Arabic - Spanish Dictionary
/maː/
ما is a versatile Arabic word meaning "what" (interrogative pronoun), "that which" (relative pronoun), "no" (negation), or "if" (conditional). In Spanish it translates as qué, cuál, lo que, no, or siempre que depending on context.
| # | Type | Arabic | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pronoun | ما what? (interrogative pronoun) | qué |
| 2 | pronoun | ما what? (interrogative pronoun) | cuál |
| 3 | adverb | ما negates meaning of another word | no |
| 4 | pronoun | ما fused relative pronoun: that which; those that; the thing(s) that | lo que |
| 5 | phrase | ما if, assuming | siempre que |
| 6 | phrase | ما if, assuming | siempre y cuando |
| 7 | phrase | ما if, assuming | siempre y cuando que |
| 8 | phrase | ما if, assuming | con tal que |
| 9 | phrase | ما if, assuming | con tal de que |
| 10 | phrase | ما if, assuming | con tanto que |
ما اسمك؟
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
أفعل ما تريد.
Hago lo que quieres.
ما تذهب إن لم تكن جاهزاً.
No vayas si no estás listo.
As an interrogative, ما ("what?") typically introduces open-ended questions and is distinct from cuál ("which?"). As a relative pronoun, lo que is fused and cannot be separated. In conditional phrases, ما combines with prepositions and conjunctions—siempre que, con tal que—to introduce conditions; learners should memorize these multi-word expressions rather than translating ما alone.
Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0