# All dialects : هَلْ - yes-no question



## raful

Hi there
As far as I know, the word هَلْ is not used in colloquial Arabic (at least not in the Palestinian dialect) only in MSA. In that case, what's the equivalent word in the colloquial dialects? For example, what would be the appropriate way to ask - "will you visit him?" or "will you drink with me coffee tomorrow?" Does it matter if the sentence includes a time clause?


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## Hemza

Hello,

As far as I know, there is no equivalent and the context helps to get what the interlocutor means. Yet, in many Moroccan areas (except the East and the South), oddly, the word وش have acquired such meaning (equivalent of هل) which often makes problems when they come to communicate with some Moroccans who use وش as "what?" or even Algerians. For example, in Morocco, وش مشيتي معه؟ may means "did you go with him?" while in the areas where وش means "what?" and in Algeria, this sentence is illogical .


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## djara

In Tunisian Arabic, هل is simply dropped.
هل أكلت؟ = كليت؟
هل سمعت؟ = سمعت؟
هل شربت؟ = شربت؟


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## elroy

raful said:


> As far as I know, the word هَلْ is not used in colloquial Arabic (at least not in the Palestinian dialect) only in MSA.


 It is used occasionally.  But it's not required and most of the time it's not used.  Isn't it the same with האם in Hebrew?


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## raful

djara said:


> In Tunisian Arabic, هل is simply dropped.
> هل أكلت؟ = كليت؟
> هل سمعت؟ = سمعت؟
> هل شربت؟ = شربت؟


I'm interested with the Present/Future form. It's more simple in the past form. How would you translate my two given examples - "will you visit him?"; "will you drink with me coffee tomorrow?"



elroy said:


> Isn't it the same with האם in Hebrew?


In Hebrew it's easier since you may use either the gerund form (which does not exist in Arabic in the same manner) or simple future form. What would you do with the mentioned sentences in the Palestinian dialect?


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## elroy

The tense is irrelevant, raful.  As in many languages, to turn a declarative sentence into a question you simply change the intonation.  

راح تزورو؟
راح تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟ (unless it's an invitation, then it's تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟) 

Other than Arabic and Hebrew, the only language I know of that has a yes-no question particle is Polish ("czy").


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## rayloom

In Hijazi Arabic, it's as Elroy said. 

"It is used occasionally. But it's not required and most of the time it's not used."


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## Mahaodeh

In Iraqi Arabic it's pretty much the same, except I've never really heard هل used ever (come to think of it, I've never heard it in PA either).

Most of the time you differentiate between the question and the remark رح تشرب قهوة وياية باكر by the tone of the voice when saying it.


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## elroy

Mahaodeh said:


> (come to think of it, I've never heard it in PA either)


 It's sometimes used in more high-register discourse, for example, in a debate on abortion someone might say: هل الجنين بنعدّ بني آدم إذا بعدو ماتكوّنش كليًا؟

But the vast majority of the time it's not only not required but entirely unidiomatic.  For example, no one would ever say هل راح تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟


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## djara

raful said:


> - "will you visit him?" or "will you drink with me coffee tomorrow?"


In TA
Will you visit him باش تزورو؟ ناوي تزورو؟
will you drink with me coffee tomorrow? هيّا تعمل معايا قهوة غدوة؟


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## Hemza

I guess the use of  هل is often related to more formal conversations.


raful said:


> "will you visit him?" or "will you drink with me coffee tomorrow?"



In Moroccan:
غادي تزوره؟
تبغي تشرب (شي) قهوة معايا غدّة؟

In the bedouin dialect:
لاهي تزوره؟
تبغي تشرب قهوة معايا غدوة؟



djara said:


> will you drink with me coffee tomorrow? هيّا تعمل معايا قهوة غدوة؟



You say تعمل in this case?


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## eskandar

elroy said:


> Other than Arabic and Hebrew, the only language I know of that has a yes-no question particle is Polish ("czy").


A number of other languages have such a particle. This thread discusses them, including the equivalent in Egyptian Arabic.


