What are the Interrogative tools in Arabic? How question words are there? How to use them? That’s what we will find out shortly.
Question tools in Arabic are used to ask questions. Just like in the English language, we use the tools “where who, what, when,…..” in Arabic, we have interrogative nouns “ماذا، من، اين، متى، لماذا، كيف،..” and interrogative particles “أ، هل”. They are all called Interrogative tools or ادوات الاستفهام.
Interrogative particles are used to ask yes/no questions, while Interrogative nouns are used to ask about information. Both of them can be used in verbal or nominal sentences.
What is the interrogative format?
We now know what are Question tools in Arabic used for, let’s see how to use each one of them:
Interrogative particles.
They are used to Forming Yes/No questions, and there are two particles in Arabic “هل، أ”.
- The Hamza “أ”
Hamza is used when asking formal questions and it is used with verbal and nominal sentences by just adding it to the beginning of the sentence. The answer to that kind of question is either “yes/اجل” if the answer is positive, or “no/لا” if the answer is negative.
Here’s how to use it in verbal sentences:
أتتكلم الانجليزية؟
Do you speak English?
أطبخت امى الطعام؟
Did my mother cook food?
أشاهدت هذا المسلسل؟
Did you see this series?
أتحب سماع الاغانى؟
Do you like listening to music?
To use Hamza in a Nominal sentence you must add “أم” = “or” to give the person two choices to choose from. Here are some examples:
أأنت احمد ام على؟
Are you Ahmed or Ali?
أأنت طويل ام قصير؟
Are you tall or short?
- interrogative particle هل
This one is less formal than the Hamza and it’s also used with verbal and nominal sentences by adding it to the beginning of the sentence. And the answer to the question will either be either “yes/اجل” if the answer is positive or “no/لا” if the answer is negative.
Here’s how to use it in verbal sentences:
هل تتكلم الانجليزية؟
Do you speak English?
هل طبخت امى الطعام؟
Did my mother cook food?
هل شاهدت هذا المسلسل؟
‘Did you see this movie?’
هل تحب سماع الاغانى؟
Do you like listening to music?
The informal way to ask the above questions is by simply saying the sentence with a rising intonation at the end, as in (d).
There is also an informal way to ask the same question and it is simple by rising intonation at the end of the sentence without using any interrogative particles.
تتكلم الانجليزية؟
Do you speak English?
طبخت امى الطعام؟
Did my mother cook food?
شاهدت هذا المسلسل؟
‘Did you see this movie?’
تحب سماع الاغانى؟
Do you like listening to music?
Interrogative nouns.
In the Arabic language, there are seven Interrogative nouns and they are:
- مَنْ ‘who’.
- مَا ‘what’.
- مَتَى ‘when’.
- أَيْنَ ‘where’.
- كَمْ ‘how many/much’.
- كَيْفَ ‘how’.
- أَيّ ‘which.
The answer to this kind of question is by giving information regarding the topic that is asked. Here’s how you can use each one of them:
- Who/ من?
It is used with people and can be used in verbal and nominal sentences. Here’s how to use it with verbal sentences with answers:
من اكل طعامى؟
Who ate my food?
– He ate your food.
من يشاهد لتلفاز؟
Who is watching TV?
– Your sister is watching TV.
Here’s how to use the Interrogative noun من in nominal sentences:
من هذه؟
Who is she?
– She is the new student.
من صاحب المنزل؟
Who is the owner of the house?
– A young man is the owner of the house.
- The Interrogative noun ما
This one is used to ask about non-humans and can be used with verbal or nominal sentences. Here’s how to use it:
ما طولك ؟
How tall are you?
ما هو سبب غيابك؟
What is the reason for your absence?
مَا هَذَا
what is this?
- The Interrogative noun متى
متى is used to ask about time and is usually used with verbal sentences. Here are some examples:
متى عدت الى المنزل؟
When did you get home?
متى شاهدت التلفاز؟
When did you watch the TV?
متى غادرت المنزل؟
When did you leave the house?
متى بدأت المباراة؟
When did the game start?
- The Interrogative noun in Arabic اين
It is used to ask about a place and is used with verbal and nominal sentences.
اين الطالب؟
Where is the student?
اين هى؟
Where is she?
اين القلم؟
Where’s the pen?
اين تعيش؟
Where do you live?
اين السيارة؟
Where is the car?
- The Interrogative noun in Arabic كم
كم is used to ask about a number or quantity, here are some examples:
كم ثمن هذا؟
How much is this?
كم عدد الغرف فى هذا المنزل؟
How many rooms re in this house?
كم كتابًا قرأت؟
How many books did you read?
- The Interrogative noun كيف
When كيف is used in a verbal sentence it is used to ask how something is done or how to do something. When it is used in nominal sentences it is used to ask about the condition of someone or something.
How to use it in Verbal sentences:
كيف اكتب المقال؟
How do I write the article?
كيف اذهب الى المدرسة؟
How do I go to school?
كيف اكل الطفل الارز؟
How did the child eat the rice?
In nominal sentences:
كيف حالك؟
How are you?
كيف الامتحان؟
How is the test?
- The Interrogative noun in Arabic أى
اى is used to ask about anything, here are some examples:
اى كتاب قرأت؟
Which book did you read?
اى فيلم تحب؟
Which movie do you like?
That’s how you can use the Question tools in Arabic. To learn more about the Arabic language visit our website alif Arabic where you will learn to speak Arabic.
If you want to take an Arabic course and don’t know where to go take the course with our professional Arabic tutor online, you don’t even have to leave your home.
What are the three types of interrogatives?
The three types of interrogatives are:
1- Yes/No questions:
Do you like fish?
Do you want to eat?
2- Question-word (WH): the answer to these questions is information about what is asked.
Where did the student go?
When are you leaving?
3- Choice question: the answer is in the question itself.
Do you want tea or coffee?
How can we use Question tools in Arabic?
We learned about Interrogative particles and nouns, now it’s time to test yourself, here are some examples and try to tell whether it used Interrogative particles or nouns:
أأنت احمد ام على؟
Are you Ahmed or Ali?
هل شاهدت هذا المسلسل؟
Did you see this series?
تتكلم الانجليزية؟
Do you speak English?
من اكل طعامى؟
Who ate my food?
ما طولك ؟
How tall are you?
متى عدت الى المنزل؟
When did you get home?
اين القلم؟
Where’s the pen?
كم ثمن هذا؟
How much is this?
That’s it for today’s article, I hope you found it useful, and for more information visit our website Alif Arabic.
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