Learn Arabic › A1 › ما
ما
what /ˈmaː/
otherA1#10 most common
Also: that which, whatever, not (negating a past verb)
Example sentences
ما هذا؟
What is this?
ما لونُ السيّارةِ؟
What is the colour of the car?
خُذْ ما تُريدُ مِنَ الطّعامِ.
Take what you want of the food.
ما قُلتُ لكَ شيئاً عن ذلك.
I did not say anything to you about that.
ما دامَ المطرُ مُستمرّاً، سنبقى في البيتِ.
As long as the rain continues, we will stay at home.
ما أجملَ السماءَ اللّيلةَ!
How beautiful the sky is tonight!
Word family
ماذاwhat? (emphatic interrogative)
مَهماwhatever, no matter what
مِمّاfrom what / than what (مِن + ما)
كَماas, just as (كَ + ما)بِماin that, because, with what (بِ + ما)
Etymology
Arabic ما descends from the Proto-Semitic interrogative and indefinite pronoun *mā 'what', built on the widespread Semitic m- interrogative base. It is one of the most stable function words in the family, surviving almost unchanged in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Akkadian. From its core question sense 'what?', Arabic extended it to relative ('that which'), negating, conditional, and exclamatory functions.
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