Egyptian أنهي / أنهو asks “which?” when the speaker expects a choice from a relevant set. The interrogative normally comes before an indefinite noun—أنهي ملف “which file”—while the whole phrase stays where that noun phrase belongs in the clause.
Mainstream urban usage shows real variation. A traditional agreement set has masculine أنهو, feminine أنهي, and plural أنهم; many present-day Cairene speakers generalize أنهي before nouns of every gender and number. This page teaches generalized أنهي + noun as the robust production baseline while making the agreeing forms recognizable and usable where they are natural. Compare open-ended إيه “what” before choosing between the two systems.
Rule 1: “Which” Selects from a Contextual Set
Compare a statement naming one member of a set with a question requesting that choice:
إنت اخترت الملف الأزرق.
inta ikhtart il-malaf il-ʾazraʾ.
You chose the blue file.
إنت اخترت أنهي ملف؟
inta ikhtart ʾanhi malaf?
Which file did you choose?
أنهي ملف replaces الملف الأزرق in the direct-object position. Egyptian keeps the subject and perfect verb in their ordinary order; there is no equivalent of English did.
حضرتك عايز أنهي مقاس في القميص ده؟
ḥaḍritak ʿāyiz ʾanhi maʾās fi l-ʾamīṣ da?
Which size do you want in this shirt?
حنقابل العميل في أنهي فرع؟
ḥaniʾābil il-ʿamīl fi ʾanhi farʿ?
Which branch will we meet the client at?
The preposition في stays before the entire interrogative noun phrase. Egyptian does not strand it at the end.
Rule 2: The Following Noun Is Indefinite
Although the alternatives are contextually identifiable, the noun after أنهي/أنهو does not take the definite article.
أنهي طريق أقصر للمحطة؟
ʾanhi ṭarīʾ ʾaʾṣar lil-maḥaṭṭa?
Which route is shorter to the station?
أنهي شنطة فيها اللابتوب؟
ʾanhi shanṭa fīha l-lābtōb?
Which bag has the laptop in it?
The answer normally uses a definite noun phrase, a demonstrative, or a descriptive fragment:
الشنطة السودا اللي جنب الباب.
ish-shanṭa s-sōda lli gamb il-bāb.
The black bag next to the door.
This difference is logical: the question asks the listener to identify one member; the answer presents that member as definite.
Rule 3: Agreement Exists, but Leveling Is Common
The older and still available agreement pattern is:
| Choice set | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | أنهو — ʾanhu | أنهو كتاب؟ — which book? |
| feminine singular | أنهي — ʾanhi | أنهي مجلة؟ — which magazine? |
| plural | أنهم — ʾanhum | أنهم ملفات؟ — which files? |
أنهو كتاب عجبك أكتر؟
ʾanhu kitāb ʿagabak ʾaktar?
Which book did you like more? (gender-agreeing variant)
أنهي مجلة فيها الحوار الكامل؟
ʾanhi magalla fīha l-ḥiwār il-kāmil?
Which magazine has the full interview?
In contemporary mainstream Cairo, أنهي كتاب، أنهي مجلة، أنهي ملفات are all widely heard. This is morphological leveling: one form covers the paradigm. It is not a failure to know noun gender.
أنهي ملفات لازم أبعتها قبل الضهر؟
ʾanhi malafāt lāzim ʾabʿatha ʾabl iḍ-ḍohr?
Which files do I need to send before noon? (leveled urban form)
Speakers differ by region, age, family network, and style in how consistently they preserve أنهو/أنهي/أنهم (regional/social variation). Within one conversation, do not “correct” a natural generalized أنهي merely because a table lists gendered alternatives.
Rule 4: Standalone Forms and واحد Make the Choice Explicit
When the noun is recoverable, the interrogative can stand alone, especially in an agreeing system. Generalized أنهي واحد/واحدة is often clearer for learners.
قدامنا طريقين؛ أنهو أسرع؟
ʾuddāmna ṭarīʾēn; ʾanhu ʾasraʿ?
We have two routes; which one is faster?
أنهي واحدة من النسختين عليها توقيع المدير؟
ʾanhi waḥda min in-noskhtēn ʿalēha tawʾīʿ il-modīr?
Which one of the two copies has the manager's signature?
أنهي واحد فيهم مسؤول عن الحسابات؟
ʾanhi wāḥid fīhom masʾūl ʿan il-ḥisābāt?
Which one of them is responsible for the accounts?
واحد/واحدة agrees with the selected referent. For a mixed or unknown group of people, masculine واحد is the unmarked form.
Rule 5: In-Situ Is Neutral; Fronted Focus Uses Resumption
An object أنهي + noun normally stays after its verb:
المدير وافق على أنهي عرض؟
il-modīr wāfiʾ ʿala ʾanhi ʿarḍ?
Which offer did the manager approve?
Fronting is possible when the choice itself is contrastive. If the fronted phrase is linked to a relative clause, Egyptian resumes the object inside that clause:
أنهي ملف فيهم اللي إنت بعته للمدير؟
ʾanhi malaf fīhom illi inta baʿatto lil-modīr?
