This ~bonus post~ is for common prepositions that are (etymologically) nouns. This is a much more distinct category in fuSHa than it is in 3aammiyye, but to keep the lists manageably short I decided to do it this way.
قدام 2éddaam
Literally ‘in front of’:
قدام البيت 2éddaam élbeet – in front of the house
لا تفضحونا قدام الاجانب laa téfDa7uuna 2éddaam él2ajaaneb – don’t make us look bad in front of the foreigners!
Can be used with la- indicating motion:
لقدام شوي la2éddaam shwayy – a bit further on (keep going)
Can be used independently meaning approximately ‘in front’:
انا قاعد قدام وهي قاعدة ورا ana 2aa3ed 2éddaam w-hiyye 2aa3de wara – I’m sitting in the front and she’s sitting in the back [of a car]
قد 2add
2add essentially means ‘the size of’ or ‘the extent of’, and has a number of idiomatic uses:
مين بحبك قدي؟ miin bi7ébbak 2addi? – who loves you as much as me?
ما في كرسي قدي maa fii kérsi 2addi – there’s no chair big enough for me
انت قدها؟ énte 2addha? – are you up to the task?
انا قد كلامي ana 2add kalaami – I keep my word
بحبك قد الدنيا b7ébbak 2add éddinye – I love you to the moon and back [= as much as the world]
على قد or ع قد has its own idiomatic uses:
الكراسي على قدنا؟ élkaraasi 3ala 2addna – there are enough chairs for us [the chairs are on our number]
احلامنا على قدنا a7laamna 3ala 2addna – our dreams are appropriate to our standing
بيت صغير على قدي وقدك beet @zghiir 3ala 2addi w-2addek – a little house just right for me and you
قبل 2ab@l ‘before’
قبل الحرب 2abl él7arb – before the war
Can be used independently in the meaning ‘the time before’:
كل هادا كان قبل kéll haada kaan 2ab@l – all that was before
برا barra
برا البيت barra lbeet – outside the house
barra has an iDaafe form, barraat, which is used with pronouns and optionally with nouns:
برات البيت barraat élbeet – not at home [= outside the house]
It can be used with la- indicating motion:
طلاع لبرا! Tlaa3 la-barra! – get out!
It can be used independently meaning ‘outside’:
القعدة احلى برا él2a3de 2a7la barra – the atmosphere’s nicer outside [= the sitting]
بقلب b2alb ‘inside’
Generally used for confined spaces:
بقلب الظرف b2alb éZZar@f – in the envelope
Literally ‘in the heart of’, and sometimes can translate that way in English too:
نحنا بقلب السفارة هلق né7na b2alb éssafaara halla2 – we’re in the heart of the embassy now! (or perhaps, ‘we’re well inside the embassy!’)
بعد ba3@d ‘after’
بعد الحادث ba3d él7aades – after the accident
بين been ‘among, between’
بين البيوت been lébyuut – among the houses, between the houses
When pronouns are added, been usually takes the form beenaat:
ولله يا معلم انا بيناتون waLLa yaa m3allem 2ana beenaaton – and I swear, boss, I’m one of them! [= among them]
بنص bnéSS ‘in the middle of’
Perhaps not really worth analysing as a preposition per se since néSS in itself means ‘middle’ (ركز بالنص rakkez bé-nnéSS ‘concentrate on the middle’) but worth considering for completeness’ sake:
بنص الطريق bnéSS éTTarii2 – in the middle of the road
Has an independent form بالنص bé-nnéSS ‘in the middle’:
انا بالنص ana bé-nnéSS – I’m [the one] in the middle (of the picture)
داير daayer
Used in the sense of ‘around the border of’ and also ‘around’ a defined mass (a pole, tree etc):
بنو حيط داير لجنينة banu 7eeT daayer léjneene – they built a wall around the garden
ربطو داير حوالي الشجرة rabaTu 7ab@l daayer shshajara – they tied a rope around the tree
رح تشوف اضاءة مشعشعة ع داير مندارك ليل نهار ra7 @tshuuf 2iDaa2a msha3@sh3a 3a-daayer méndaarak leel @nhaar – you’ll see shining lights all around you day and night
These two forms of ‘around’ are used markedly less than their English equivalent however since the sense is often included in the meaning of specific verbs:
