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In Arabic, when you want to make general statements like "whoever does this" or talk about "whatever happened," you use مَن and ما. These function as general relative pronouns to describe unspecified people or things.

### Using مَن (Whoever / The one who)

Use مَن to refer to people. It translates to "whoever," "he who," or "anyone who." You will often see it at the beginning of proverbs and wise sayings, usually followed by two verbs describing an action and its consequence.

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It can also be used in the middle of a sentence to refer to the person receiving an action.

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### Using ما (Whatever / That which)

Use ما to refer to non-human things, actions, or concepts. It translates to "whatever," "what," or "that which."

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### Fables and Wisdom

These relative pronouns are incredibly common in traditional fables to capture the moral truths of the animal kingdom. 

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### Combining with Prepositions and Pronouns

You can attach prepositions directly to these words. For example, combining لِـ (to/for) with مَن creates لِمَن (to whoever / to the one who).

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Additionally, when using مَن or ما to set up a situation, the second half of the sentence will often use a pronoun suffix (like ـه or ـها) that refers back to the person or thing mentioned in the first half.

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General relative pronouns (مَن، ما)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
Whoever sows reaps.	من زرع حصد.man zaraa hasada.
to be silent	سكتsakata
Whoever keeps silent survives.	من سكت نجا.man sakata najâ.
The lion eats whatever he wants.	الأسد يأكل ما يريد.al-asadu ya'kulu mâ yurîdu.
to deceive / to trick	خدعkhada'a
fox	ثعلبtha'lab
crow	غرابghurâb
fool / foolish	أحمقahmaq
The fox deceived the foolish crow.	خدع الثعلب الغراب الأحمق.khada'a ath-tha'labu al-ghurâba al-ahmaqa.
Whatever the fox said is not the truth.	ما قاله الثعلب ليس حقيقة.mâ qâlahu-th-tha'labu laysa haqîqatan
Whoever believes the fox is a fool.	من يصدق الثعلب فهو أحمق.man yusaddiqi ath-tha'laba fahuwa ahmaq.
wolf	ذئبdhi'b
The crow does not hear what the wolf says.	لا يسمع الغراب ما يقوله الذئب.lâ yasma'u al-ghurâbu mâ yaqûluhu adh-dhi'bu
Indeed, the wolf eats whoever sleeps in the forest.	إن الذئب يأكل من ينام في الغابة.inna adh-dhi'ba ya'kulu man yanâmu fi l-ghâbati
advice	نصيحةnasîha
Whoever asks for advice finds it.	من طلب نصيحة وجدها.man talaba nasîhatan wajadahâ
The dog gave advice to whoever asked.	أعطى الكلب نصيحة لمن سأل.a'ṭâ al-kalbu naṣîḥatan liman sa'ala.
to dig	حفرhafara
hole / pit	حفرةhufra
Whoever digs a pit enters it.	من حفر حفرة دخل فيها.man hafara hufratan dakhala fîhâ
The crow saw a large pit.	رأى الغراب حفرة كبيرة.ra'â al-ghurâbu hufratan kabîratan.
The wolf hides what he dug in the ground.	يخفي الذئب ما حفره في الأرض.yukhfî adh-dhi'bu mâ hafarahu fî al-ardi
The fool always does whatever he wants.	يفعل الأحمق ما يريد دائما.yaf'alu al-ahmaqu mâ yurîdu dâ'iman
The fox kept silent, but he does not sleep.	سكت الثعلب، لكنه لا ينام.sakata ath-tha'labu, lâkinnahu lâ yanâmu.
People do not like whoever deceives them.	لا يحب الناس من يخدعهم.lâ yuhibbu-n-nâsu man yakhda'uhum
to fall (drop)	سقطsaqata
Whoever digs a pit falls into it.	من حفر حفرة سقط فيها.man hafara hufratan saqata fiha
Whoever believes the fox is a fool.	من يصدق الثعلب أحمق.man yusaddiqu ath-thalaba ahmaqu.
The dog eats whatever fell from the table.	الكلب يأكل ما سقط من الطاولة.al-kalbu ya'kulu mâ saqata mina at-tâwilati.
hunter / fisherman	صيادsayyâd
The hunter takes whatever he finds in the forest.	يأخذ الصياد ما يجد في الغابة.ya'khudhu as-sayyâdu mâ yajidu fi al-ghâbati
once upon a time	كان يا ما كانkâna yâ mâ kâna
Once upon a time, there was a clever fox.	كان يا ما كان، كان هناك ثعلب ذكي.kâna yâ mâ kâna, kâna hunâka thaalabun dhakiyyun
Once upon a time, in a faraway forest, there was a hungry wolf.	كان يا ما كان، في غابة بعيدة، ذئب جائع.kâna yâ mâ kâna, fî ghâbatin ba'îdatin, dhi'bun jâ'i'un.
The hunter saw the wolf in the forest.	رأى الصياد الذئب في الغابة.ra'â as-sayyâdu adh-dhi'ba fil-ghâbah
in olden times, long ago	في قديم الزمانfi qadimi-z-zamân
Long ago, people lived in the forest.	في قديم الزمان، كان الناس يسكنون في الغابة.fî qadîmi zzamâni, kâna nnâsu yaskunûna fi lghâbah.
In olden times, there lived a rich king.	في قديم الزمان، عاش ملك غني.fi qadimi-zzamâni, 'âsha malikun ghaniyyun

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