ما

Algerian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَاء (māʔ, “water”).

Noun

ما (mā)

1. water

Andalusian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَاء (māʔ, “water”).

Noun

ما (mā)

1. water

Arabic

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː/

Pronoun

مَا • (mā) m

1. (interrogative) what?

   Synonyms: أَيّ شَيْءٍ (ʔayy šayʔin), أَيْشٍ (ʔayšin), مَاذَا (māḏā)

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

     إِنَّ ٱللّٰهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَنْ يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا

     ʔinna llāha lā yastaḥyī ʔan yaḍriba maṯalan mā baʕūḍatan fa-mā 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. ― iqraʔ mā katabtu. ― Read what I wrote.

   مَا تَفْعَلُ تُجَازَى عَلَيْهِ

   mā tafʕalu tujāzā ʕalayhi

   Whatever you do, you are paid back for it.

   • سَتُبْدِي لَكَ الْأَيَّامُ مَا كُنْتَ جَاهِلًا

     satubdī laka l-ʔayyāmu mā kunta jāhilan

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

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

     wa-laʕalla mā taḵšāhu laysa bikāʔin
     wa-laʕalla mā tarjūhu sawfa yakūn
     wa-laʕalla mā hawwanta laysa bihayyin
     wa-laʕalla 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. (+ past or jussive) whichever; whatever

   Synonyms: أَيَّمَا (ʔayyamā), مَهْمَا (mahmā)

   مَا تَفْعَلْ تُجَازَ عَلَيْهِ

   mā tafʕal tujāza ʕalayhi

   Whatever you do, you will be paid back for it.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:106:

     مَا نَنْسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنْسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِنْهَا أَوْ مِثْلِهَا

     mā nansaḵ min ʔāyatin ʔaw nunsihā naʔti bi-ḵayrin minhā ʔaw miṯlihā

     Whatever we abrogate that is a passage or make people forget, we come up with others that are better than or just like it.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:197:

     وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللَّٰهُ

     wamā tafʕalū min ḵayrin yaʕlamhu llāhu

     Whatever you do that is good, God learns about it.

Derived terms

• رُبَّمَا (rubbamā), رُبَمَا (rubamā): perhaps, maybe
• لِمَا (limā), لِمَ (lima): for what, what for, why

Particle

مَا • (mā)

1. not; never

   Synonym: (archaic) إِنْ (ʔin)

   See also: لَا, لَمْ, لَنْ, and لَيْسَ

   • a. 1374, Ibn al-Khatib, Zaman Al-Wasl:

     وَطَرٌ مَا فِيهِ مِنْ عَيْبٍ سِوَى – أَنَّهُ مَرَّ كَلَمْحِ ٱلْبَصَرِ

     waṭarun mā fīhi min ʕaybin siwā – ʔannahu marra kalamḥi l-baṣari

     The wish that is without a mistake except that it passed like a glance of the eye.

   مَا كَتَبَ. ― mā kataba. ― He never wrote.

   مَا هُوَ بِمَيِّتٍ. ― mā huwa bimayyitin. ― He is not dead.

   مَا شَيْءٌ أَحَبَّ إِلِيَّ مِنْهُ.

   mā šayʔun ʔaḥabba ʔiliyya minhu.

   There is no thing that is more lovely, to me, than that!

   هُمَا مَحَلَّانِ مَا لِلنَّاسِ غَيْرُهُمَـا فَانـْظُرْ لِنَفْسِك مَاذَا أَنْتَ مُخْتَارُ

   humā maḥallāni mā li-n-nāsi ḡayruhumā fānẓur li-nafsik māḏā ʔanta muḵtāru

   They are two places, people have none other than them. So look for yourself, which one will you choose?

   مَا أَحَدٌ مِثْلُهُ. ― mā ʔaḥadun miṯluhu. ― There is none like him.

   مَا مِنْ إِنْسَانٍ فِي الْبَيْتِ.

   mā min ʔinsānin fī l-bayti.

