Arabic What for / why – What for / why İn Arabic
What for / why
Adding the preposition li-لِـ= “for“ to maawill produce lima لِمَwhich means “what for” or “why.”
| لِـ + مَاْ=لِمَ |
| li- +maa= lima |
| for + what→ what for / why |
لِمَ هَذَاْ ؟
lima haathaa
= what for/why this (is)
Translation: what is this for?
لِمَ أَنَاْ هُنَاْ ؟
lima ‘anaa hunaa
= what for/why I (am) here
Translation: why am I here?
لِمَ فَعَلْتَ هَذَاْ ؟
lima fa”alt(a) haathaa
= what for/why (you sing. masc.) did this
Translation: what did you do that for?
why did you do that?
لِمَ تَضْحَكْنَ ؟
lima tadhakn(a)
= what for/why (you plu. fem.) laugh
Translation: why are you laughing?
Similarly, li-is added to maathaa to create the interrogative li-maathaa لِمَاْذَاْ, which means just like lima.
| لِـ +مَاْذَا= لِمَاْذَاْ |
| li- +maathaa= li–maathaa |
| for + what → what for / why |
لِمَاْذَاْهَذَاْ ؟
li–maathaa haathaa
= what for/why this (is)
Translation: what is this for?
لِمَاْذَاْ أَنَاْ هُنَاْ ؟
li–maathaa ‘anaa hunaa
= what for/why I (am) here
Translation: why am I here?
لِمَاْذَاْ فَعَلْتَ هَذَاْ ؟
li–maathaa fa”alt(a) haathaa
= what for/why (you sing. masc.) did this
Translation: what did you do that for?
why did you do that?
لِمَاْذَاْ تَضْحَكْنَ ؟
li–maathaa tadhakn(a)
= what for/why (you plu. fem.) laugh
Translation: why are you laughing?
Maa& Maathaa as Relative Pronouns
This was covered in the relative pronoun section.
An example:
| Question أَتَعْرِفُ مَاْذَاْ يُرِيْدُ ؟ ‘a-ta”rif(u)maathaa yureed(u) = is it that (you sing. masc.) know what (he) wants Translation: do you know what he wants?
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| Answer وَمِنْ أَيْنَ لِيْ أَنْ أَعْلَمَ wa-min ‘ayn(a) l-ee ‘an ‘a”lama(u) = and from where for me that (I) know Translation: how should I possibly know?
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*The wa- وَ = “and” in the beginning of the second sentence is a superfluous word. Arabs use a lot of unnecessary “and’s” in their talk.