Interrogatives in Arabic

Level I 1. Abjad Writing System 2. Romanization of the Arabic Abjad 3. Cursive Features of Arabic Letters 4. Vowels in Arabic 5. Stressed Consonants 6. Hamzah 7. Open-T vs. Tied-T 8. Syllable Stress in Arabic Level II 1. The Definite Article الـ (al) 2. Double Vowel Ending – تَـنْويـن (Tanwīn) 3. Gender 4. Personal Pronouns 5. Word Patterns in Arabic 6. Introduction to Grammatical Cases 7. Dual & Plural Level III 1. Sentences 2. Demonstrative Pronouns 3. Phrases 4. Grammatical Cases of Nouns & Adjectives 5. Past Tense 6. Adjectives 7. Cardinal Numbers Level IV 1. Present Tense 2. Negation 3. Prepositions 4. Interrogatives 5. Relative Pronouns 6. Conjunctions 7. Active & Passive Participles 8. Ordinal Numbers Level V 1. Giving Commands & The Imperative 2. Irregular Verbs I 3. Verbal Nouns 4. Degrees of Comparison 5. Special-Use Particles, Nouns, & Pronouns 6. Progressive & Perfect Tenses 7. Nouns of Place, Instrument, & Intensity 8. Adverbs Level VI 1. Passive Voice 2. Irregular Verbs II 3. Impersonal Verbs & Expressions 4. إِنَّ (’inna), كـانَ (kāna), كـادَ (kāda) & ظَـنَّ (ẓanna) 5. Specification & Disambiguation 6. The Five Nouns 7. Circumstantial Adverb 8. Absolute Object & Causal Object

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In this lesson, we study interrogatives in Arabic. Interrogative particles and pronouns are the language tools we use to ask questions.

Yes/No Questions
Basic Interrogatives in Arabic
Difference between مــا؟ (mā) and مــاذا؟ (mādhā)
Interrogatives Preceded by a Preposition
Level IV – Intermediate II (B2)

Yes/No Questions

The formal way to ask a نَـعَـمْ (na‘am) ‘yes’ or لا (lā) ‘no’ question is to place the interrogative particle هَــلْ (hal) or أَ (’a) before a statement. For example:

هَـلْ تُـريـدُ أَنْ تَـأْكُـل؟ hal turīdu ’an ta’kul(a)? Do you want to eat?	أَ تُـريـدُ أَنْ تَـأْكُـل؟ ’a-turīdu ’an ta’kul(a)? Do you want to eat?
هَـلْ بَـيْـتُـكَ قَـريـبٌ مِـنْ هُـنـا؟ hal baytuka qarībun min hunā? Is your house close to here?	أَ بَـيْـتُـكَ قَـريـبٌ مِـنْ هُـنـا؟ ’a-baytuka qarībun min hunā? Is your house close to here?

In informal spoken language, the interrogative particle هَــلْ (hal) or أَ (’a) is omitted and the statement is turned into a question by simply changing the intonation. For example:

تُـريـدُ أَنْ تَـأْكُـل؟
turīdu ’an ta’kul(a)?
You want to eat?

بَـيْـتُـكَ قَـريـبٌ مِـنْ هُـنـا؟
baytuka qarībun min hunā?
Your house is close to here?

Basic Interrogatives in Arabic

The basic interrogatives in Arabic are:

Interrogative	English meaning	Example
مــا؟ mā?	What?	مــا لَـوْنُ الـسَّـيّـارَةِ؟ mā lawnu -s-sayyārah? *What* is the color of the car?
مـاذا؟ mādhā?	What?	مــاذا تَـفْـعَـلُ الْآنَ؟ mādhā taf‘alu -l-’ān? *What* are you doing now?
مَــنْ؟ man?	Who/Whom?	مَــنْ فَـعَـلَ هــذا؟ man fa‘ala hādhā? *Who* did this?
كَـيْـفَ؟ kayfa?	How?	كَـيْـفَ فَـعَـلْـتَهــذا؟ kayfa fa‘alta hādhā? *How* did you do this?
أَيُّ؟ ’ayyu?	Which?	أَيُّ هـذِهِ الـمَـفـاتـيـحِ لَـكَ؟ ’ayyu hādhihi -l-mafātīḥi lak(a)? *Which* of these keys is yours?
كَــمْ؟ kam?	How much? How many?	كَـمْ طـالِـبًـا هُـنـاكَ؟ kam ṭāliban hunāk(a)? *How* many students are there?
مَـتـى؟ matā?	When?	مَـتـى تُـريـدُ أَنْ تَـذْهَـبَ؟ matā turīdu ’an tadh hab(a)? *When* do you want to go?
أَيْــنَ؟ ’ayna?	Where?	أَيْـنَ أَنْـتَ الْآن؟ ’ayna ’anta -l-’ān? *Where* are you now?

In addition, there are some uncommon interrogatives that are rarely used in spoken language but can be found in literary writing, such as:

Interrogative	English meaning	Example
أَنّــى؟ ’annā	From where?	أَنّـى لَـكَ كُـلُّ هـذا الْـوَقْـتِ؟ ’annā laka kullu hādhā -l-waqt? *From where* do you get all this time?
أَيّــانَ؟ ’ayyāna	When? (in the future)	أَيّانَ سَـوْفَ تُـغـادِرُ؟ ’ayyāna sawfa tughādir? *When* will you leave?

