ما

From Arabic مَاء‎ (māʾ, “water”).

ما (mā)

1. water

From Arabic مَاء‎ (māʾ, “water”).

ما (mā)

1. water

Cognate with Hebrew מָה‎ (ma) and Ugaritic 𐎎𐎅 (mh).

• IPA^(key): /maː/

مَا • (mā) m

1. (interrogative) what?

   Synonyms: أَيّ شَيْءٍ‎ (ʾayy šayʾin), مَاذَا‎ (māḏā), أَيْشٍ‎ (ʾayšin)

2. (indefinite) some, a certain
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:26:

     ‏إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَنْ يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا‎

     ʾinna l-laha lā yastaḥyī ʾan yaḍriba maṯalan mā baʿūḍatan famā fawqahā

     Indeed, God is not timid to present an example: that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it.

3. (relative) that which, what

   ‏اِقْرَأْ مَا كَتَبْتُ.‎‎

   iqraʾ mā katabtu.

   Read what I wrote.

   • ‏سَتُبْدِي لَكَ الْأَيَّامُ مَا كُنْتَ جَاهِلًا‎

     satubdī laka l-ʾayyāmu mā kunta jāhilan

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • ‏وَلَعَلَّ مَا تَخْشَاهُ لَيْسَ بِكَائِن
     وَلَعَلَّ مَا تَرْجُوهُ سَوْفَ يَكُون
     وَلَعَلَّ مَا هَوَّنْتَ لَيْسَ بِهَيِّن
     وَلَعَلَّ مَا شَدَّدْتَ سَوْفَ يَهُون‎

     wa-laʿalla mā taḵšāhu laysa bikāʾin
     wa-laʿalla mā tarjūhu sawfa yakūn
     wa-laʿalla mā hawwanta laysa bihayyin
     wa-laʿalla mā šaddadta sawfa yahūn

     And maybe what you’re afraid of isn't existent
     And maybe what you desire is going to be
     And maybe what you deem easy isn’t convenient
     And maybe what you find difficult will be of ease

     (literally, “what you fear it / what you desire it / what you find easy / what you find difficult”)

4. (relative) something which
5. (conditional) whichever; whatever, all that

   Synonyms: أَيْمَا‎ (ʾaymā), مَهْمَا‎ (mahmā)

   ‏مَا تَفْعَلْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ تَنَلْ جَزَاءَهُ‎

   mā tafʿal min ḵayrin tanal jazāʾahu

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:106:

     ‏مَا نَنْسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنْسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِنْهَا أَوْ مِثْلِهَا‎

     mā nansaḵ min ʾāyatin ʾaw nunsihā naʾti biḵayrin minhā ʾaw miṯlihā

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:197:

     ‏وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللَّٰهُ‎

     wamā tafʿalū min ḵayrin yaʿlamhu llāhu

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• لِمَا‎ (limā), لِمَ‎ (lima): for what, what for, why

مَا • (mā)

1. not

مَا • (mā)

1. as long as
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 9:7:

     ‏فَمَا ٱسْتَقَامُوا لَكُمْ فَٱسْتَقِيمُوا لَهُمْ‎

     fa-mā staqāmū lakum fa-staqīmū lahum

     So as long as they are straight with you, be straight with them.

2. A subordinating conjunction following particles or genitival nouns in conditional statements, known as مَا الزَّائِدَة‎ (mā z-zāʾida), 'additional mā'
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:282:

     ‏ […] وَلَا يَأْبَ ٱلشُّهَدَاءُ إِذَا مَا دُعُوا […] ‎

     […] walā yaʾba š-šuhadāʾu ʾiḏā mā duʿū […]

     […] And let not the witnesses refuse when they are called upon. […]

3. loosely translates to that; introduces a verbal complement to a preposition, standing in place of the definite verbal noun

   Synonym: أَنْ‎ (ʾan)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:10:

     ‏وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ‎

     wa-lahum ʿaḏābun ʾalīmun bi-mā kānū yakḏibūna

     And they will suffer a painful punishment, as they used to lie.

   • 2017, أَتَظُنُّ أَنَّكَ عِنْدَمَا أَحْرَقْتَنِي‎, 0:35 from the start:

     ‏أَتَظُنُّ أَنَّكَ بَعْدَ مَا أَحْرَقْتَنِي وَرَقَصْتَ كَٱلشَيْطَانِ فَوْقَ رُفَاتِي‎

     ʾataẓunnu ʾannaka baʿda mā ʾaḥraqtanī wa-raqaṣta ka-š-šayṭāni fawqa rufātī

     Do you think that, after you set me alight, and you danced like Satan over my ashes,

     (literally, “do you think that, you, after [that] you burned me and danced like Satan over my ashes, [...]”)

• (as long as): مَا دَامَ‎ (mā dāma)
• بَعْدَمَا‎ (baʿdamā)
• عِنْدَمَا‎ (ʿindamā)
• حِينَمَا‎ (ḥīnamā)
• كَمَا‎ (kamā)

مَا • (mā)

1. whenever

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

2. as far as, to the extent that, to the degree that

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. (with an elative in the accusative) (oh) how...!

   ‏مَا أَجْمَلَ ٱلْحَيَاةَ!‎‎

   mā ʾajmala l-ḥayāta!

   How beautiful life is!

