What are the relative pronouns in Arabic?
In Arabic, especially in MSA, there are nine forms of relative pronouns, known as definite relative pronouns. This is more than you might expect, since they depend on number and gender. Let’s take a look at them:
As you can see, all of them contain a component that resembles the definite article. They refer only to definite nouns and noun phrases. Here are some examples:
Now let’s discuss the indefinite, or non-specific, relative pronouns in Arabic.
- مَن – man – whoever / he who
Refers to unspecified people (singular or plural, but grammatically masculine singular).
Means “whoever / the one who”.
For example, if we want to say “Whoever works will find success” in Arabic, it’ll be مَن يَعمَلْ يَجِدْ – man ya’mal yajid
- ما – ma – whatever / that which
Refers to unspecified things or abstract ideas.
Means “whatever / that which”.
For example, if we want to say “Take whatever you want” in Arabic, it’ll be خُذْ ما تُريد – khudh ma turid
- ماذا – madha – what
Sometimes used instead of maa as a relative pronoun, especially when the use of ما
which can function as a negative particle, can be confusing.
For example, if we want to say “I don’t understand what you want” in Arabic, it’ll be لا أفهَمُ ماذا تُريد – la afhamu madha turid
- ما – ma with resumption
When maa or man is object of a verb or preposition, the clause usually adds a resumptive pronoun (e.g., ما قصدَه “what he meant [it]”).
For example, if we want to say “This is exactly what I mean” in Arabic, it’ll be هٰذا ما أَقصِدُهُ بِالضَّبطِ – hadha aqSidu biaD DabTi
- ما – ma for approximation
Used with numbers, amounts, times to mean “about / approximately”.
For example, if we want to say “They were about a hundred people” in Arabic, it’ll be كانوا حوالي ما مِئة شخص – kanu hawali ma mi’at shakhS
- ما – ma for indefiniteness (“some, certain”)
After a noun, emphasizes vagueness: “some… / a certain…”.
For example, if we want to say “I’ll visit you one day” in Arabic, it’ll be سأزورك يومًا ما – sa azuruka yawman ma
Here we’ll discuss that س is used to express the future, in a later post.
