Lesson 35
Interrogative Particles
أدوات الاستفهام
Arabic has a rich set of question words. Each interrogative triggers a specific type of answer and occupies a specific grammatical position in the sentence.
Arabic Question Words
ArabicTransliterationMeaning / Use
مَنْmanWho? (for persons)
مَا / مَاذَاmā / mādhāWhat? (for things)
أَيْنَaynaWhere?
مَتَىmatāWhen?
كَيْفَkayfaHow?
كَمْkamHow many/much?
لِمَاذَا / لِمَlimādhā / limaWhy?
أَيّayyWhich?
Question and Answer Examples
QuestionAnswer
مَنْ هَذَا؟هَذَا أُسْتَاذِي.
أَيْنَ الْكِتَابُ؟عَلَى الْمَكْتَبِ.
مَتَى يَذْهَبُ؟يَذْهَبُ غَداً.
كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟بِخَيْرٍ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ.
لِمَاذَا تَدْرُسُ الْعَرَبِيَّةَ؟لِأَفْهَمَ الْقُرْآنَ.
مَنْ كَتَبَ هَذَا الْكِتَابَ؟ كَمْ طَالِباً فِي الْفَصْلِ؟
Man kataba hādhā l-kitāb? Kam ṭāliban fī l-faṣl?
Who wrote this book? How many students are in the classroom?
مَاذَا تَدْرُسُ فِي الْجَامِعَةِ؟ أَيُّ كِتَابٍ تَقْرَأُ الْآنَ؟
Mādhā tadrusa fī l-jāmiʿati? Ayyu kitābin taqraʾu l-ān?
What do you study at university? Which book are you reading now?
- كَمْ + accusative singular: كَمْ كِتَاباً (how many books?) singular accusative after كَمْ of quantity.
- مَنْ vs مَاذَا: مَنْ for people; مَاذَا/مَا for things and actions.
- أَيّ agrees in gender with the noun it modifies: أَيُّ كِتَابٍ? (which book, m?) / أَيَّةُ مَدْرَسَةٍ? (which school, f?).
- هَلْ and أَـ are yes/no question particles they do not mean "what" or "who" but simply invert the expected answer.
- مَا before a verb asks "what is done": مَا فَعَلَ؟ (what did he do?) مَاذَا is used the same way in modern usage.