Lesson 107 · مَا
The many jobs of مَا
مَا is one of the busiest words in Arabic. You have met most of its jobs in earlier lessons; here they are side by side, so you can tell which one you are reading.
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
مَا اسْمُكَ؟masmuka?What is your name? (to a man)
مَا فَهِمْتُmaa fahimtuI didn’t understand.
فَهِمْتُ مَا قُلْتَfahimtu maa qultaI understood what you said.
مَا أَجْمَلَ السَّمَاءَ!maa ajmala s-samaa’a!How beautiful the sky is!
لَنْ أَنْسَاكَ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّاlan ansaaka maa dumtu ḥayyanI won’t forget you as long as I live.
سَأَلْتُهُ عَمَّا حَدَثَsa’altuhuu ʿammaa ḥadathaI asked him about what happened.
Key points
- Question “what?” before a noun: مَا اسْمُكَ؟ · Negative “not” before a past verb: مَا ذَهَبْتُ (lesson 19) · Relative “what, that which”: فَهِمْتُ مَا قُلْتَ (I understood what you said) · Wonder “how…!”: مَا أَجْمَلَ السَّمَاءَ! (lesson 30).
- Condition “whatever” (lesson 76): مَا تَزْرَعْ تَحْصُدْ · “As long as” with دَامَ: لَنْ أَنْسَاكَ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا (I won’t forget you as long as I live). Isa says in the Quran مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا (as long as I remain alive, 19:31).
- Joined to other words: عِنْدَمَا when · كُلَّمَا whenever · رُبَّمَا perhaps · إِنَّمَا only (lesson 88) · مِمَّا = مِنْ + مَا · عَمَّا = عَنْ + مَا: سَأَلْتُهُ عَمَّا حَدَثَ (I asked him about what happened). Before a verb, “what?” is usually مَاذَا: مَاذَا تُرِيدُ؟
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Which job does مَا do in مَا أَكَلْتُ?
مَا أَكَلْتُ maa akaltu
Negative: “I didn’t eat.”
Tell a man “Take what you want.”
خُذْ مَا تُرِيدُ khudh maa turiidu
Say “Perhaps he will come.”
رُبَّمَا يَأْتِي rubbamaa ya’tii
