ما زال literally contains negative ما plus زال “cease,” but the combination normally means “still” or “continue to be”: ما زال الطريق مغلقا “the road is still closed.” Its morphology is negative while its communicative contribution is positive continuity—the state has not ceased.
In formal contemporary MSA (formal), ما زال behaves like كان: it inflects for its subject, keeps that subject nominative, and makes a noun or adjective predicate accusative. English still is an adverb; Arabic builds an inflected copular clause.
Compare the case pattern with ليس for nominal sentences, which negates a state instead of presenting it as continuing.
From a state to a continuing state
الطريق مغلق بسبب الثلوج.
aṭ-ṭarīqu mughlaqun bi-sababi th-thulūj.
The road is closed because of the snow.
ما زال الطريق مغلقا بسبب الثلوج.
mā zāla ṭ-ṭarīqu mughlaqan bi-sababi th-thulūj.
The road is still closed because of the snow.
The first merely describes the present state. The second links that state to an earlier interval and says it continues now. Fully inflected الطريقُ is nominative; predicate مغلقًا is accusative.
انتهت المراجعة، وبدأ فريق النشر عمله.
intahati l-murājaʿatu, wa-badaʾa farīqu n-nashri ʿamalah.
The review ended, and the publishing team began its work.
ما زالت المراجعة مستمرة، ولذلك لم نرسل النسخة.
mā zālati l-murājaʿatu mustamirratan, wa-li-dhālika lam nursili n-nuskha(h).
The review is still continuing, so we have not sent the copy.
The contrast is conceptual rather than a mechanical affirmative/negative pair: انتهت closes the interval; ما زالت مستمرة explicitly keeps it open.
Inflection follows the subject
The perfect-shaped member changes just as كان does: ما زلتُ “I am still,” ما زلتَ/ما زلتِ, ما زال/ما زالت, ما زلنا, ما زلتم, ما زالوا, and ما زلن.
ما زلت مسؤولة عن متابعة هذا الملف.
mā ziltu masʾūlatan ʿan mutābaʿati hādhā l-milaff.
I am still responsible for following up on this file. (Female speaker.)
الخبيران ما زالا مختلفين بشأن التوصية الأخيرة.
al-khabīrāni mā zālā mukhtalifayni bi-shaʾni t-tawṣiyati l-ʾakhīra(h).
The two experts still disagree about the final recommendation.
الممرضات ما زلن في غرفة الطوارئ.
al-mumarriḍātu mā zilna fī ghurfati ṭ-ṭawāriʾ.
The nurses are still in the emergency room. (All female.)
The feminine-plural form زلن is not زالوا with a feminine noun. Agreement remains part of the construction even though English still never changes.
Adjectival, prepositional, and verbal predicates
An adjective or participle predicate is accusative; a prepositional phrase fills the predicate slot without a separate accusative ending. A following imperfect clause can describe the continuing activity.
ما زالت القاعة خالية حتى الآن.
mā zālati l-qāʿatu khāliyatan ḥattā l-ʾān.
The hall is still empty so far.
ما زال المدير في اجتماع مع الفريق القانوني.
mā zāla l-mudīru fī jtimāʿin maʿa l-farīqi l-qānūniyy.
The director is still in a meeting with the legal team.
ما زال الباحثون يراجعون النتائج قبل نشرها.
mā zāla l-bāḥithūna yurājiʿūna n-natāʾija qabla nashrihā.
The researchers are still reviewing the results before publishing them.
In neutral verb-first order, زال is singular before explicit plural الباحثون. The embedded imperfect يراجعون has its own plural subject understood from the same group and remains indicative.
Time and scope
Present continuity is commonly ما زال. لا يزال also means “still,” especially in formal exposition, while لم يزل locates continued non-cessation in a past or persisting frame. These are related architectures, not licenses to use ordinary ما + imperfect for simple negation.
Scope determines what remains true:
ما زال المشروع قائما، لكن موعد إطلاقه لم يعد ثابتا.
mā zāla l-mashrūʿu qāʾiman, lākinna mawʿida ʾiṭlāqihi lam yaʿud thābitan.
