Learn Arabic › A1 › شَيْء
شَيْء
thing /ˈʃajʔ/
nounA1#18 most common
Also: something, object, matter
Example sentences
هَذَا شَيْءٌ جَمِيلٌ.
This is a beautiful thing.
هَلْ تُرِيدُ شَيْئًا مِنَ السُّوقِ؟
Do you want something from the market?
لَا أَعْرِفُ أَيَّ شَيْءٍ عَنْ هَذَا المَوْضُوعِ.
I don't know anything about this subject.
كُلُّ شَيْءٍ لَهُ ثَمَنٌ في هَذِهِ الحَيَاةِ.
Everything has a price in this life.
الأَشْيَاءُ الَّتي نَمْلِكُهَا أَحْيَانًا تَمْلِكُنَا.
The things we own sometimes own us.
لَيْسَ في الكَوْنِ شَيْءٌ يَنْشَأُ مِنَ العَدَمِ المُطْلَقِ.
There is nothing in the universe that arises from absolute nothingness.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | شَيْءٌ | أَشْيَاءُ |
| Genitive | شَيْءٍ | أَشْيَاءَ |
| Accusative | شَيْئًا | أَشْيَاءَ |
| Vocative | يا شَيْءُ | يا أَشْيَاءُ |
Word family
شَاءَto will, to want
مَشِيئَةwill, volition
أَشْيَاءthings (plural)
لَا شَيْءnothing
Etymology
شَيْء derives from the Semitic root ش-ي-ء (š-y-ʾ), which underlies the verb شَاءَ ‘to will, to want’. The noun is thus understood by classical grammarians as ‘that which is willed or exists’, a faʿl-pattern formation. It became the all-purpose word for any existent or object.
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