What does “كم” (kam) mean in Lebanese Arabic?

كم (kam) is Lebanese Arabic’s go-to word for “how many?” — and it comes with a built-in grammar rule: the noun that follows is always singular, even when you expect a plural answer. Ask كم فريزة؟ (“how many strawberries?”) and the answer comes back تسع (“nine”) — the word فريزة stays singular throughout. One word, one rule, and you can ask the quantity of anything.

The clip is a step-by-step fruit cocktail recipe in Lebanese dialect, and the host fires off the same pattern seven times in a row: كم موزة؟ موزتين (“how many bananas? Two”), كم ليمونة؟ ليمونة وحدة (“how many lemons? Just one”), كم حبة توت؟ خمستعش (“how many berries? Fifteen”). Each exchange is a closed loop — question, singular noun, number — making the pattern hard to miss and easy to copy. The same كم + singular structure holds across Modern Standard Arabic and all Levantine dialects, so mastering it here works everywhere.