Arabic for how

kayf
ﻛَﻴﻒ
how –

The Arabic word ﻛَﻴﻒ means how. It is pronounced kayf.

About the audio files
Category: question words
Pattern: verbal noun

Using the word how

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Important letters:
The root of the word how consists of three Arabic letters: kaf that is written and pronounced k, ya that is written and pronounced y and fa that is written and pronounced f. Words with the same root letters are often related.

Words related to how

The word how letter by letter

ﻛَﻴﻒ
ﻛـ
ـﻴـ
ـﻒ
 
ﻛـ
ـﻴـ
ـﻒ
 
ﻛـ
ـﻜـ
ـﻚ
ﻳـ
ـﻴـ
ـﻲ
ﻓـ
ـﻔـ
ـﻒ
 
kaf
k
ya
y
fa
f
 
 
The Arabic word for how consists of: The letter kaf that is written ﻙ ( here ﻛـ ) and pronounced k and is a part of the root of the word. The short vowel a that is written as the sign َ above the letter. The letter ya that is written ﻱ ( here ـﻴـ ) and pronounced y and is a part of the root of the word. The letter fa that is written ﻑ ( here ـﻒ ) and pronounced f and is a part of the root of the word. Therefore, the word is writen ﻛَﻴﻒ and pronounced kayf.
Arabic is written from right to left. Short vowels are placed above or under the letters, the are usually omitted.
Learn how to write with Arabic letters

The pattern for how

fa3l becomes kayf

We have seen that the Arabic word for how is written ﻛَﻴﻒ and pronounced kayf. It follows the pattern verbal noun form 1. All Arabic words with this pattern has the structure fa3l where f, 3 and l is replaced with the root letters of the word.
Since the pattern is fa3l and the root letters are k, y and f, the word becomes kayf.
All Arabic words with the same pattern follow the same structure. If you know the pattern and root of a word, you can often guess its meaning. Learn more about Arabic word patterns

Words with the same pattern as how