The project still exists, but its launch date is no longer fixed.
The continuing proposition is “the project exists,” not “every detail is unchanged.” English learners often overextend still to the entire situation; Arabic predicate structure makes the continuing property explicit.
The construction does not impose mood on an embedded imperfect. Compare the mood-sensitive weak verb سعى / يسعى:
ما زال الفريق يسعى إلى اتفاق، لكنه لم يسع إلى تأجيل الجلسة.
mā zāla l-farīqu yasʿā ʾilā ttifāq, lakinnahu lam yasʿa ʾilā taʾjīli l-jalsa(h).
The team is still seeking an agreement, but it did not seek to postpone the session.
Indicative يسعى retains ى; jussive يسع after لم deletes it.
Questions and answer behavior
A plain question with هل ما زلت...؟ asks positively whether continuity holds. To see the special answer particles clearly, contrast it with an unambiguously negative question about the endpoint:
ألم ينته عملك في المركز القديم؟
ʾa-lam yantahi ʿamaluka fī l-markazi l-qadīm?
Didn't your work at the old center end? (Addressing a man.)
بلى، انتهى الشهر الماضي.
balā, ntahā sh-shahra l-māḍiya.
Yes, it ended last month. (Reverses the negation.)
نعم، لم ينته، وما زلت أعمل هناك.
naʿam, lam yantahi, wa-mā ziltu ʾaʿmalu hunāk.
That's right, it did not end, and I still work there. (Confirms the negation.)
Repeating the endpoint clause and then ما زلت makes both polarity and continuing state explicit.
Common Mistakes
Treating ما زال as ordinary past negation
❌ ما زال المدير المكتب أمس.
Incorrect—ما زال does not mean simply ‘the director did not leave the office.’
✅ ما غادر المدير المكتب أمس بسبب العاصفة.
mā ghādara l-mudīru l-maktaba ʾams bi-sababi l-ʿāṣifa(h).
The director did not leave the office yesterday because of the storm.
Using ما + imperfect for ordinary present negation
❌ ما يفتح المختبر يوم الجمعة.
Incorrect in neutral formal MSA—use لا for habitual verbal negation.
✅ لا يفتح المختبر يوم الجمعة إلا للطوارئ.
lā yaftaḥu l-mukhtabaru yawma l-jumuʿati ʾillā li-ṭ-ṭawāriʾ.
The laboratory does not open on Friday except for emergencies.
Forgetting the accusative predicate
❌ ما زال التقرير ناقص.
Incorrect in a fully inflected analysis—the adjectival predicate is accusative ناقصًا.
✅ ما زال التقرير ناقصا رغم التعديلات الأخيرة.
mā zāla t-taqrīru nāqiṣan raghma t-taʿdīlāti l-ʾakhīra(h).
The report is still incomplete despite the latest revisions.
Retaining a weak letter after لم
❌ لم يسعى الفريق إلى التمديد.
Incorrect—لم requires jussive يسع, deleting final ى.
✅ لم يسع الفريق إلى تمديد العقد هذا العام.
lam yasʿa l-farīqu ʾilā tamdīdi l-ʿaqdi hādhā l-ʿām.
The team did not seek to extend the contract this year.
Answering a negative question like English
❌ ألم ينته عملك هنا؟ نعم، انتهى أمس.
Contradictory in careful MSA—نعم confirms that the work did not end, but the following clause says it ended.
✅ ألم ينته عملك هنا؟ بلى، انتهى أمس، ولم أعد أعمل هنا.
ʾa-lam yantahi ʿamaluka hunā? balā, ntahā ʾams, wa-lam ʾaʿud ʾaʿmalu hunā.
Didn't your work here end? Yes, it ended yesterday, and I no longer work here.
Key Takeaways
- ما زال has negative morphology but normally expresses positive continuity: “still.”
- It inflects for its subject and assigns accusative to a nominal or adjectival predicate.
- Its predicate may also be a prepositional phrase or an indicative verbal clause.
- Identify exactly which state continues; other parts of the situation may change.
- Repeat the proposition after answers to negative-shaped questions.
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