Learn Arabic › A1 › لِماذا
لِماذا
why /li.maːˈðaː/
adverbA1#71 most common
Also: what for, how come, for what reason
Example sentences
لِماذا أنتَ هُنا؟
Why are you here?
لِماذا لم تأتِ إلى المدرسةِ أمس؟
Why didn't you come to school yesterday?
لِماذا تَدرُسُ اللغةَ العربيةَ؟
Why do you study Arabic?
لا أَفهَمُ لِماذا تَصَرَّفتَ بهذه الطريقةِ.
I don't understand why you behaved this way.
لِماذا يُصِرُّ البعضُ على تكرارِ نفسِ الأخطاءِ رغمَ العواقبِ؟
Why do some people insist on repeating the same mistakes despite the consequences?
لِماذا، يا تُرى، تتجاهلُ الحكوماتُ تحذيراتِ العلماءِ حتى تقعَ الكارثةُ؟
Why, one wonders, do governments ignore scientists' warnings until catastrophe strikes?
Word family
Etymology
لِماذا is a univerbation of three older elements: the preposition لِ (li-, 'for/to'), the interrogative ما (mā, 'what'), and the demonstrative ذا (dhā, 'this'). Literally it asks 'for what (this)?', which grammaticalized into the general causal interrogative 'why'. The construction is purely Semitic and has clear parallels in sister languages where the same 'to/for' + 'what' pattern yields the word for 'why'.
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