Arabic questions words and their English equivalents

1.

a / hal – question particle ‫أ؟ \ هل؟‬

hal and a are both used to introduce a question that can be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’:
‫هل أنت مجنون ؟‬
hal anta madjnoon?
(Are you crazy?)

‫أ نشرت كتابا؟‬
a nasharta kitaaban?
(Did you publish a book?)
The main difference between hal and a is that only a can be used for a question with a negative statement, e.g.:

‫أ ليس كذلك يا سيدي؟‬

a laysa kadhalika ya sayyidi?
(Isn’t that true sir?)
‫أ ال تدرس العربي يا أحمد؟‬
a la tadrusu l-arabi ya ahmad?
(don’t you study Arabic Ahmed?)

man – who?‫من؟‬2.

‫من أرسل لي رسالة حب؟‬

man arsala li risalata Hubbin?
(Who’s sent me a love letter?)
‫من يساعدني؟‬
man yusaa3iduni?
(Who helps me?/Who is going to help me?)

kayf(a) – how? ‫كيف؟‬3.

The ending ‘a’ is often dropped, especially in dialects.
‫كيف أكلت التماسيح الرجل؟‬
kayfa akalat it-tamaseeHu r-radjul?
(How did the crocodiles eat the man?)
‫كيف يعمل هذا الجهاز؟‬
kayfa ya3milu hadha l-djihaaz?
(How does this machine work?)

mata? – when? ‫متى؟‬4.

In some dialects this is pronounced emta.
‫متى فزت في اليانصيب؟‬
mata fuzta fi l-yanaSeeb?
(When did you win the lottery?)

ma / madha – what? ‫ما؟ \ ماذا؟‬5.

There are two ways to ask “what” in Arabic, i.e. ma and madha. In general, ma is used for questions without a verb, while madha is used when there is a
verb in the question. Examples:
‫ما هو سبب غيابك؟‬
ma huwa sababu ghiyaabik?
(What is the reason for your absence?)
‫ماذا سنأكل غدا؟‬
madha sa-na’kulu ghadan?
(What will we eat tomorrow?)

The exception to this rule is when you ask “what about?”:

‫ماذا عن الحب؟‬
madha 3an il-Hubb?
(What about love?)

limadha – why? ‫لماذا؟‬6.

As you will no doubt have noticed, limadha is composed of li (“for”) and madha(“what”), i.e. “for what?” = why?
‫لماذا تركت الحصان وحيدا؟‬
limadha tarakta l-HiSSaan waHeedan?
(Why did you leave the horse alone? – the title of one of Mahmoud Darwish’s anthologies)
‫لماذا استقال البابا؟‬
limadha istaqaala l-baaba?
(Why did the Pope resign?)

ayn(a) – where? ‫أين؟‬7.

Similarly to kayfa, the final ‘a’ ending of ayna can be dropped. Related questions are:
min ayna – from where? ‫من أين؟‬
and
ila ayna – where to? ‫إلى أين؟‬
Examples:
‫أين الحمام من فضلك؟‬
ayna l-Hammaamu min faZlik?
(Where’s the bathroom please?)
‫من أين جاء محمد؟‬
min ayna dja’a muhammad?
(Where did Mohammed come from?)
‫إلى أين يذهب كل يوم؟‬
ila ayna yadhhabu kulla yawmin?
(Where does he go to everyday?)

kam – how much? / how many? ‫كم؟‬8.

‫كم عمرك يا بهلوان؟‬
kam 3omruka ya bahlawaan?
(How old are you, you clown?)
‫كم تحبني؟‬
kam tuHibbuni?
(How much do you love me?)

Now, when you’re asking for a price you usually say:

bikam‫بكم؟‬
‫بكم كيلو الطماطم؟‬
bikam keelu l-Tamatim?
How much is a kilo of tomatoes?

liman – whose? ‫لمن؟‬9.

This is composed of li (“for”) and man (“who”), i.e. “for whom” = whose?
‫لمن هذا الكتاب؟‬
liman hadha s-silaaH?
(Whose book is this? / Whom does this book belong to?)
 ay – which?‫أي؟‬10.
‫أي كتاب تقصد؟‬
ay kitaab taqsid?
(Which book do you mean?)
‫اي نوع من الرجال تفضل النساء؟‬
ay naw3 min r-ridjaal tufaDDilu n-nisaa’
(Which type of men do women prefer?)