Breakdown of سأل الباحث ما إذا كان الاستبيان واضحا.
الal
the
سألsa'ala
to ask
واضحwâdih
clear
كانkâna
to be
باحثbâhith
researcher
ما إذاmâ idhâ
whether
استبيانistibyân
questionnaire
Questions & Answers about سأل الباحث ما إذا كان الاستبيان واضحا.
Why do we use ما إذا for 'whether' instead of just using هل?
هل is used to ask direct yes/no questions (like 'Is it clear?'). When reporting an indirect question (like 'He asked whether...'), you need ما إذا or إن كان. Using هل in the middle of this sentence would be grammatically incorrect.
Could I use لو or إذا by itself instead of ما إذا?
Not for indirect questions. لو is used for hypothetical 'if' statements ('If I were you...'), and إذا by itself is used for conditional 'if/when' statements ('If it rains...'). To mean 'whether' or 'if' after verbs like 'ask' or 'wonder', you must use the full phrase ما إذا (or إن كان).
Why is the word for clear written as واضحا with an extra alif at the end?
This is because it follows كان (was). In Arabic, the predicate of كان (the word describing the subject) must be in the accusative case (mansub). For indefinite masculine words, this is shown by adding the 'an' sound and an extra alif at the end, changing واضح to واضحا.
Why does كان come right after ما إذا rather than after 'the questionnaire'?
Arabic strongly prefers putting the verb before the subject. Even inside an indirect question clause like this one, the verb كان (was) naturally comes before its subject الاستبيان (the questionnaire).
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