ما – How tricky and various is this word?
ما is used to negate a verb, mainly in the past tense. But there’s more to it than that.
ما is a genuine jack-of-all-trades. By throwing this tiny word into a sentence, you can change the meaning dramatically. In my opinion the letter ل and the ما are the key to understanding Arabic properly. It is essential to understand the various meanings of ما.
Here is a list of some possibilities:
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1 |
Negative particle |
حَرْف |
ما النَّافِية |
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Normally ما is used to negate a past tense verb (الْماضِي). Theoretically, however, it is also possible to negate a جُمْلة اِسْمِيّة with ما – see chapter 131. You could even negate the present tense (الْمُضارِع) with ما. This is very rare and occasionally used with the expression: ما يَزالُ (still) |
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The students did not show up yesterday. |
ما حَضَرَ الطُّلّابُ أَمْسِ. |
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2 |
Interrogative pronoun |
اِسْم |
ما الْاِسْتِفْهامِيّة |
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What is your name? |
ما اسْمُكَ؟ |
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What are you thinking about? |
فِيمَ تُفَكِّرُ؟ |
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3 |
Definite conjunctive pronoun |
اِسْم |
ما الْمَوْصُولة |
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I do understand what you say. |
إِنَّني أَفْهَمُ ما تَقُولُهُ. |
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Read what I wrote. |
إِقْرَأْ ما كَتَبْتُهُ. |
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4 |
Conditional clause |
اِسْم |
ما الشَّرْطِيّة |
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Notice the سُكُون at the end of the verb (مَجْزُوم) – it is a شَرْط |
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Whatever good that you do comes back to you. |
ما تَفْعَلْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدْ جاءَهُ. |
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5 |
This is used to strengthen the conditional meaning |
حَرْف |
ما لِتَأْكِيدِ مَعْنَى الشَّرْط |
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If you had worked hard, you would have succeeded. (Notice that it is not a negation!) |
إِذا ما عَمِلْتَ بِجِدٍّ نَجَحْتَ. |
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6 |
Used to introduce a clause equivalent to a مَصْدَر. |
حَرْف |
ما الْمَصْدَرِيّة |
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It is used like the particle أَنْ and has the same meaning and implications. (See chapter 80) |
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The student came after the lesson had started. |
حَضَرَ الطُّلّابُ بَعْدَ ما بَدَأَ الدَّرْسُ. |
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7 |
Used to introduce a clause equivalent to a مَصْدَر in the adverb of time. |
حَرْف |
ما الْمَصْدَرِيّة الظَّرْفِيّة |
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I will think of you as long as I live. |
سَأَظَلُّ أَتَذَكَّرُكَ ما حَيِيْتُ. |
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8 |
This ما denotes generality and vagueness |
اِسْم |
ما الْإِبْهامِيّة |
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Notice: In this application ما has to be at the end of the sentence. |
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The man who sat next to me in the plane was reading (a kind of) a book. |
كانَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي جانِبِي فِي الطَّائرَةِ يَقْرَأُ كِتابٍ ما. |
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some day; sometime in the future |
يَوْمًا ما |
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I lost something. |
أَضَعْتُ شَيْئًا ما. |
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9 |
The hindering ما |
حَرْف |
ما الْكافّة |
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In life hope doesn’t go away. |
إِنَّما الْحَياةُ أَمَلٌ لايَنْتَهي. |
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10 |
ما – as expressive of surprise |
اِسْم |
ما التَّعَجُّبِيّة |
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What a nice spring! |
ما أَجْمَلَ الرَّبِيعَ! |
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What fortunate I got here! |
ما أَسْعَدَنِي بِوُجُودي هُنا! |
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