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Apparently, there’s this woman who got lost for 25 years just because she got on the wrong bus. Very interesting story in the forum

You guys are doing a good job! I just have one question: why did the guy say, lihektuhu? I thought the bus was female."لحقته"

When I was in Damascus I asked a mini-bus driver if he was going to a particular place. He responded with a click of his tongue and nodded once upwards. I'd been in Yemen before that and learned that this sound and gesture means "yes". So I jumped into the bus and he asked me what I was doing?

As it turns out that gesture and click of the tongue actually means "no" in Syria and "yes" in Yemen.

You are right justdahir33, why it was (لحقته - la7eqtuhu) not (لحقتها - la7eqtuha)?!
To be honest, it is a mistake. Because the word (باص - baas) is mostly used in the street, it made an influence in our minds when we think of (bus) and that's why we used (لحقته - la7eqtuhu) while we should have used (لحقتها - la7eqtuha) referring to (الحافلة - al7aafelah).

Hmmm interesting jookieapc, that gesture and click of the tongue also means yes in Saudi Arabia. Interesting that they have a different meaning yet those countries are so close

That gesture also means yes in Morocco. Wow, I saw that article in the forum, Moshaya, I can't believe it. Poor woman!

hello, i am ahmad thanthawi , i am new one here but ijust want to know about what first of all that i have to do to learn Arabic, and do you guys have an information about a website that provide free Arabic dictionary software.

Assalam aleikum,
I need to leave my home country Uganda and go to an arabic speaking country for on an arabic scholarship.
In Uganda i seem to be learning Arabic casually and i'm getting no where.
How may i access arabic scholarships?

Ahlan Ahmad Thanthawi;
The key of learning languages is time. Make sure you listen to all beginner lessons and try some lower intermediate lessons too. If you can access the transcripts it would help your ability of reading and writing beside the listening skill. If there is anyone you could practice the language with then do so as it will make great improvement. The purpose of podcasts here is to speed up the time you spend in learning, so follow the lessons categories and I hope you’ll find the difference soon.
Aout online dictionary, we at ArabicPod are working on producing our own dictionary, the work is still under progress. Google language tools has very good Arabic dictionary, just go to google and search for (language tools).
Zuhramu, you can learn Arabic easily here no matter where you are in the world. Regarding to scholarships, it depends on the subject and the country, there are many aspects you need to consider in order to get a scholarship or even to get details about having a scholarship.

Great, thanks a lot. Now i can learn how to pronunce righ.

I was wondering why it said 'lahiqtuHU' too for feminine bus but its answered above!

For the word 'OR', am I right in saying you use 'um' when in a question and 'ow' when explaining two options?

@zacheriya
I believe it is 'am' ام in a question and 'aw' او in a non-question

@zacheriya, the explanation from Ayaz is absolutely correct.

Have just read the discussion about لحقته - and your conclusion, Ehab, that it was a mistake (since الحافلة is feminine).

But maybe it wasn't a mistake:

- The driver calls the bus الحافلة

- But the passenger says لحقته - because he's thinking باص

(The passenger is out of breath from running to catch the bus, and is also worried about missing his appointment, so can only manage to think of the easiest word - the "street" word باص!)

I like your analysis Fiona . If (bus) was in mind then yes this can be masculine. But as the word (7aafilah) was used in the dialogue then it should have been considered as feminine.