שشHebrabic

Grammar · Building Sentences · 6 min

Asking Questions

מה, מי, מתי — you already know most of the question words

Question words are among the most conservative words in any language family — they almost never get borrowed or replaced. Which is why Arabic's set will look startlingly familiar: most of them are the Hebrew question words with an Arabic accent.

EnglishArabicTranslitHebrewLevantine says
whatمَا / مَاذَاmā / mādhāמָהshū
whoمَنmanמִיmīn
whereأَيْنَaynaאֵיפֹה (אָן)wēn
whenمَتَىmatāמָתַיēmta
whyلِمَاذَاlimādhāלָמָּהlēsh
howكَيْفَkayfaאֵיךְkīf
how much / manyكَمkamכַּמָּהaddēsh
yes-no markerهَل / أَhal / a-הַאִם / הֲ־— (just intonation)
The question words — most are cognates

One MSA refinement Hebrew doesn't bother with: مَا asks "what?" about nouns (مَا اسْمُك؟ "what is your name?"), while مَاذَا goes before verbs (مَاذَا تُرِيد؟ "what do you want?"). Hebrew uses מה for both, and spoken Levantine collapses everything into شُو shū anyway.

Everyday questions

  • مَا اسْمُك؟
    מא אסמך?mā ismuk?

    What is your name?

    מה שמך? مَا شِمْخَا؟ma shimkha?

    Word for word מה שמך — even the possessive ־ך matches Arabic ك.

  • أَيْنَ الْمَحَطَّة؟
    אין אל-מחטה?ayna al-maḥaṭṭa?

    Where is the station?

    איפה התחנה? إِيفُو هَاتَاخَانَا؟eifo hatakhana?

    On the street you'll hear wēn il-maḥaṭṭa. Biblical Hebrew's אָן / אָנָה "whither" is the closer cousin of أَيْنَ.

  • مَتَى يَبْدَأ الدَّرْس؟
    מתא יבדא א-דרס?matā yabdaʾ ad-dars?

    When does the lesson start?

    מתי מתחיל השיעור? مَاتَاي مَاتْخِيل هَاشِيئُور؟matay matkhil hashi'ur?

    دَرْس "lesson" is the root د-ر-س "to study" — Hebrew ד-ר-ש of מִדְרָשׁ fame (ש↔س). A מדרסה madrasa is a house of study.

  • لِمَاذَا أَنْتَ هُنَا؟
    למאד'א אנת הנא?limādhā anta hunā?

    Why are you here?

    למה אתה כאן? لَامَا أَتَا كَان؟lama ata kan?

    أَنْتَ ↔ אַתָּה is the same pronoun, and هُنَا echoes Biblical הֵנָּה "hither."

  • بِكَم هٰذَا؟
    בכם האד'א?bikam hādhā?

    How much is this?

    בכמה זה? بِخَامَا زِي؟bekhama ze?

    بِ + كَم = בְּ + כמה — the exact construction of Israeli בכמה זה?

Yes-no questions: هَل ↔ האם

For yes-no questions, MSA fronts the particle هَل, precisely where formal Hebrew fronts האם: هَل أَنْتَ مِن هُنَا؟ = האם אתה מכאן? Classical Arabic also has a shorter prefix, أَ, glued to the first word — the counterpart of Biblical Hebrew's interrogative הֲ־ (הֲיֵשׁ, הֲלֹא), and possibly the same ancient particle. And in both modern spoken languages? Both particles are dropped and intonation does the work, exactly like everyday Israeli Hebrew.

Yes-no, three registers

  • هَل عِنْدَك قَهْوَة؟
    הל ענדך קהוה?hal ʿindak qahwa?

    Do you have coffee? (MSA)

    האם יש לך קפה? هَائِيم يِش لِخَا كَافِي؟ha'im yesh lekha kafe?

    عِنْد means "at/with" — Arabic says "at-you coffee?" where Hebrew says יש לך.

  • عِنْدَك قَهْوَة؟
    ענדך אהוה?ʿindak ahwe?

    Got coffee? (Levantine)

    Drop هل, raise the pitch at the end — like casual יש לך קפה?. Note the Levantine ق → glottal stop: qahwa becomes ahwe.

  • أَتَشْرَب شَاي؟
    אתשרב שאי?a-tashrab shāy?

    Will you drink tea? (classical أَ prefix)

    הֲתשתה תה? هَاتِشْتِي تِي؟hatishte te?

    That little أَ works just like Hebrew's interrogative הֲ־, as in הֲלֹא — same job, same position, and possibly the same ancient particle.

Rapid fire, street edition

  • مَن هٰذَا؟
    מן האד'א?man hādhā?

    Who is this?

    מי זה? مِي زِي؟mi ze?

  • شُو هَادَا؟
    שו האדא?shū hāda?

    What's this? (Levantine)

    מה זה? مَا زِي؟ma ze?

    شُو is a worn-down أَيّ شَيْء "which thing" — a whole phrase compressed into one syllable.

  • وَيْن الْحَمَّام؟
    וין אל-חמאם?wēn il-ḥammām?

    Where's the bathroom? (Levantine)

    איפה השירותים? إِيفُو هَاشِرُوتِيم؟eifo hasherutim?

    حَمَّام sits on the root ح-م-م — Hebrew ח-מ-ם of חַם and חמין. A bathhouse is literally a "hot place."