Topic: Interrogative Adverbs
| English |
Colloquial Hebrew |
Formal Hebrew |
| Where? |
איפה (éifo) |
היכן (heichán) |
| When? |
מתי (matái) |
אימתי (éimatai) |
| How? |
איך (eich) |
כיצד (keitzád) |
| Why? |
למה (lamá) |
מדוע (madúa) |
Notes
- אֵי־ is the ancient interrogative element meaning “which / where”. It peeks out in אֵיפֹה, אֵימָתַי, אֵיךְ.
- Colloquial למה is literally “to-what?”, while loftier מדוע is “from-what (that is) known”.
- Formal היכן, כיצד are rabbinic/Aramaic hybrids that glue the old interrogative אֵי / כֵּי onto everyday words כָּן “here/so” and צַד “side, direction”.
- למה can also mean “for what” like in הם צריכים להיות אחראים למה שהם עושים - they must be responsible for what they are doing.