Arabic Who – Who İn Arabic
2) Who
مَنْ أَنْتَ ؟
man ‘ant(a)
= who you (are)
Translation: who are you?
مَنْ هَذَاْ ؟
man haathaa
= who this (is)
Translation: who is this?
مَنْ هَذَاْ الرَّجُلُ ؟
man haathaa (‘a)r-rajul(u)
= who this the man (is)
Translation: who is this man?
*See the section on demonstrative for information on their usage.
مَنْ يَعْلَمُ ؟
man ya”lam(u)
= who knows (is)
Translation: who knows?
مَنْ تُرِيْدُوْنَ ؟
man tureedoon(a)
= whom (you plu. masc.) want (is)
Translation: whom do you want?
Man + thaa
Like maa, man can also be followed by the demonstrative thaaذَاْ= “this,” but they will not form a single word here. However, this is a rare classical combination.
مَنْ ذَاْ أَنْتَ ؟
man thaa ‘ant(a)
= who you (are)
Translation: who are you?
مَنْ ذَاْيَعْلَمُ ؟
man thaa ya”lam(u)
= who knows (is)
Translation: who knows?
مَنْ ذَاْ تُرِيْدُوْنَ ؟
man thaa tureedoon(a)
= whom (you plu. masc.) want (is)
Translation: whom do you want?
Maa + (‘a)l-lathee
When used before verbs, mancan be followed by the general relative pronoun (‘a)l-lathee الَّذِيْ= “which/that.“
مَنْ الَّذِيْ يَعْلَمُ ؟
man (‘a)l-lathee ya”lam(u)
= who that knows (is)
Translation: who knows?
مَنْ الَّذِيْ تُرِيْدُوْنَ ؟
man (‘a)l-lathee tureedoon(a)
= whom that (you plu. masc.) want (is)
Translation: whom do you want?
As mentioned before, the last sentence will usually be expressed as follows:
مَنْ الَّذِيْ تُرِيْدُوْنَهُ ؟
man (‘a)l-lathee tureedoona–h(u)
= whom that (you plu. masc.) want him (is)
Translation: whom do you want?
Manas a Relative Pronouns
This was covered in the relative pronoun section.
An example:
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Question هَلْ رَأَيْتَ مَنْ فَعَلَ هَذَاْ ؟ hal ra’ayt(a) man fa”al(a) haathaa = is it that (you) saw who did this Translation: have you seen who did this?
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Answer لا ، وَلَكِنِّيْ أَعْلَمُ مَنْ هُوَ laa wa-laakinnee ‘a”lam(u) man huw(a) = no but me know who he (is) Translation: no, but I know who he is
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*The wa- وَ = “and” before laakinnee in the second sentence is superfluous. See the section on verb-like particles for more details.
مَنْزَرَعَ حَصَدَ
man zara”(a) hasad(a)
= who planted harvested
Translation: he who plants harvests