Lesson 43 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّالِثُ وَالأرْبَعونَ
Interrogative Words (3 of 3) – أدَوَات الاسْتِفْهام (٣من ٣)
The interrogative particles (questioning particles) Hal and the hamza - أدَوَات الاسْتِفْهام (أَ – هَــلْ)
- We are still in lesson forty three of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
- These two Arabic particles are used for Yes/No questions. “Hal” is indeclinable with sukūn vowel-ending (sukūn on last letter) while the hamza “a-” is indeclinable with Fatħah vowel-ending.
- The answer to the question of “Hal” should be Yes or No. View the following examples:
Picture | Answer | Question | ||
English | Arabic | English | Arabic | |
| Yes, I am Egyptian. | /Naξam, anā Miŝri-yyun./ | Are you Egyptian? | /hal anta Miŝriyyun?/ |
| No, I am Lebanese. | /la, anā Libnāniyyun./ | Are you Syrian? | /a-anta Sūriyyun?/ |
| Yes, he is a doctor. | /Naξam, huwa ŧabīb-un./ | Is Muhammad a doctor? | /hal Muhammad ŧabīb-un?/ |
| No, he is not a doctor. He is an engineer. | لا، هوَ لَيْسَ طبيبًا، هُوَ مُهَنْدِسٌ. /lā, huwa laysa ŧabībuan, huwa muhandis-un./ | Is Muhammad a doctor? | /hal Muhammad ŧabīb-un?/ |
| Yes, I visited it. | /Naξam, zurtuhā./ | Have you visited Mecca? | /hal zurta makka-ta?/ |
| No, I did not visit it. | /la, mā zurtuhā./ | Have you visited Mecca? | /hal zurta makka-ta?/ |
| Yes, I play it. | /Naξam, alξabuhā./ | Do you play football? | /a-talξabu kurata al-qadam-i?/ |
| No, I do not play it. | /lā, lā alξabuhā./ | Do you play football? | /a-talξabu kurata al-qadam-i?/ |
| Yes, I drink tea. | /Naξam, ashrabu ash-shāy-a./ | Do you drink tea? | /a-tashrabu al ash-shāy-a?/ |
| No, I do not drink tea. | /lā, lā ashrabu ash-shāy-a./ | Do you drink tea? | /a-tashrabu al ash-shāy-a?/ |
- From the examples above, we notice that “hal and a-” come before the verbal and nominal sentence and the answer to the question is yes or no. both “hal and a-” can replace each other.