5.5 - Interrogative Sentence
Section 5.5 - Interrogative Sentences
Several Particles are used for interrogative sentences.
For those questions which can be answered in yes or no, to make a nominative sentence an interrogative one, two Particles are commonly used which are (1) هَلْ (hull) and (2) أَ (aa). Examples of these would be:
a) هَلْ مِنْۢ مَزِيْدٍ (hull mim ma-zeed-in) meaning “is there more in it?”,
b) أَزَيْدٌ عَالِمٌ (a-Zaidun aa-li-mun) meaning “is Zaid a scholar?”
c) أَإِنَّكَ لَأَنتَ يُوسُفُ (a-innaka la-anta you-su-fu) meaning “are you indeed Yousuf?”.
There are several ways a question can be posed in addition to the ones described above. The Particles used for these are described in Table 25 below.
Table 25 - Interrogative Particles
| Particles | Meaning | Example | Meaning |
| مَا Maa | What | مَا هٰذَا
Ma haaza | What is this?
|
|
|
| مَا اِسْمُكَ
Maa Ismu-ka or Mas-mu-ka
| What is your name? |
| مَنْ
Mun as in sun | Who | مَنْ رَبُّكَ
Man rab-buka
| Who is your Lord? |
|
|
| مَنْ اَنْتِ
Man-anta | who are you (female)? |
| كَيْفَ
Kai-fa | How | كَيْفَ اَنْتُمْ
Kaifa-antum
| Who are you all? |
|
|
| كَيْفَ حَالُكَ
Kaifa haa-lu-ka | How are you? |
| اَينَ
Ai-na | Where | اَيْنَ اَنْتَ
Ayna anta | Where are you? |
| مَتٰى
Mata/Aiy-yana | When | مَتٰى جَاءَ
Mataa-jaa-a | When did he come? |
| اَنّٰى
Anna
| Where from/in what way/how | أَنَّىٰ لَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ
Anna la-huz-zikraa | what good to him will be the remembrance? |
| أَىٌّ
Ay-yun
| Which | أَيُّ طَرِيْقً
Ayyu taree-qan | Which way? |
| كَمْ
Kum (sound as in come) | How many/How much | كَمْ عَدَدُ الْاَيَّامِ
Kum adad-ul ayyami | How many days? |
Table 26 - Interrogative Particles with Prepositions
| First Particle - Jarr-un | Second Particle - interrogation | Combined | meaning |
| لِ
li | مَا
maa | لِمَا Li-maa (Quran sometimes uses it as لِمَ) | Why, for what |
| فِيْ
fee | مَا
maa | فِيْمَا
Fee-maa | In what/over what |
| مِنْ
min | مَا
maa | مِمَّا
Mim-maa | With what/from what |
| عَنْ
un | مَا
maa | عَمَّا
Am-maa | About what/about what |
| لِ
li | مَنْ
mun | لِمَنْ
Lee-mun (mun as in sun) | For who |
| مِنْ
min | اَيْنَ
Ay-na | مِنْ اَيْنَ
Min aiy-naa | From where |
| اِلٰى
ilaa | اَيْنَ
Ay-na | اِلٰى اَيْنَ
Ilaa-aiy-naa | Where to |
| اِلٰى
ilaa | مَتٰى
Ma-taa | اِلٰى مَتٰى
Ilaa ma-taa | Until when/how long |
| بِ
bi | كَمْ
kam | بِكَمْ
Bee-kam | For how much |
Examples for the above Particle combinations:
1) لِمَ تَقُوْلُوْنَ مَا لَا تَفعَلُوْنَ (li-ma taqoo-loona ma la taf-aloon) meaning why do you say what you do not do.
2) فِيْمَا شَجَرَ بَينَهُمْ (fee-masha-ja-ra bai-na-hum) meaning over which they dispute among themselves.
3) مِمّا رَزَقْنٰهُمْ (mim-ma razaq-na-hum) meaning from what we gave them.
1) سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّتِ عَمَّا يَصِفُوْنَ (sub-ha-na rabbi-karabbil izza-ti am-ma ya-si-foon) meaning "Exalted is your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe."
5) وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مُقَامَ رَبِّهِ جنَّتانِ (wa li-mun khaafamu-qa-ma rab-bi-hi jan-na-tani) meaning “For those who fear (the time they will stand) before their Lord, there are two gardens”
6) مِنْ اَيْنَ اَنْتَ (min-ayi-na anta) meaning where are you from?
7) إِلٰى أَيْنَ نَحْنُ ذَاهِبُوْنَ (ilaa-ayi-nanah-nu za-hi-bun) meaning where (where to) are we going
8) اِلٰى مَتٰى يَا قَلْبِي (ilaa-ma-taya qal-bi) how long, O my heart
9) بِكَمْ ھٰذَالْقَمِيصُ (be-kamhaa-zal qa-meesu) meaning how much is this shirt?
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