Learn Arabic › A1 › كَيْفَ
كَيْفَ
how /ˈkaj.fa/
adverbA1#54 most common
Also: in what way, what ... like
Example sentences
كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟
How are you?
كَيْفَ الطَّقْسُ الْيَوْمَ؟
How is the weather today?
كَيْفَ تَكْتُبُ اسْمَكَ بِالْعَرَبِيَّةِ؟
How do you write your name in Arabic?
كَيْفَ وَصَلْتَ إِلَى الْمَطَارِ بِهَذِهِ السُّرْعَةِ؟
How did you get to the airport so quickly?
لَا أَعْرِفُ كَيْفَ أَشْكُرُكَ عَلَى كُلِّ مَا فَعَلْتَهُ مِنْ أَجْلِي.
I don't know how to thank you for everything you have done for me.
كَيْفَ يُمْكِنُنَا أَنْ نُفَسِّرَ هَذِهِ الظَّاهِرَةَ الْمُعَقَّدَةَ تَفْسِيرًا عِلْمِيًّا دَقِيقًا؟
How can we explain this complex phenomenon in a precise scientific manner?
Word family
كَيْفِيَّةmanner, modality, quality (the 'how' of something)
كَيْفَمَاhowever, in whatever way
كَمْhow much, how many
كَيْفmood, good feeling (colloquial); the manner of a thing
Etymology
كَيْفَ is the standard Arabic interrogative adverb of manner, 'how'. It is indeclinable (mabnī), built on a final fatḥa, and does not inflect for case or number. It belongs to the Semitic family of manner-interrogatives and is often compared with Hebrew אֵיךְ (ʾêḵ) and Aramaic/Syriac forms for 'how', which may continue an inherited interrogative base; the precise internal derivation of the Arabic form is debated.
Learn Arabic the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free