   There is nobody in that house.

   مَا أَرَى شَيْئًا. ― mā ʔarā šayʔan. ― I cannot see a thing!

   مَا يَفْعَلُ ذٰلِكَ إِلَّا شُجَاعٌ.

   mā yafʕalu ḏālika ʔillā šujāʕun.

   No one would do that but the bold.

Conjunction

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-zāʔida), 'superfluous mā'
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:282:

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

     […] wa-lā yaʔba š-šuhadāʔu ʔiḏā mā duʕū […]

     […] 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 (ʔan)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:10:

     وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ

     wa-lahum ʕaḏābun ʔalīmun bi-mā kānū yakḏibūna

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

   • 2017, 0:35 from the start, in أَتَظُنُّ أَنَّكَ عِنْدَمَا أَحْرَقْتَنِي [ʔataẓunnu ʔannaka ʕindamā ʔaḥraqtanī]‎^[1], مُهَذِّل الصُّقُور (muhaḏḏil aṣ-ṣuqūr) (actor):

     أَتَظُنُّ أَنَّكَ بَعْدَ مَا أَحْرَقْتَنِي وَرَقَصْتَ كَٱلشَيْطَانِ فَوْقَ رُفَاتِي

     ʔataẓunnu ʔannaka baʕda mā ʔaḥraqtanī 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”)

Derived terms

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

Adverb

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 a frozen verb matching in form with its corresponding elative adjective in the accusative and followed by a direct object) (oh) how...!

   مَا أَجْمَلَ ٱلْحَيَاةَ! ― mā ʔajmala l-ḥayāta! ― How beautiful life is!

   مَا أَلَذَّ ٱلطَّعَامَ!

   mā ʔalaḏḏa ṭ-ṭaʕāma!

   How delicious the food is!

   مَا أَعْظَمَكَ! ― mā ʔaʕẓamaka! ― How great you are!

Usage notes

• (not): If the negated sentence has a subject complement, the subject complement may occur in the nominative (like the subject), the accusative (as it would in a sentence negated instead with لَيْسَ (laysa)), or (with بِ (bi)) the genitive (as it would in a sentence negated instead with لَيْسَ (laysa)).
• (oh how): The above accusative construction is called تَعَجُّب (taʕajjub, “wonderment; exclamation”) in Arabic. This pattern originated from مَا (mā) meaning “what, something” and the accusative comparative being homophonic to a transitive verb meaning “to make...”. So the example sentence مَا أَجْمَلَ ٱلْحَيَاةَ (mā ʔajmala l-ḥayāta, “How beautiful life is!”) has the origins in the meaning “Something / What made the life so beautiful?”
  • There is another rarer pattern for exclamations, which uses the imperative form of the verb:
    أَجْمِلْ بِهَا مِنْ حَيَاةٍ!

    ʔajmil bihā min ḥayātin!

    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَا (mā).

Particle

ما • (ma)

1. that

   بعد ما السباق ابتدى / بعد السباق ما ابتدى

   baʕdi ma s-sibāʔ ibtadā / baʕdi s-sibāʔ ma ibtadā

   After the race began.

   لحد ما ― li-ḥadd ma ― until

Particle

ما or م • (ma- or ma-)

1. particle expressing emphasis

   ماتعد ― ma-tuʕud ― Come on, sit down!

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

2. used with suffix ـش (-š) to express negation

   ماتعدش ― ma-tuʕud-š ― Don't sit down!

   مفيش ― ma-fīš ― There's no

Pronoun

ما • (ma)

1. what?

   Synonym: إيه

2. certain

   في مكان ما ― fī makān ma ― somewhere

See also

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

Hassaniya Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَاء (māʔ, “water”).

