Arabic vocabulary
كَمْhow much
How to say “how much” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
كم بين قوله لآدم إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة،
How vast is the difference between His words to Adam: 'I will place a vicegerent on earth,'
كَمْ — how much. kam = 'how much, how many'; here it means 'how great (is the difference)'.
From: Adam's Descent →وكم من واعظ مفوه قد أبكى وأثر في الحاضرين تلك الساعة،
And how many eloquent preachers have moved the attendees to tears at that moment,
وَكَمْ — and how many. This is the exclamatory 'how many...!' — used to marvel at a large number, not to ask a question. It is followed by a singular noun introduced with 'min', even though the meaning is plural ('many a preacher'). The 'wa-' just connects the exclamation to the flow.
From: Sincere Preaching →فقال الوالي كم أكلت؟
The governor asked: How much did it eat?
كَمْ — how much. This is the question word 'how much, how many', asking after a quantity. It is a fixed interrogative that opens the question and is normally followed by what is being counted. Here it asks the amount the camel ate.
From: Justice in the Field →وَكَمْ مِنْ كَلِمَةٍ تَدُورُ عَلَى الْأَلْسِنِ مَثَلًا جَاءَ الْقُرْآنُ بِالْخَصِّ مِنْهَا وَأَحْسَنَ
And how many phrases circulate on the tongues as an example, which the Quran has refined and improved.
وَكَمْ — and how many. This is 'and' joined to an exclamation word 'how many', used here to marvel at a great number, 'and how many a...'. It is followed by a singular noun introduced by 'of', the Arabic pattern for 'how many a thing there are'. It opens a statement of abundance rather than a real question.
From: When Scripture Answers Proverbs →والبنين وكم صغر قاسى الأب لأجل الصغار، فلما ترقوا فعقوا والعقوق من الذنوب الكبار،
And the children, how much hardship the father endures for the sake of the young; but when they grow up, they disobey, and disobedience is among the grave sins,
وَكَمْ — how much. The 'and' connects the clause, and the word beneath it is the exclamatory 'how much/how many', which is followed by an indefinite noun in the singular and floods the sentence with a sense of large quantity. It is not a question here but an outcry stressing how great the father's hardship was.
From: Preferring the Hereafter →وفرق بين الإلفين وكم باتا،
And He separated between the two close companions, though they stayed together for long,
وَكَمْ — and how much. The 'and' joins the clause, and beneath it the exclamatory 'how much / how often' floods the sentence with a sense of long duration. It is not a question here but an outcry stressing how many nights the two had spent together, heightening the pathos of their parting.
From: Death and Decree →كم مطمئن في عزته أخذه بعزته بياتا،
How many, secure in their pride, did He take by His might overnight,
كَمْ — how many. This is the exclamatory 'how many', which is followed by a singular indefinite noun and floods the line with a sense of large number. It is not a question but an outcry over how many secure people God seized, so it sets the rhetorical tone of the passage.
From: Death and Decree →وكم هدم قصرًا مشيدًا وكم زلزل أبياتا،
And how many fortified castles has He demolished, and how many homes has He shaken,
وَكَمْ — and how many. The 'and' joins the clause, and beneath it the exclamatory 'how many' is again followed by a singular indefinite noun to convey a great number. It is an outcry, not a question, stressing how many fortified castles God has demolished.
From: Death and Decree →وكم هدم قصرًا مشيدًا وكم زلزل أبياتا،
And how many fortified castles has He demolished, and how many homes has He shaken,
وَكَمْ — and how many. The 'and' joins a parallel clause, and beneath it the exclamatory 'how many' repeats to convey another great number. The repetition is a rhetorical drumbeat, stacking a second outcry about how many homes God has shaken onto the first.
From: Death and Decree →وستر العواقب فكم مطرود في حلل التعبد يميس،
And He concealed the consequences, so how many rejected are adorned in the garments of devotion, swaying.
كَمْ — how many. This word means 'how many', used here to marvel at a large number rather than to ask a real question. It governs the next noun, pulling it into a singular 'of' ending, and frames the whole clause as an exclamation of abundance.
From: Adam and the Rebel →فقضى لهم حياة وقضى عليهم مماتا،
So He decreed for them life, and He decreed upon them death.
وكم — and how many. A connector plus an exclamatory 'how many', opening a rhetorical outburst. The 'how many' heads an emphatic 'how many a...' construction, marking quantity for effect rather than asking a real question.
From: God's Sovereignty in Creation →ألم نَجعَلُ الأرضَ كِفاتا، أحياءً وأمواتا
'Have We not made the earth a container — for the living and the dead?'
كم — How many. An exclamatory 'how many', opening an emphatic outburst. It heads a 'how many a...' construction, marking great quantity for rhetorical force rather than asking a genuine number.
From: God's Sovereignty in Creation →وَكَمْ صِغَرٍ قَاسَى الأَبُ لِأَجَلِّ الصِّغَارِ،
And how often the father endured hardship for the little ones,
وَكَمْ — and how often. The connector wa- ('and') fused onto an exclamatory word 'how many / how often'. That word's job is to pile up quantity for effect — 'and how often ...' — heading an exclamation about repeated hardship. It governs a following noun and sets an emphatic, wondering tone over the whole line.
From: This World Is Short →كَمْ كَانَ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ مُتَحَدِّثًا بَارِعًا،
How eloquent a speaker he was, may God have mercy on him.
كَمًّا — How. An exclamation word, 'how...!', that opens a wondering statement and turns the sentence into an expression of admiration rather than a plain report. It frames everything after it as 'how great a...!', the way English fronts 'How...!'.
From: The Preacher's Legacy →كَمْ رَأَيْتُ صَاحِبَ مَنْزِلٍ مَا نَزَلَ لَحْدَهُ حَتَّى نَزَلَ
How many a homeowner have I seen who never moved into his house before he died!
كَمْ — how many. An exclamatory 'how many', used not to ask a number but to marvel at a great quantity. It governs the noun phrase after it, forcing it into a particular ending, and sets the whole sentence as a wondering cry: how often I have witnessed this.
From: Vigilance Against Worldly Deception →وَكَمْ شَاهَدْتُ وَالْ قَصْرَ وَلِيُّهُ عَدُوُّهُ لَمَّا عُزِلَ
How often have I seen the governor of a palace whose ally became his enemy when he was dismissed!
وَكَمْ — and how often. Two pieces fuse: wa- ('and') tying this to the prior line as a parallel cry, and the exclamatory 'how many/how often'. Together they reopen the wondering frame, 'and how often...', stacking another marvelled-at example onto the one before.
From: Vigilance Against Worldly Deception →وَكَمْ مِنْ شُجَاعٍ فِي صَفِّ الْحَرْبِ اُغْتِيِلَ،
How many a brave man in the ranks of battle was treacherously slain.
وَكَمْ — And how many. Two pieces fuse: wa- ('and') tying this to the prior line, and the exclamatory 'how many', marvelling at a great number rather than asking one. Together they reopen the wondering frame, 'and how many...', stacking another startling example onto the warning.
From: Vigilance Against Worldly Deception →
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