Learn Arabic › A1 › أَيّ
أَيّ
which /ˈʔajj/
otherA1#51 most common
Also: what, any, whichever / whatever
Example sentences
أَيّ لَوْن تُحِبّ؟
Which color do you like?
في أَيّ ساعةٍ تَصِل؟
At what time do you arrive?
يُمْكِنُكَ اخْتِيارُ أَيّ كِتابٍ تُريدُه.
You can choose any book you want.
لا أَعْرِفُ أَيّ طَريقٍ يُؤَدّي إلى المَحَطَّة.
I don't know which road leads to the station.
أَيّاً كانَتِ الأَسْبابُ، فالقَرارُ لا يُمْكِنُ تَبْريرُه.
Whatever the reasons may be, the decision cannot be justified.
لَمْ يُحَدِّدْ أَيٌّ مِنَ المُرَشَّحينَ مَوْقِفَهُ بِوُضوحٍ مِنْ هذِهِ القَضِيَّةِ الشّائِكة.
None of the candidates clearly stated his position on this thorny issue.
Word family
أَيّةwhich / any (feminine form)
أَيْنَwhereأَيّانwhen, whenever
أَيّماwhichever, whatever
كَأَيِّنْhow many a, many (a)
Etymology
أَيّ is an inherited Semitic interrogative–relative pronoun meaning 'which (one)'. It goes back to a Proto-Semitic interrogative base *ʔay(y)- 'which', the same element visible in the locative أَيْنَ 'where'. It has no connection to Indo-European interrogatives; any resemblance to English 'aye' is coincidental.
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