Interrogative particle
هَلْ asks pure yes/no. The hamza is subtler: it can ask yes/no, offer alternatives with أَمْ (“is it this or that?”), and — constantly in the Quran — ask rhetorically: أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ expects no information, it makes a point. Both are particles, so they fill no i'rab slot; the question nouns (مَنْ، مَا، كَيْفَ…) are the ones that do.
| # | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | الْهَمْزَة (أَ) | al-hamza | asks about the sentence, or offers a choice between two things |
| 2 | هَلْ | hal | asks whether something is so — and expects yes or no |
Everything else that asks a question — مَنْ، مَا، مَتَى، أَيْنَ، كَيْفَ، كَمْ، أَيّ — is a noun, not a particle. Those are gathered on the اسْم اسْتِفْهَام page.
What is the difference between the two question particles?
One expects a yes-or-no answer and is neutral about it. The other can also be used to ask about a choice between two things, and it is the one that combines with negation to ask a question that expects agreement.
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