The word ما is one of the most difficult words in Egyptian Arabic (and by the way, in Standard Arabic as well). Oftentimes, it is misunderstood. Let’s check its function as an amplifier.

You include قَطُّ.

Wait – but what about the word أَبَدًا? Nope, that doesn’t work as we will see.

It is a dubious one.

Most grammarians say that you don’t need the وَ and that it would be of better Arabic style to skip it! Let’s see why.

The Arabic verb system is very logical, however, there are exceptions as in any language. The conjugation rules are based on 14 major conjugation patterns with 182 subtypes. Since the underlying system is totally different from English, beginners often struggle to conjugate verbs.

Now, there is help.  A great app called CAVE  (مَغارَة), available for Android and iOS.

Have you been in the following situation? You know every single word in an Arabic sentence, but you don’t have a clue what the sentence is all about? Well, the painful reason is: you don’t understand the grammar. ARABIC FOR NERDS 2 can change that.