لف الدوار léff édduwaar – go around the roundabout
لفو الحبل على رقبتو laffu l7abel 3ala ra2ebto – they put the rope around his neck
ضد Dédd ‘against’
انا اكيد ضد هالفكرة ana akiid Dédd hal-fukra – of course, I’m against this idea
فوق foo2 ‘above’
Usually means above, but can also mean ‘up in’ or ‘on top of’:
اللي ساكن فوقنا élli saaken foo2na – the guy living above us
الطناجر معلقة فوق الشجرة éTTanaajer m3alla2a foo2 éshshajara – the pots are hanging up in the tree
لا تستحي حط المعلقة فوق السكر laa tésté7i 7étt élma3la2a foo2 éssékkar – don’t worry, leave the spoon in the sugar [after using it to put sugar in your tea]
Can be used with la- to indicate motion:
طلع لفوق Talle3 la-foo2 – look up
Can be used independently, usually meaning ‘upstairs’ (or ‘further up’, ‘above’ etc depending on context):
الاستاذ فوق él2éstaaz foo2 – the gentleman is upstairs
جنب janb, jamb ‘next to’
تعال عود جنبي ta3aal 3ood jambi – come and sit next to me
جوا juwwa ‘inside’
جوا البيت juwwa lbeet – inside the house
juwwa has an iDaafe form, juwwaat, which is used with pronouns and optionally with nouns:
جوات البلد juwwaat élbalad – inside the country
جواتو juwwaato – inside it
Can be used with la- indicating motion:
فوت لجوا fuut la-juwwa – go inwards, further in
Can be used independently meaning ‘inside’:
مرتي جوا marti juwwa – my wife’s inside
مواجه, مواجيه mwaajeh, mwaajiih ‘opposite’
These are synonymous variants and mean ‘opposite’:
ساكن مواجيه بيتون بنفس الحارة saaken mwaajiih beeton bnafs él7aara – he lived opposite their house in the same neighbourhood
تحت ta7@t
Usually means ‘below’ or ‘underneath’:
تحت الطاولة ta7t éTTaawle – under the table
Can be used with la- to indicate motion:
نزيل لتحت nzeel la-ta7@t – go downstairs
Can be used independently, usually meaning ‘downstairs’ (but also ‘further down’ etc depending on context):
انا تحت ana ta7@t – I’m downstairs
طول Tool
Clearly derived from ‘length’, this is used for both physical description in the meaning of ‘along the length of, all along’ and time in the meaning of ‘throughout, all… long’.
وضلوا يلحقوني طول الليل w-Dallu yél7a2uuni Tool élleel – they kept chasing me all night long
It often appears with 3ala:
قاعد يفلح فينا على طول الجمعة 2aa3ed yéfla7 fiina 3ala Tool éjjém3a – they sit there going on at us, all week long [= sitting ploughing in us]
مش بس هاي الرسمة. في غيرها على طول الشارع mish bass haay irrasme. fii gheerha 3ala Tool ishshaare3 – not just this painting, there are others all along the street
With على as you are probably aware it has an adverbial meaning ‘straight on’:
روح على طول ruu7 3ala Tool – go straight on
وسط wasT بوسط bwasT ‘in the middle of’
بوسط البلد bwasT élbalad – downtown [= in the city centre]
وسط هالتخاذل كلو wasT ha-ttakhaazul kéllo – in the midst of all this disappointment
ورا wara
Literally ‘behind’ or ‘beyond’:
ورا البيت wara lbeet – behind, beyond the house
Can be used with la- to indicate motion:
رجاع لورا rjaa3 la-wara – go backwards
Can be used independently with the approximate meaning ‘behind’:
انا قاعد قدام وهي قاعدة ورا ana 2aa3ed 2éddaam w-hiyye 2aa3de wara – I’m sitting in the front and she’s sitting in the back [of a car]
حوالي 7awaali, 7awaalee- ‘around’
Used in all the senses of English ‘around’ and the fuSHa sense of ‘approximately [a number]’:
صرت شوف كل يلي حواليي بوضوح وعلى حقيقتهم Sér@t shuuf kéll yalli 7awaaleyyi b-wuDuu7 w-3ala 7aqiiqathum – I started to see all those around me clearly and as they were [= on their truth]
بنو حيط حوالي لجنينة banu 7eeT 7awaali léjneene – they built a wall around the garden
ربطو حبل حوالي الشجرة rabaTu 7ab@l 7awaali shshajara – they tied a rope around the tree
The fuSHa form حول 7awl is occasionally used in the sense of ‘on the subject of’ (e.g. ktaab 7awl élmawDuu3).