أي

Arabic edit

أَيّ • (ʔayy) m or f

which ...? what ...? what kind of ...? (followed by a noun in the genitive or a personal suffix)
مِنْ أَيِّ بَلَدٍ أَنْتَ؟
min ʔayyi baladin ʔanta?
From which country are you?

أَيًّا مِنْ هٰذِهِ الْأَلْعَابِ تُفَضِّلُ؟
ʔayyan min hāḏihi l-ʔalʕābi tufaḍḍilu?
Which of these games do you prefer?
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 31:34:
  وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ
  wa-mā tadrī nafsun māḏā taksibu ḡadan wa-mā tadrī nafsun bi-ʔayyi ʔarḍin tamūtu
  [...] and no soul perceives in what land it will die.
whichever
أَيَّ كِتَابٍ تَقْرَأْ يُفِدْكَ
ʔayya kitābin taqraʔ yufidka
Whichever book you read, it'll benefit you.
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 17:110:
  أَيًّا مَا تَدْعُوا فَلَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَاءُ ٱلْحُسْنَى
  ʔayyan mā tadʕū fa-lahu l-ʔasmāʔu l-ḥusnā
  [... by] whatever [name] you call upon [Him], to Him belongs the best names.
any
زُرْنِي فِي أَيِّ وَقْتٍ
zurnī fī ʔayyi waqtin
Visit me at any time.

While أَيّ (ʔayy) can be used with masculine as well as feminine nouns, the form أَيَّة (ʔayya) is exclusively used with feminine nouns.

Declension of pronoun أَيّ (ʔayy)