translates to “he talks a lot of nonsense”. The literal translation is “he speaks empty words”, however the figurative meaning of كلام فاضي is “nonsense” or “rubbish”.

ليش بتحكي عالفاضي؟ (leysh bti7ky 3alfaaDy) translates to “why are you talking without any thought?” In this instance, عالفاضي refers to speaking off the top of one’s head or without much thought.

أنا رحت لهناك عالفاضي (ana ru7it li-hunaak 3afaaDy) translates to “I went there for nothing”.  In this instance, عالفاضي connotes a waste of time.

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4 thoughts on “The adjective فاضي

  1. Thanks for the great post! One quick thing- I have heard women in Jordan from rural areas pronounce the ق as a ‘g.’ 🙂 Though it definitely does seem to be considered less feminine regardless.

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    • Interesting to know, Marian — thanks! I’ve been told that it’s a rural vs. urban as well as a female vs. male dynamic as it pertains to the pronunciation of the ق. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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