Difference between مــا؟ (mā) and مــاذا؟ (mādhā)

There is a difference in usage between مـا (mā) and مـاذا (mādhā), both translated as “what.” While مـا (mā) can be used before nouns or verbs, it is more commonly used before nouns. On the other hand, مـاذا (mādhā) is used exclusively before verbs. To simply ask “What?” we use مـاذا؟ (mādhā).

Here are some examples:

مـا اسْـمُـكَ؟ mā -smuk(a)? *What* is your name?	مـا لَـوْنُ الـسَّـيّـارَةِ؟ mā lawnu -s-sayyārah? *What* is the color of the car?
مـاذا تَـفْـعَـلُ هُـنـا؟ mādhā taf‘alu hunā? *What* are you doing here?	مـاذا تُـريـدُ أَنْ تَـأْكُـل؟ mādhā turīdu ’an ta’kul(a)? *What* do you want to eat?

Interrogatives Preceded by a Preposition

Some interrogatives in Arabic can be preceded by a preposition to convey more complex meanings, such as لِــمَ (lima) and لِـمـاذا (limādhā), both meaning “why,” or more literally, “for what?” The two interrogatives are formed by combining the preposition لِــ (li) ‘to/for’ with the basic interrogatives مـا (mā) and مـاذا (mādhā), as follows:

لِــ li to/for	+	مـا؟ mā what?	=	لِــمَ؟ lima why? for what?
لِــ li to/for	+	مـاذا؟ mādhā what?	=	لِـمـاذا؟ limādhā why? for what?

Note that when the interrogative مـا (mā) is preceded by a preposition, the final ا (’alif) is often omitted and replaced with a فَـتْـحَـة (fatḥah) ‘short a.’

Other similar pronouns include:

Interrogative	English meaning	Example
لِـمَـنْ؟ li-man?	To whom? Whose?	لِـمَـنْ أَرْسَـلْـتَ الـرِّسـالَـةَ؟ li-man ’arsalta -r-risālah? *To whom* did you send the letter?
بِـمـاذا؟ bi-mādhā	In/Of What?	بِـمـاذا تُـفَـكِّـرُ؟ bi-mādhā tufakkir(u)? *What* are you thinking of?
إِلــى أَيْــنَ؟ ’ilā ’ayna?	To where?	إِلى أَيْنَ سَـتَـذْهَـبُ؟ ’ilā ’ayna sa-tadh hab(u)? *Where* are you going to?
مِــنْ أَيْــنَ؟ min ’ayna?	From where?	مِـنْ أَيْنَ أَتَـيْـتَ؟ min ’ayna ’atayt(a)? *Where* did you come from?
⁽¹⁾عَـــمَّ؟ ‘amma?	About what?	عَـــمَّ سَـيَـتَـحَـدَّثُ الْـيَـوْم؟ ‘amma sa-yataḥaddathu -l-yawm? *What* will he talk about* today?*
⁽²⁾مِـــمَّ؟ mimma?	From/Of what?	مِـــمَّ صُـنِـعَـتْ هـذه الْـحَـقـيـبَـةُ؟ mimma ṣuni‘at hādhihi -l-ḥaqībah? *What* is this bag made of?
⁽³⁾مِـمَّـن؟ mimman?	From whom?	مِـمَّـن سَـمِـعْـتَ هـذا؟ mimman sami‘ta hādhā? *From whom* did you hear this?
⁽⁴⁾عَـمَّـن؟ ‘amman?	About whom?	عَـمَّـن تَـتَـكَـلَّـمُ؟ ‘amman tatakallam(u)? *About whom* are you talking?
مَــعَ مَـنْ؟ ma‘a man?	With whom?	مَــعَ مَـنْ تَـعـيـشُ؟ ma‘a man ta‘īsh(u)? *With whom* do you live?

⁽¹⁾The interrogative عَـــمَّ (‘amma) ‘about what’ is the combination of the preposition عَـنْ (‘an) ‘about’ followed by the interrogative ما (mā) ‘what.’

⁽²⁾The interrogative مِـــمَّ (mimma) ‘from what’ is the combination of the preposition مِـنْ (min) ‘from’ followed by the interrogative ما (mā) ‘what.’

⁽³⁾The interrogative مِـمَّـن (mimman) ‘from whom’ is the combination of the preposition مِـنْ (min) ‘from’ followed by the interrogative مَـنْ (man) ‘who.’

⁽⁴⁾The interrogative عَـمَّـن (‘amman) ‘about whom’ is the combination of the preposition عَـنْ (‘an) ‘about’ followed by the interrogative مَـنْ (man) ‘who.’

Next: Relative Pronouns

Back to: Prepositions

Other lessons in Level IV:

Level IV – Intermediate II (B2)

1. Present Tense

2. Negation

3. Prepositions

4. Interrogatives in Arabic

5. Relative Pronouns

6. Conjunctions

7. Active & Passive Participles

8. Ordinal Numbers

Modern Standard Arabic 4.4. Interrogatives

Table of Contents

Yes/No Questions

Basic Interrogatives in Arabic

Difference between مــا؟ (mā) and مــاذا؟ (mādhā)

Interrogatives Preceded by a Preposition

Level IV – Intermediate II (B2)