Ok- here's one that's probably easy... please explain the difference in usage between these 2 words for "year"
سنة
عام
Thanks,
Greg
سنة
عام
Thanks,
Greg
I'm not so sure about the first one, I have heard it both ways -- كل عام وأنت بخير and كل سنة وأنت بخير . In Egypt they say "kull sana wa-inta Tayyib.elroy said:There is no difference in meaning, and most of the time they can be used interchangeably. Exceptions include set expressions; for example, we say كل عام وأنت بخير and رأس السنة (and not سنة and العام, respectively). Also, when you say your age you usually use سنة and not عام.
There is some flexibility in colloquial Arabic. In Palestinian Arabic, we most commonly say "kul sanne w2inte saalem" or "kul 3aam u inte bkheer" but both "kul sanne w2inte bkheer" and "kul 3aam u inte saalem" are heard - although they do sound a bit "off" (cf. "happy Christmas" in American English).Josh Adkins said:I'm not so sure about the first one, I have heard it both ways -- كل عام وأنت بخير and كل سنة وأنت بخير . In Egypt they say "kull sana wa-inta Tayyib.
m-ana 3aarif, wa-ana kamaan. I was told that both can be used in MSA by an Arabic professor, but I will ask again to be sure as it was quite a while ago that I heard this.elroy said:When a question does not specify a variant of Arabic, I answer it under the assumption that it is about MSA.
One small remark for my debut heregreg from vancouver said:Ok- here's one that's probably easy... please explain the difference in usage between these 2 words for "year"
سنة
عام
Thanks,
Greg
Yesss! It's the same in Palestinian Arabic!LeeQS said:One small remark for my debut here
In Iraqi dialect:
السنة - means "this year"
العام - means... "last year"
regards
przemek
ولقد أرسلنا نوحا إلى قومه فلبث فيهم ألف سنة إلا خمسين عاماOne small remark for my debut here
In Iraqi dialect:
السنة - means "this year"
العام - means... "last year"
regards
przemek
Since this is Classical Arabic I’ll have to mention a distinction that may have existed in CA. I say may because most dictionaries don’t mention it, and the one that does, لسان العرب, says “they say”, as if the author is not confident about this so he’s attributing it to someone else.Why both words were used in one sentence.
ولقد أرسلنا نوحا إلى قومه فلبث فيهم ألف سنة إلا خمسين عاما
Why both words were used in one sentence.
Yes, I’ve read and heard that a lot, but the evidence is pretty weak. The only aya that mentions العام in a positive sense is the one you mentioned, but العام is mentioned 8 times in the Quran, one is positive, 4 times neutral, and twice negatively in the sense of hardship!In Qur'anic Arabic, "sanat" means a year of hardship or a typical year because life is hard, while "3aam" means a year of ease.