So X… that Y

This is another one of those tricky constructions – ‘I was so tired that…’ that we like a lot in English but that it’s not immediately obvious how to form in Arabic. There are basically two ways to do it which I’m going to cover briefly in this post:

لدرجة انو la-darajet 2énno

This literally means ‘to such a degree that’, and it’s used pretty straightforwardly:

وعندو المسلسل فانز لدرجة انو مستغني عن حبك
w 3éndo lmusalsal faanz ladarajet 2énno mésteghni 3an 7ubbak
… and the series has so many fans that it can do without your love

يا ترى شو صاير معو اليوم لحتى يعصب لدرجة انو بدو يطلع من التليفون ويضربني
yaatéra shu Saayer ma3o lyoom la7atta y3aSSeb ladarajet 2énno béddo yéTla3 mn éttelefoon w yéDrébni?
I wonder what’s happened to him today that he’d get so angry he wants to pop out of the phone and beat me up?

الناس بطلت تستحي بالمرة لدرجة انو الواحد عم يعترف انو بدو يتابع باب الحارة
énnaas baTTalet téste7i bilmarra ladarajet 2énno lwaa7ed 3am yé3teref 2énno béddo ytaabe3 baab él7aara
People have so little shame these days that [people have stopped feeling shame at all, to a degree that] you can admit you want to watch Bab il Hara

There is a related expression, لهلدرجة la-had-daraje ‘to this degree’, which is used predictably in a way corresponding to the examples above:

حضرتك اخدت على خاطرك لهالدرجة ليش؟
7aD@rtak 2akhad@t 3ala khaaTrak la-had-daraje leesh?
And you’ve taken such offence [= offence to this degree] why?

هل الحب مجنون لهلدرجة؟
hal él7ubb majnuun la-had-daraje?
Is love so mad [= mad to this degree]?

Like other adverbs modifying adjectives, it can also appear before the adjective in question:

اذا لهالدرجة حلو لازم ياخد جزائر
2iza lahaddaraje 7élw laazem yaakhod jazaayer
If it’s that good, it should get prizes

La-had-daraje is also used independently, usually with an implied ‘bad’. This is particularly common in the negative:

لك مو لهلدرجة
lak muu lahaddaraje!
Come on, it’s not that bad!
You’re exaggerating!

هلقد hal2add

Hal2add (or more emphatically kéll hal2add) is a combination of hal- ‘this’ and 2add, which is a preposition-ish thing whose other uses have been covered here. Its use is similar to lahaddaraje:

ولو الجريمة هلقد هينة عندكن نحنا مو هيك
wlaw ljariime hal2add heyyne 3éndkon né7na muu heek
Even if crimes mean so little [= are this amount unimportant] to you, we’re different

اذا هلقد قوايا ليش ما وصل دغري
2iza hal2add 2awaaya leesh maa waSSal déghri?
If they’re so strong, why didn’t he get there straight away?

لإنك هلقد بتفهم…
la2énnak hal2add @btéfham…
Since you understand so much

Some people accept a usage similar to la-darajet 2énno:

انتي هلقد مكبرتيها للقصة انو ما عاد تنحل بسهولة
inti hal2add @mkabb@rtiyya lal2éSSa 2énno maa3aad tén7all bshuule
You’ve made the problem so much worse [= you’ve embiggened the problem this much] that it can no longer be solved easily

 

The idiomatic phrase ما بدها هلقد maa bédda hal2add ‘‘it doesn’t need this much’ is used to express that someone is overreacting:

روق روق شوي الله يرضى عليك ما بدها كل هلقد
rawwe2 rawwe2 shweyy maa bédda kéll hal2add
Calm down a bit, you’re overreacting! / It’s not that serious!