Most of you that have been studying the Arabic language, even if you’re just learning Arabic for beginners, have probably already learned the Arabic equivalent of the English Wh – question words. If you don’t remember, we’ve made this handy table to refresh your memory:
| English | Transliteration | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| Who in Arabic | man | مَنْ |
| What in Arabic | maa | ما |
| When in Arabic | mataa | مَتَى |
| Where in Arabic | ʼayna | أَيْنَ |
| How many in Arabic | kam | كَمْ |
| How much in Arabic | kam | كَمْ |
| How in Arabic | kayfa | كَيْفَ |
| Which in Arabic | ʼayya | أَيّ |
Now that we’ve jogged your memory, today we are going to learn about the specific interrogative Arabic question word أَيّ / ʼayya (which), but with a twist, because today we will not only be learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) but also be learning Egyptian Arabic, just to introduce you a little to this fun and interesting dialect.
First, you’ll note that in Modern Standard Arabic, much as they do in English, question words generally come at the beginning of a question; however, in everyday Arabic, these words typically come at the end of the sentence.
| English | Modern Standard Arabic | Egyptian Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| What in Arabic | ما (maa) ماذا (maTHaa) | ايه (eih) |
| Which in Arabic | أي (ʼayya) | انهو (‘anhoo – m.) انهي (‘anhee – f.) انهم (‘anhum – plural m. and f.) |
ما /maa and ماذا / maTHaa are used in different types of questions; ماذا / maTHaa is used in questions that don’t have verbs, while ما / maa is used in questions that do have verbs. Furthermore, ما/ maa is usually followed by the pronoun that matches its antecedent (the noun being asked about.) The Egyptian Arabic ايه / eih, however, is fairly simple, and is used in the same way you would use “what” in English. All of these are important to know if you want to learn to speak Arabic, whether you learn Egyptian Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Here are some examples:
| English | MSA | MSA Transliteration | Egyptian Arabic | Egyptian Arabic Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What’s your name in Arabic | ما اسمك؟ | maa ismuka? | اسمك ايه؟ | ismak eih? |
| What’s the difference between us and them in Arabic | ما (هو) الفرق بيننا وبينهم؟ | maa (huwa) alfarq baynanaa wa baynahum? | ايه الفرق بيننا وبينهم؟ | eih ilfarʼ beinnaa w beinhum? |
| What do you want in Arabic | ماذا تريد؟ | maTHaa tureed? | إنت عايز ايه؟ | ʼinta ʻaayiz eih? |
| What shall I tell you in Arabic | ماذا أقول لك؟ | maTHaa ʼaqool laki? | اقول لك ايه؟ | aʼullak eih? |
اي can be used in Modern Standard Arabic with a pronoun suffix to mean “which of”. Conversely, you can put اي before a noun to ask “which (noun)” in Egyptian Arabic. Once again, here are a couple of examples:
| English | MSA | MSA Transliteration | Egyptian Arabic | Egyptian Arabic Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Which one do you prefer in Arabic | أيهم تفضل؟ | ʼayyuhum tufadhil? | بتفضل أي واحد منهم؟ | bitfadhal ʼayya waaHid minhum? |
| Which team do you support in Arabic | تشجع أي فريق؟ | tushajjiʼ ʼayya fareeq? | بتشجع أي فريق؟ | bitshagaʻ ʼayya fareeʼ? |
There is also another way to say “which” in Egyptian Arabic, but this can be a little tricky to grasp because in this case the “which” can come either before or after the noun being referred to as in the formulation:
Notice that you would usually use the second option only when the “which” question is on its own – as in “Which book? or “Which girl?” as opposed to “Which book do you like? Which girl do you know?” where you’d probably use the first option as in:
Like the grammar rules of all other languages, Arabic grammar rules can get a little tricky, especially when you get into the different Arabic dialects; however, with a little practice, Arabic grammar can become as natural as the grammar of your mother tongue.
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