Noun

ما (mā)

1. water

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic مَاء (māʔ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

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

2. water

Etymology 2

From Arabic مَا (mā, “not”).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio:

  (file)

Particle

ما • (ma)

2. not

Etymology 3

From Arabic مَا (mā, “what”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Pronoun

ما • (mā)

2. (relative) that which, what

Mozarabic

Etymology

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

Determiner

ما (mā) (feminine, masculine مو)

1. my
   • c. 1100, Kharja A16:

     كتال مي ما المَهْ / ككري ما المهْ

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

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

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian 𐭫𐭭𐭤 (LNE /⁠amāh⁠/, “we, us”), from Old Persian 𐎠𐎶𐎠𐎧𐎶 (amāxam) (genitive plural form of the first person plural pronoun), ultimately from the variant *mey of Proto-Indo-European *wéy. Compare Proto-Slavic *my, Lithuanian mẽs and Old Armenian մեք (mekʻ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [mɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mɑː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mɑː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mɑː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mɔː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mɒː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mɔ]

Readings
Classical reading?	mā
Dari reading?	mā
Iranian reading?	mâ
Tajik reading?	mo

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Pronoun

Dari	ما
Iranian Persian
Tajik	мо

ما • (mâ)

1. we, us; the first-person plural pronoun.
2. (poetic or humble) I, me; the first-person singular pronoun, used to show deference to the listener or in poetic contexts.

See also

Persian personal pronouns (Iranian Persian)

		singular	plural
1st person		مَن (man)	ما (mâ)
2nd person	familiar	تو (to)	شُما (šomâ)
	polite	شُما (šomâ)
3rd person	general	او (u) اون (on)*	آن‌ها (ân-hâ), آنان (ânân) اونا (onâ)*
	formal	وِی (vey)	ایشان (išân)
	polite	ایشان (išân)

* colloquial pronunciations

Persian personal pronouns (Classical and Dari)

			singular		plural
			nominative	accusative5	nominative	accusative5
1st person	general		من (man)	مرا (marā)	ما (mā)	—
	informal1		مه (ma)	مره (mara)		ماره (māra)
2nd person	familiar		تو (tū, tō)2	ترا (turā)	شما (šumā)	—
	formal		شما (šumā)	—
	informal1		—	تره (tura)	شمایا (šumāyā)	شمایاره (šumāyāra)
3rd person, proximal	general		او (ō) آن (ān)	—	آنان (ānān)4 آن‌ها (ān‑hā)4	—
	formal		وی (way)3 ایشان (ēšān)		ایشان (ēšān)
	informal	normal1	او (ū)	اوره (ūra)	اونا (ūnā)	ایناره (ūnāra)
		emphatic I1	اونو (ūnū)	اونوره (ūnūra)	وا (wā)	واره (wāra)
		emphatic II1	اونمو (ūnamū)	اونموره (ūnamūra)	اونموا (ūnamwā)	اونمواره (ūnamwāra)
3rd person, distal	general		این (īn)	—	اینان (īnān) این‌ها (īn‑hā)	—
	informal	normal1	ای (ī)	ایره (īra)	اینا (īnā)	ایناره (īnāra)
		emphatic I1	اینی (īnī)	اینیره (īnīra)	یا (yā)	یاره (yāra)
		emphatic II1	اینمی (īnamī)	اینمیره (īnamīra)	اینمیا (īnamyā)	اینمیاره (īnamyāra)

¹ Only applies to Dari.
² Only applies to Classical Persian.
³ Not formal in Tajik.
⁴ The plural forms آن‌ها and آنان are typically interchangeable.
⁵ All accusative pronouns can be created with the nominative + را; only unique forms are included.

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

ما • (mâ)

1. (vocalization of a cow) moo

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

ما • (mâ)

1. unhamzated form of ماء

South Levantine Arabic

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Arabic مَا (mā, “not”).

Particle

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)

Usage notes

• 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)

See also

• مش (miš)

Etymology 2

From Arabic مَا (mā, “what”).

Particle

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)

Usage notes

• 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.

Ushojo

Etymology

From Shina مہ (meh).

Pronoun

ما (mā)

1. I, me