• (oh how): The above accusative construction is called تَعَجُّب‎ (taʿajjub, “amazement”) in Arabic. According to traditional grammar, if a nominative were used in the example above (resulting in mā ʾajmalu l-ḥayāh), it would turn into a question meaning: “What is the most beautiful kind of life?”

From Arabic مَا‎ (mā).

ما • (ma)

1. that

   ‏بعد ما السباق ابتدى / بعد السباق ما ابتدى‎

   baʕdi ma s-sibāʾ ibtadā / baʕdi s-sibāʾ ma ibtadā

   After the race began.

   ‏لحد ما‎‎ ― li-ḥadd ma ― until

ما or م • (ma- or ma-)

1. particle expressing emphasis

   ‏ماتقعد‎ ― ma-tuʾʕ ud ― Come on, sit down!

   ‏ماه هو قال كده‎ ― ma-hu huwwa ʾāl kida ― But that's really what he said.

2. used with suffix ـش‎ to express negation

   ‏ماتقعدش‎‎ ― ma-tuʾʕud-š ― Don't sit down!

   ‏مفيش‎‎ ― ma-fīš ― There's no

ما • (ma)

1. what?

   Synonym: إيه‎

2. certain

   ‏في مكان ما‎‎ ― fī makān ma ― somewhere

• مما‎ (mimma)
• لما‎ (lamma)
• ياما‎ (yama)

From Arabic مَاء‎ (māʾ, “water”).

ما (mā)

1. water

From Arabic مَاء‎ (māʾ).

• IPA^(key): /maː/

• Audio

  (file)

ما • (mā) m (plural ميايه‎ (myāyih) or مياه‎ (myāh)) (usually uncountable)

1. water

From Arabic مَا‎ (mā, “not”).

• IPA^(key): /maː/
• Usually unstressed and shortened to /ma/.

• Audio

  (file)

ما • (ma)

1. not

From Arabic مَا‎ (mā, “what”).

• IPA^(key): /maː/

• Audio

  (file)

ما • (mā)

1. (relative) that which, what

From Latin mea (“my”). Compare French ma.

ما (mā) (feminine, masculine مو‎)

1. my
   • c. 1100, Anonymous, Kharja A16 :[1]

     كتال مي ما المَهْ / ككري ما المهْ

     ki-tālə mī mā alma / ki-karəyyu mā alma

     Who grabs my soul? / Who […] my soul?

From Middle Persian 𐭫𐭭𐭤‎ (LNE /amāh/, “we, us”), from Old Persian 𐎠𐎶𐎠𐎧𐎶 (amāxam), genitive plural form of the first person plural pronoun.

• audio (Iranian Persian)

  (file)

ما • (mâ)

1. we
2. (generally with following را‎) us
3. (at end of an ezafe) our

ما • (mâ)

1. sound of a cow, moo

• IPA^(key): /maː/, [mæː]
• IPA^(key): /ma/, [ma]

• Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

From Arabic مَا‎ (mā, “not”).

ما • (mā or ma)

1. don't, didn't (used to negate a verbal phrase)

   ‏ما بدّه ييجي عالحفلة.‎‎

   mā biddo yīji ʕal-ḥafle

   He doesn't want to come to the party.

   Audio (Ramallah)

   (file)

   ‏ما قلتلّوش؟‎‎

   ma ʔult-illūš?

   You didn't tell him?

   Synonyms: ـش‎ (-š), (imperative) لا‎ (la)

• Usually this ما (mā) is stressed. However, it can optionally be used together with ـش‎ (-š), in which case the stress shifts to the end of the verbal phrase.

  ‏ما كتب‎‎ ― mā katab ― he didn't write

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏ما كتبش‎‎ ― ma katabš ― he didn't write

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏ما تنسى‎‎ ― mā tinsa ― don't forget

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏ما تنساش‎‎ ― ma tinsāš ― don't forget

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏ما بحكي إنكليزي‎‎ ― mā biḥki ʔinglīzi ― he doesn't speak English

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏ما بحكيش إنكليزي‎‎ ― ma biḥkīš ʔinglīzi ― he doesn't speak English

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

• مش‎ (miš)

From Arabic مَا‎ (mā, “what”).

ما • (ma)

1. used to link a preposition to a verbal phrase

   ‏بعد ما راح‎‎ ― baʕd-ma rāḥ ― after he went

2. used to turn a question word into a relative determiner; -ever

   ‏إيمتى ما بدك‎‎ ― ʔēmta-ma biddak ― whenever you want

   ‏شو ما قال‎‎ ― šū-ma ʔāl ― whatever he said

3. used before an elative adjective to indicate surprise or other strong feelings in an exclamation

   ‏ما أحلاها!‎‎ ― ma ʔaḥlā-ha! ― how beautiful she is!

   Synonym: أمّا‎

4. used before a verbal phrase to contradict a statement or subvert an expectation; does, did

   ‏ليش ما راح؟ ما (هو) راح!‎‎ ― lēš mā rāḥ? ma (huwwe) rāḥ! ― Why didn't he go? He did go!

   Invariable form: ماهو‎ (mahū)

• In all these senses the ما (ma) is unstressed. In the fourth sense, the contradicting phrase should be uttered with rising intonation to distinguish this sense of ما (ma) from the sense of negation. When a subject pronoun is used in the fourth sense, ما (ma) precedes it; this yields the invariable form ماهو‎ (mahū) used before nominal phrases with the same meaning.

ما (mā)

1. I, me