ما

Root entry · 17 derived lemmas

This entry discusses the multifaceted particle 'mā' in Classical Arabic, exploring its various grammatical functions and semantic nuances. It covers its use as an interrogative, a negative particle, a relative pronoun, an exclamatory particle, and an emphatic particle, often with subtle distinctions in meaning and grammatical treatment.

Derived headwords

ماparticle

1.
whatboth
Used as an interrogative pronoun to ask about something.
2.
that whichboth
Used as a relative pronoun, equivalent to 'that which' or 'the one which'.
3.
notboth
Used as a negative particle, similar to 'laysa' or 'lam'.
4.
how muchclassical
Used in an exclamatory sense to express abundance or intensity.
5.
excessiveclassical
Can function as an intensifier, indicating a large quantity or degree.
6.
whetherclassical
Used in conditional sentences, often preceding a verb.

أخفىverb

1.
to hideboth
The past tense verb meaning 'he hid' or 'it was hidden'.

أغفلهverb

1.
to overlookboth
The past tense verb meaning 'he overlooked it' or 'it was overlooked'.

ترينverb

1.
to seeboth
The present tense verb 'you see' (feminine singular).

نذهبنverb

1.
to go awayboth
The present tense verb 'we go away' or 'we cause to go away', with an emphatic nun.

منتقمونnoun

1.
avengersboth
The plural noun meaning 'those who take vengeance' or 'avengers'.

أمتverb

1.
to dieboth
The past tense verb 'she died'.

تسدverb

1.
to fill a voidboth
The present tense verb 'she fills a void' or 'she suffices'.

خلتيnoun

1.
my friendshipboth
The noun 'friendship' with the first-person possessive suffix 'my'.

بمصرother

1.
in Egyptboth
A prepositional phrase indicating location in Egypt.

المضحكاتnoun

1.
things that cause laughterboth
The plural noun meaning 'things that cause laughter' or 'amusing things'.

بعدوother

1.
afterboth
A particle indicating time or sequence, meaning 'after'.

بينother

1.
betweenboth
A particle indicating spatial or temporal relation, meaning 'between'.

حيثparticle

1.
whereboth
An adverb of place, meaning 'where'.

فبماparticle

1.
perhapsclassical
A particle used to introduce a possibility or probability, similar to 'rubbamā'.

يأكلverb

1.
to eatboth
The present tense verb 'he eats'.

السميناadjective

1.
fatboth
The adjective meaning 'fat' or 'plump'.

Parallel reading

إذا قرىء ما أخفى لهم وجعل ما في مذهب أي

If 'mā' is read as 'what' (interrogative) and 'akhfā' is taken as 'he hid', and 'mā' is in the sense of 'what' (relative pronoun).

ومن قرأ أخفى بإرسال الياء وجعل ما في مذهب الذي

And whoever reads 'akhfā' with the omission of the 'yā' and takes 'mā' in the sense of 'that which' (relative pronoun).

فما ابتداء، وأخفى خبره

Then 'mā' is the subject, and 'akhfā' is its predicate.

ما أغفله عنك شيئا

How much it has made you overlook something.

دع الشك، واضطرب أصحابه في تفسيره

Abandon doubt, and his companions were perplexed in its interpretation.

ما استفهام في اللفظ تعجب في المعنى

'Mā' is interrogative in form but exclamatory in meaning.

فأما ترين من البشر أحدا فقولي

And if you see any person, then say.

فأما نذهبن بك فإنا منهم منتقمون

And if We take you away, then We will surely be avengers of them.

إما أمت تسد ولشوهاء الأصاغر خلتي

If I die, she will fill the void, and my friendship will suffice for the small, ugly ones.

وماذا بمصر من المضحكات

And how many amusing things are there in Egypt?

وقد تكف إذ وحيث بما عن الإضافة

And 'idh' and 'ḥaythu' can be made independent of annexation by 'mā'.

فبما يأكل الحديث السمينا

Perhaps the talk eats the fat one.

فبما أي ربما

So 'fābimā' means 'perhaps'.