شيء thing in Arabic
شيء is how you say “thing” in Arabic.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Example sentence
فأيُّ شيء يسرق منه،
So what could he steal from it,
شَيْءٍ thing
The owner completing 'what thing', genitive (the tanwin) — 'what [of] thing'. The pairing 'which + thing' is how Arabic forms 'what thing at all'.
The English is machine-translated.
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More example sentences
وإن أراد سرقة شيء منه، فماذا يسرق؟،
And if he wanted to steal something from it, what could he steal?!
شَيْءٍ something
The owner completing 'theft of something', genitive (the tanwin). Indefinite, leaving the stolen item unspecified.
من خلق فِيهِ قُوَّة واستعداد لشَيْء كَانَت لذته فِي اسْتِعْمَال تِلْكَ الْقُوَّة فِيهِ
For the one created with strength and readiness for something, their pleasure is in using that strength for it.
لِشَيْءٍ for something
'Li-' (for) fused with 'a thing', genitive (the tanwin) — 'for some thing'. The 'li-' marks what the power and readiness are aimed at.
فقال ألا أعلمكم شيئًا تدركون به من سبقكم، وتسبقون به من بعدكم، ولا يكون أحد أفضل منكم إلا من صنع مثل ما صنعتم؟
He said: 'Shall I not teach you something by which you will catch up with those who have surpassed you, and you will surpass those after you, and no one will be better than you except those who do as you do?'
شَيْئًا something
This is the object of 'teach', in the accusative and indefinite — 'something', a means he is about to name. The indefiniteness holds the listeners in suspense; the relative clause that follows describes it.
ثُمَّ قَطَعَ دَابِرَهُمْ وَأَبْطَلَ سُنَّتَهُمْ وَمَحَا آثَارَهُمْ وَجَوْرَهُمْ فَإِنَّ أُولَئِكَ لَمْ يَكُونُوا عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِمَّا ذُكِرَ
Then He completely cut them off, nullified their traditions, erased their traces and tyranny, for they were not upon anything of what was mentioned.
شَيْءٍ anything
This noun lacks 'the' and ends in the indefinite mark, 'anything', governed by the preposition before it. Under the surrounding negation it gives 'not upon anything at all', the indefiniteness shown by the ending.
وَلَا يَجِيءُ فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ ذَلِكَ تَكَلَّمَ لَهُمْ بِكَذَا وَكَذَا،
And it is not fitting in any of that to say: 'He spoke to them with such and such',
شَيْءٍ any
An indefinite noun, 'anything/a thing', with no 'the', standing in the form the preposition before it imposes. Its indefinite, unmarked status is what gives the 'any' sense; Arabic leaves it bare precisely to keep the meaning open-ended.
وأنه لا يحدث شيء إلا بإرادته،
and that nothing happens except by His will,
شَيْءٌ anything
The thing that does not happen, 'anything', filling the verb's subject slot and so taking the subject ending. It is left indefinite, no 'the', precisely because the sentence is about anything at all.