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حال

state, condition /ˈħaːl/

nounA1#130 most common

Also: situation, circumstance, case

Example sentences

كيف الحال؟
How are you? (literally: how is the condition?)
حالي جيد، شكراً.
My condition is good, thanks. (I'm well, thanks.)
لم يتغيّر حال الاقتصاد كثيراً هذا العام.
The state of the economy has not changed much this year.
في كل الأحوال، سنواصل العمل.
In any case, we will carry on with the work.
استغرق استقرار حال البلاد سنوات بعد الحرب.
The stabilization of the country's situation took years after the war.
عبّر وجهه عن خيبته بلسان الحال لا بلسان المقال.
His face expressed his disappointment through the wordless state, not through speech.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeحالٌ (ḥālun)أحوالٌ (aḥwālun)
Genitiveحالٍ (ḥālin)أحوالٍ (aḥwālin)
Accusativeحالاً (ḥālan)أحوالاً (aḥwālan)
Vocativeيا حالُ (yā ḥālu)يا أحوالُ (yā aḥwālu)

Word family

حالة (ḥāla)case, situation, instance
تحوّل (taḥawwul)transformation, shift
حوّل (ḥawwala)to transform, to transfer
حول (ḥawl)vicinity; year; power
حيلة (ḥīla)trick, stratagem

Etymology

حال comes from the Semitic root ح-و-ل, which carries the idea of turning, changing, and surrounding. A حال is a condition or state, that is, the way something stands at a given moment, which is itself open to change. The same root yields حوّل (to transform), تحوّل (to change), and حول (around, and also a year, the cycle that turns).

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