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:
1 | Negative particle | حَرْف | ما النَّافِية |
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) | |||
The students did not show up yesterday. | ما حَضَرَ الطُّلّابُ أَمْسِ. |
2 | Interrogative pronoun | اِسْم | ما الْاِسْتِفْهامِيّة |
What is your name? | ما اسْمُكَ؟ | |
What are you thinking about? | فِيمَ تُفَكِّرُ؟ |
3 | Definite conjunctive pronoun | اِسْم | ما الْمَوْصُولة |
I do understand what you say. | إِنَّني أَفْهَمُ ما تَقُولُهُ. | |
Read what I wrote. | إِقْرَأْ ما كَتَبْتُهُ. |
4 | Conditional clause | اِسْم | ما الشَّرْطِيّة |
Notice the سُكُون at the end of the verb (مَجْزُوم) – it is a شَرْط | |||
Whatever good that you do comes back to you. | ما تَفْعَلْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدْ جاءَهُ. |
5 | This is used to strengthen the conditional meaning | حَرْف | ما لِتَأْكِيدِ مَعْنَى الشَّرْط |
If you had worked hard, you would have succeeded. (Notice that it is not a negation!) | إِذا ما عَمِلْتَ بِجِدٍّ نَجَحْتَ. | ||
6 | Used to introduce a clause equivalent to a مَصْدَر. | حَرْف | ما الْمَصْدَرِيّة |
It is used like the particle أَنْ and has the same meaning and implications. (See chapter 80) | |||
The student came after the lesson had started. | حَضَرَ الطُّلّابُ بَعْدَ ما بَدَأَ الدَّرْسُ. | ||
7 | Used to introduce a clause equivalent to a مَصْدَر in the adverb of time. | حَرْف | ما الْمَصْدَرِيّة الظَّرْفِيّة |
I will think of you as long as I live. | سَأَظَلُّ أَتَذَكَّرُكَ ما حَيِيْتُ. |
8 | This ما denotes generality and vagueness | اِسْم | ما الْإِبْهامِيّة |
Notice: In this application ما has to be at the end of the sentence. | |||
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. | |
some day; sometime in the future | يَوْمًا ما | |
I lost something. | أَضَعْتُ شَيْئًا ما. |
9 | The hindering ما | حَرْف | ما الْكافّة |
In life hope doesn’t go away. | إِنَّما الْحَياةُ أَمَلٌ لايَنْتَهي. |
10 | ما – as expressive of surprise | اِسْم | ما التَّعَجُّبِيّة |
What a nice spring! | ما أَجْمَلَ الرَّبِيعَ! | |
What fortunate I got here! | ما أَسْعَدَنِي بِوُجُودي هُنا! |
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