Which one of those files is the one you sent to the manager?
The ـه on بعته resumes masculine ملف. In neutral إنت بعت أنهي ملف؟, the interrogative phrase itself fills the object position, so no object suffix appears.
Rule 6: Presupposition, Answers, and Confirmation
A “which” question presupposes a relevant choice set. If no set has been established, an open إيه question is better.
إنت شربت إيه؟
inta shiribt ʾēh?
What did you drink? (open question)
إنت شربت أنهي عصير من التلاتة؟
inta shiribt ʾanhi ʿaṣīr min it-talāta?
Which juice did you drink out of the three?
A proposed choice turns the request into confirmation:
إنت اخترت الملف الأزرق، صح؟
inta ikhtart il-malaf il-ʾazraʾ, ṣaḥḥ?
You chose the blue file, right?
لأ، اخترت الملف الأخضر عشان ده آخر إصدار.
laʾ, ikhtart il-malaf il-ʾakhḍar ʿashān da ʾākhir ʾiṣdār.
No, I chose the green file because that's the latest version.
Rule 7: Embedded أنهي Keeps Its Noun Phrase Together
مش فاكر هما اختاروا أنهي شركة للتوصيل.
mish fākir humma ikhtāru ʾanhi sharika lit-tawṣīl.
I don't remember which company they chose for delivery.
اسألها أنهي يوم مناسب ليها الأسبوع الجاي.
isʾalha ʾanhi yōm monāseb lēha l-ʾusbūʿ il-gāy.
Ask her which day suits her next week.
The interrogative and noun remain adjacent, and the embedded clause keeps Egyptian order. English which company did they choose is not a template for Arabic inversion.
Register and Variation
أنهي/أنهو/أنهم are Egyptian conversational forms (informal/neutral). Formal أيّ belongs to MSA writing, formal interviews, and prepared speech (formal) and brings a different grammatical system. The degree of gender/number agreement versus generalized أنهي varies within Cairo and across Alexandrian, Delta, Upper Egyptian, Bedouin, age, class, and community repertoires (regional/social). This page's generalized أنهي + noun baseline matches common contemporary urban production without denying the agreeing variants.
Common Mistakes
1. Making the noun definite after أنهي
❌ إنت اخترت أنهي الملف؟
Incorrect — the noun immediately after أنهي does not take the definite article.
✅ إنت اخترت أنهي ملف من المجلد؟
inta ikhtart ʾanhi malaf min il-mogallad?
Which file did you choose from the folder?
2. Fronting every object phrase like English
❌ أنهي عرض المدير وافق عليه؟
Marked focus rather than the neutral object question; ordinary placement keeps على أنهي عرض after the verb.
✅ المدير وافق على أنهي عرض في الآخر؟
il-modīr wāfiʾ ʿala ʾanhi ʿarḍ fi l-ʾākhir?
Which offer did the manager finally approve?
3. Adding English do-support
❌ عمل إنت اخترت أنهي نسخة؟
Incorrect — Egyptian does not insert an auxiliary corresponding to English ‘did.’
✅ إنت اخترت أنهي نسخة للطباعة؟
inta ikhtart ʾanhi noskha liṭ-ṭibāʿa?
Which version did you choose for printing?
4. Importing formal أيّ into casual speech
❌ أي كتاب تريد دلوقتي؟
Register mismatch — أي and تريد are formal, while دلوقتي is conversational Egyptian.
✅ إنت عايز أنهي كتاب دلوقتي؟
inta ʿāyiz ʾanhi kitāb dilwaʾti?
Which book do you want now?
Key Takeaways
- أنهي/أنهو + indefinite noun selects one member from a contextually known set.
- Masculine أنهو, feminine أنهي, and plural أنهم coexist with widespread generalized أنهي.
- Keep a neutral object choice phrase in situ; a fronted relative-focus structure uses a resumptive suffix.
- Use إيه for an open “what?” question and أنهي when alternatives are understood.
- Embedded أنهي + noun remains together and keeps Egyptian clause order.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- إيه: WhatA2 — Use Cairene إيه in object, predicate, postnominal, prepositional, echo, and embedded questions without copying English fronting.
- كام: How Many and How MuchA2 — Ask for counts, prices, ages, durations, and other numerical values with Cairene كام and a singular counted noun.
- Embedded QuestionsA2 — Embed who, what, where, when, and whether questions in Cairene clauses without English inversion or do-support.
- اللي: The Core Relative MarkerB1 — Use invariant اللي after definite human and nonhuman antecedents, then mark the antecedent's role with a gap or resumptive clitic.
- Object Relatives and Resumptive CliticsB1 — Form Cairene object relatives by attaching a resumptive object clitic to the verb and matching it to the antecedent.
- Word Order in QuestionsB2 — Place Egyptian question words according to their grammatical role, focus, and resumptive structure without copying English inversion.