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## tounsi51

Hemza said:


> You say تعمل in this case?



En français on pourrait dire: on se fait un café demain? Peut-être que les Tunisiens on calque sur le français


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## momai

Syrian either uses the particale "shee" or simply uses nothing depending on the context:


raful said:


> "will you visit him?"


بدك تزورو *شي*


> "will you drink with me coffee tomorrow?"


بدك تشرب بكرا معي قهوة *شي*
or تشرب معي بكرا قهوة (invitation, no particle is used here)


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> It's sometimes used in more high-register discourse



True. It's the same in Iraqi Arabic. I just assumed it was a borrowing from MSA.


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## raful

elroy said:


> The tense is irrelevant, raful.  As in many languages, to turn a declarative sentence into a question you simply change the intonation.
> 
> راح تزورو؟
> راح تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟ (unless it's an invitation, then it's تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟)



1.Why would you use a different form when it's an invitation? ًًًWhat's the difference between the two sentences? What does omitting the راح do?

2. If it's a declarative sentence, wouldn't you use the form بتزورو / بتشرب?


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## Ihsiin

Mahaodeh said:


> True. It's the same in Iraqi Arabic. I just assumed it was a borrowing from MSA.



It is.



raful said:


> 1.Why would you use a different form when it's an invitation? ًًًWhat's the difference between the two sentences? What does omitting the راح do?



To be honest, I wouldn't use رح in this case whether or not it were an invitation. The tense is implied by saying tomorrow: تشرب قهوة وياي باچر؟ - this could be: "Are you (still) drinking coffee with me tomorrow?/Are you intending to drink coffee with me tomorrow?/Will you drink coffee with me tomorrow?".


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## Mahaodeh

raful said:


> 1.Why would you use a different form when it's an invitation? ًًًWhat's the difference between the two sentences? What does omitting the راح do?


I'm not sure what it does gramattically, but the meaning differs slightly:
تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟ = will you drink coffee with me tomorrow
رح تشرب قهوة معاي بكرة؟ = are you going to drink coffee with me tomorrow

The first implies a suggestion or invitation, there was no previous mention of the subject. The second implies that this is an expected thing and the speaker is asking whether it's going to happen. By expected I don't mean that someone mentioned drinking coffee, it may simply be expected because they are going to meet or because they do that every now and then or for whatever reason.


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## elroy

raful said:


> 1.Why would you use a different form when it's an invitation? ًًًWhat's the difference between the two sentences? What does omitting the راح do?


 The difference is that one is an invitation and one is a question about what is going to happen.  In English "will" can be used for either function, although in the sentence "Will you drink coffee with me tomorrow?" isn't really idiomatic with the "question about plans" reading (it sounds like something a non-native speaker would say.)  For that reading, typically we would say "Are you going to drink coffee with me tomorrow?" or "Are you drinking coffee with me tomorrow?".  I'm not 100% positive about Hebrew, but I believe the equivalents would be:

Future plans:
EN: Are you going to ... / Are you drinking ... 
PA: راح تشرب ...
HE: אתה תשתה ...

Invitation:
EN: Will you ... / Would you like to ... 
PA: تشرب ... / بتحب تشرب ... 
HE: אולי תשתה ... / אתה רוצה לשתות ... / בא לך לשתות ...  


raful said:


> 2. If it's a declarative sentence, wouldn't you use the form بتزورو / بتشرب?


 By "declarative" I meant "not a question."  بتزورو/بتشرب are not the right tenses to use here. 


Ihsiin said:


> To be honest, I wouldn't use رح in this case whether or not it were an invitation. The tense is implied by saying tomorrow: تشرب قهوة وياي باچر؟ - this could be: "Are you (still) drinking coffee with me tomorrow?/Are you intending to drink coffee with me tomorrow?/Will you drink coffee with me tomorrow?".


 This tense may work in Iraqi Arabic with this meaning, but it doesn't work in Palestinian.


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## raful

Thanks

Does the fact we have a given time (in the sentence mentioned above - tomorrow) change the sentence? Will you still be using راح ?


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