Yes/No Questions
Yes/no questions are formed in Germanic languages, of which English is one, by inverting the subject and the verb of the sentence; e.g. “you are” becomes “are you?” and “you can” becomes “can you?” etc. Of course modern English has its own way with the verb “do,” which is used before the subject in place of most of the verbs.
Turning a sentence into a yes/no question is easier in Arabic than in English. Here we will not need to invert the subject and the verb or anything like that. We will just put a particle in front of the sentence and that will turn it into a yes/no question. No changes in cases or moods are required.
There are two particles that we can use to create yes/no questions, or multiple choice questions with the addition of “or.”
Here are those two particles:
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Particles of Interrogation حَرْفَاْ الاِسْتِفْهَاْمِ |
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Is it that ? |
‘a- |
أَ |
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hal |
هَلْ |
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Those particles resemble in meaning the French est-ce que = “is it that?”
Lets have some examples.
1) Positive Questions
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Positive Sentence خَلِيْلٌهُنَاْ khaleel(un) hunaa = Khalil (is) here Translation: Khalil is here
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Positive Question أَخَلِيْلٌهُنَاْ ؟ ‘a-khaleel(un) hunaa = is it that Khalil (is) here Translation: is Khalil here?
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Positive Question هَلْ خَلِيْلٌهُنَاْ ؟ hal khaleel(un) hunaa = is it that Khalil (is) here Translation: is Khalil here?
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Positive Answer نَعَمْ خَلِيْلٌهُنَاْ na”am khaleel(un) hunaa = yes Khalil (is) here Translation: yes Khalil is here
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Negative Answer لا خَلِيْلٌ لَيْسَ هُنَاْ laa khaleel(un) lays(a) hunaa = no Khalil is/exists not here Translation: no Khalil is not here
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Negative Answer لا لَيْسَ خَلِيْلٌ هُنَاْ laa lays(a) khaleel(un) hunaa = no is/exists not Khalil here Translation: no Khalil is not here
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Note that there are many alternatives for forming a negative answer. I used here ones commonly used in modern standard Arabic. (See negation for more information)
More examples:
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Positive Sentence الْطَّقْسُ مُشْمِسٌ ‘at–taqs(u) mushmis(un) = the weather (is) sunny Translation: it is sunny
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Positive Question آلْطََّقْسُ مُشْمِسٌ ؟ ‘aa–t–taqs(u) mushmis(un) = is it thatthe weather (is) sunny Translation: is it sunny?
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Positive Question هَلِ الْطََّقْسُ مُشْمِسٌ ؟ hal(i) (‘a)t–taqs(u) mushmis(un) = is it thatthe weather (is) sunny Translation: is it sunny?
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Positive Answer نَعَمِ الْطَّقْسُ مُشْمِسٌ na”am(i) (‘a)t–taqs(u) mushmis(un) = yesthe weather (is) sunny Translation: yes it is sunny
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Negative Answer لا الْطَّقْسُ لَيْسَ مُشْمِسًا laa (‘a)t–taqs(u) lays(a) mushmis(an) = no the weather is/exists not (as) sunny Translation: no it is not sunny
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Negative Answer لا لَيْسَ الْطَّقْسُ مُشْمِسًا laa lays(a) (‘a)t–taqs(u) mushmis(an) = no is/exists not the weather (as) sunny Translation: no it is not sunny
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