Asking Questions in Arabic: Hal, Question Words and Dialect Differences
How to form yes/no questions and use the main Arabic question words, with dialect comparisons for Egyptian, Levantine and Gulf speakers.
Being able to ask a question is the fastest way to start using a language. Arabic makes the first step easy: to turn a statement into a yes/no question, you can just add a word.
Yes/no questions
In Modern Standard Arabic, put هل (hal) at the start of the sentence:
- هل أنت طالب؟ (hal anta talib?) — Are you a student?
- هل عندك وقت؟ (hal 'indak waqt?) — Do you have time?
In speech, you can also simply raise your intonation, with no special word.
Core question words
- ما / ماذا (ma / madha) — what
- من (man) — who
- أين (ayna) — where
- متى (mata) — when
- لماذا (limadha) — why
- كيف (kayfa) — how
- كم (kam) — how much or how many
- أي (ayy) — which
The dialect versions
Everyday speech often replaces these with shorter forms:
| Meaning | Egyptian | Levantine | Gulf |
|---|---|---|---|
| what | إيه (eh) | شو (shu) | شنو / وش (shinu / wesh) |
| who | مين (min) | مين (min) | منو (minu) |
| where | فين (fen) | وين (wayn) | وين (wayn) |
| when | إمتى (imta) | إمتى (imta) | متى (mita) |
| why | ليه (leh) | ليش (leish) | ليش (leish) |
| how | إزاي (izzay) | كيف (kif) | شلون (shlon) |
| how much | كام (kam) | قديش (addesh) | كم (kam) |
The Modern Standard forms will be understood almost everywhere, but you will hear the local forms on the street.
Word order
In most Arabic questions, the question word comes first: أين الفندق؟ (ayna al-funduq?), "Where is the hotel?" There is no need for the verb "is".
Useful travel questions
- كم الثمن؟ (kam ath-thaman?) — How much is it?
- أين الحمام؟ (ayna al-hammam?) — Where is the bathroom?
- هل تتكلم الإنجليزية؟ (hal tatakallam al-inglizia?) — Do you speak English?
Answers
Common answers include نعم (na'am, yes), لا (la, no) and ربما (rubbama, perhaps). In spoken Arabic, أيوه (aywa, Egyptian yes) and إي (ee, Levantine yes) are very common.
Practice
- Turn ten statements into questions.
- Learn one dialect's set of question words well.
- Ask a friend or tutor questions in Arabic each day.
- Look up each question word in script to see how it is written.
Look up question words and phrases with English Arabic Dictionary →
English Arabic Dictionary
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