Arabic vocabulary
شَيْءٌthing
How to say “thing” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
قال قبحها الله من سيوف، وهل أغنت شيئا؟
He said: May Allah curse these swords! Have they ever been of any use?
شَيْئًا — anything. shay means 'a thing'; the '-an' ending marks it as the object — 'anything'.
From: Early Converts to Islam →إِنَّمَا تَتَبَيَّنُ فَضِيلَةُ الشَّيْءِ بِثَمْرَتِهِ وَفَائِدَتِهِ
Indeed, the virtue of a thing is demonstrated by its outcome and benefit.
الشَّيْءِ — of a thing. 'al-' = 'the'; the 'of' word — 'of the thing'; genitive.
From: Intellect and Faith →وإذا كانت جميع الحسنات لا بد فيها من شيئين
And if all good deeds must include two things:
شَيْئَيْنِ — two things. This is the dual, Arabic's dedicated 'exactly two' form, carried by the '-ayn' ending rather than by a separate word for 'two'. English must add 'two'; here the count lives inside the noun's shape, and the ending also marks it as genitive after the preposition.
From: Deeds for God Alone →فمن ذلك أن يظهر فيه دلالة الآية على شئ يخالف مذهبه
Among those cases is when the verse clearly indicates something contrary to his school of thought.
شَيْءٍ — something. 'something,' indefinite, in the -i form after 'pointing to.' Left vague on purpose — some matter the verse indicates — which the relative clause next sharpens: something that clashes with his position.
From: Quran Interpretation and Debate →قال تقلب الكيس حتى يكون موضع التسرب من فوق، فلا يقع منه شيء
He said: Turn the bag so that the leaking spot is on top, and nothing will fall out of it.
شَيْءٌ — anything. The subject of 'falls', so it takes the -un ending, and with no al' it is indefinite, 'anything'.
From: Heedless Choices →فقال الأعرابي ليس معي شيء
The Bedouin said: I have nothing.
شَيْءٌ — a thing. This is 'a thing, anything', indefinite, the subject of the 'is not' verb: 'not a thing is with me'. It takes the nominative as that subject. Under the negation it amounts to 'I have nothing at all'.
From: Justice in the Field →ومن تملى من الطعام شيئا، غذا بدنه، وأشرت نفسه، وقسا قلبه
Whoever fills himself with food nourishes his body but makes his soul arrogant and hardens his heart.
شَيْئًا — something. This indefinite noun is the object 'something/a portion', its ending marking it as what the action takes in. Left indefinite, it points to an unspecified amount of the food.
From: Eating in Moderation →فَسَأَلْنَهَا فَقَالَتْ مَا قَالَ لِيَّ شَيْئًا،
So we asked her, and she said, 'He did not say anything to me.'
شَيْئًا — anything. An indefinite noun with the accusative ending, the object of the negated verb; in this negative clause 'a thing' reads as 'anything'. So it completes the denial that he said anything at all.
From: Wives of the Prophet →مَا سَمِعْتُ أَحَدًا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْكَ شَيْئًا
I did not hear anyone reply to you.
شَيْئًا — anything. An indefinite noun, 'anything', marked with a final 'n'-type ending and in the set object form as the thing not returned. In the negative frame it reads as 'not a single word', the object of the absent replying.
From: Paradise for the Sincere →وَعَلَّمَكَ أَسْمَاءَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ،
And He taught you the names of all things,
شَيْءٍ — thing. A singular noun, 'thing', sitting in the 'of' form as the partner of the quantifier before it; together they read 'of every thing'. It is left without 'the' because the pairing with a quantifier already fixes its scope. The singular here works distributively, covering each thing one by one.
From: Intercession on Judgment Day →وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَيْءٌ أَبْغَضَ إِلَيَّ مِنْهُ
And there was not anything more hated to me than it.
شَيْءٌ — anything. This noun is indefinite 'anything' and is the subject of the negated 'was', so it takes the nominative ending. In the 'there was not anything...' frame it is the thing being denied, with its description following.
From: Marriage and Financial Justice →وَهَلْ شَيْءٌ أَقْبَحُ مِنْ شَابٍّ يَخْدِمُ السُّنَّةَ وَلَا يَعْمَلُ بِهَا ؟
Is there anything more disgraceful than a young man who serves the Sunnah and does not act on it?
شَيْءٌ — anything. An indefinite noun, 'a thing / anything', with no al-, used here as the subject the question is built around. In a rhetorical question like this, the indefinite sweeps over all possibilities: 'is there anything...?', inviting the answer 'nothing'.
From: Humility Over Fame →وَكَانَ فِيهَا مِنَ الزَنْدَقَةِ وَعِبَادَةِ النُّجُومِ وَرَأْيُ الْأَوَائِلِ شَيْءٌ كَثِيرٌ،
And in it there was much heresy, star-worship, and many opinions of the early authorities.
شَيْءٌ — something. A general noun 'something / a thing', which is the real, delayed subject of the existential 'there was' — Arabic often holds the true subject of 'there was' to the end like this. Its indefinite ending suits the 'a quantity of it existed' sense.
From: An Exiled Scholar's Trials →لِئَلا يَضِيعَ شَيْءٌ مِنْ وَقْتِيِ
So that none of my time is wasted.
شَيْءٌ — anything. An indefinite noun ('a thing/anything'), the subject of the subjunctive verb before it, and so in the nominative. Its indefiniteness is the point: not even the smallest scrap of time should be lost. It pairs with the following 'of' phrase to mean 'any of my time'.
From: A Life of Reading and Writing →لَعُمْرُكَ مَا شَيْءٌ يَفُوْتُكَ نَيْلُهُ بِغَبْنٍ وَلَكِنَّ فِي الْعُقُولِ التَّغَابُنُ
By your life, nothing you fail to obtain is lost through injustice; rather, minds are mutually deluded.
شَيْءٌ — thing. This noun is the subject of the negation, kept indefinite to mean 'a (single) thing', so with the preceding particle it yields 'nothing'. A relative-style clause follows to describe which thing. It is what the line asserts is never lost through wrong.
From: On Foolishness and Wisdom →أعلم أن من استخف بالقرآن أو المصحف أو بشئ منه أو سبهما أو جحد حرفا منه أو كذب بشئ مما صرح به
He knew that whoever belittled the Qur'an or the mus'haf, or any part of it, or insulted both of them, or denied a letter of it, or lied about what it clearly states.
بشئ — about any part. A preposition 'with/at' fused to an indefinite noun 'a thing', so it means 'with any part'. The bi- carries the belittling onto this object and puts the noun in the (genitive) ending. The indefinite keeps it open, 'any portion at all'.
From: Honoring the Quran →أعلم أن من استخف بالقرآن أو المصحف أو بشئ منه أو سبهما أو جحد حرفا منه أو كذب بشئ مما صرح به
He knew that whoever belittled the Qur'an or the mus'haf, or any part of it, or insulted both of them, or denied a letter of it, or lied about what it clearly states.
بشئ — by a thing. A preposition 'about/with' fused to an indefinite noun 'a thing', so it means 'about anything'. The bi- links the lying to its object and puts the noun in the (genitive) ending. The indefinite keeps the scope open, 'anything at all'.
From: Honoring the Quran →
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