Lesson 42 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّاني والأرْبَعونَ

Questioning Words (2 of 3) – أدَوَات الاسْتِفْهام (٢ من ٣)

The interrogative noun: أَيْنَ / Ayna /

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  • Ayna " أَيْنَ " is the second Arabic interrogative noun we are going to study in this lesson. It is used to ask about the place, i.e. the place where the action takes place”. Unlike the interrogative nouns which have sukūn case-ending (sukun on the last letter), Ayna has a Fatħah case-ending (fathah on the last letter).
  • Study the following examples on questions with Ayna:

Picture

Answer

Question

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

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My coat is in the car.

مِعْطَفِي فِي السَّيَّارَةِ.

/miξŧafī fī  as-sayyāra-ti./

Where is your coat?

أَيْنَ مِعْطَفُكَ؟

/Ayna miξŧafuk-a?/

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The car is in front of (i.e. outside) the house.

السَّيِّارَةُ أمَامَ البَيْتِ.

/Al-sayyāratu amāma al-bayt-i./

And where is the car?

وَأَيْنَ السَّيَّارَةُ؟

/wa-ayna al-sayyāra-tu?/

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I am coming from work.

أَنَا قَادِمٌ مِنْ العَمَلِ.

/anā qâdimun min al-ξamal-i./

Where are you coming from?

مِنْ أَيْنَ أَنْتَ قَادِمٌ؟

/Min ayna anta qâdim-un?/

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I work in a company.

أنا أَعْمَلُ فِي شَرِكَةٍ.

/anā aξmalu fī sharika-tin./

And where do you work?

وَأيَنَ تَعْمَلُ؟

/wa-ayna taξmal-u?/

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The company is located in down town.

الشَّرِكَةُ فِي وَسَطِ المَدِينَةِ.

/ash-sharikatu fī wasaŧi al-madīna-ti./

And where is the company located?

وأيْنَ الشَّرِكَةُ؟

/wa-ayna ash-sharika-tu?/
  • If we study the examples above carefully, we will notice the following:
    • “Ayna” is an indeclinable interrogative noun with a Fatħah case-ending (fatħah on the last letter).
    • “Ayna” comes in both nominal and verbal sentences.
    • “Ayna” does not affect the sign of the verb following it.
    • The answer to the question with “ayna” always requires a place to be mentioned, and we notice these in all the answers in the table above.
    • If “Ayna” comes after a preposition, its Fatħah case-ending does not change.