مع

See also: مغ

Arabic

Etymology

Cognate with Ugaritic 𐎎𐎓 (mʿ). Compare Hebrew עם (ím / ʕím).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ʕa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Preposition

مَعَ • (maʕa)

1. with, together with, accompanied by, in the company of

   Synonym: وَ (wa)

   Antonyms: بِدُونِ (bidūni), بِلَا (bilā)

2. in the estimation of, in the eyes of, in the opinion of
3. in spite of, despite, even with

   Synonym: بَيْدَ (bayda)

   مَعَ البَرْدْ، ذَهَبْتُ

   maʕa l-bard, ḏahabtu

   Even with the cold, I [still] went

4. toward, in relation to
5. pro, for, advocate of, supporting
6. have

   Synonyms: لَدَا (ladā), لَدَى (ladā), لَدُنْ (ladun), عِنْدَ (ʕinda), لِ (li)

Usage notes

مَعَ • (maʕa) is used to mean "to have" when the object possessed is small and on the possessor's person. The possessor is expressed as the object of the preposition.

Inflection

Inflected forms
Base form					مَعَ (maʕa)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Dual	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Common	Masculine	Feminine
First person	مَعِي (maʕī)		مَعَنَا (maʕanā)
Second person	مَعَكَ (maʕaka)	مَعَكِ (maʕaki)	مَعَكُمَا (maʕakumā)	مَعَكُمْ (maʕakum)	مَعَكُنَّ (maʕakunna)
Third person	مَعَهُ (maʕahu)	مَعَهَا (maʕahā)	مَعَهُمَا (maʕahumā)	مَعَهُمْ (maʕahum)	مَعَهُنَّ (maʕahunna)

Derived terms

• مَعًا (maʕan, “together”)

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: مع (maʕa)
• Hijazi Arabic: مع (maʕ)
• Maltese: ma’
• Moroccan Arabic: مع (mʕa)
• Tunisian Arabic: مع (mʕa)

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَ (maʕa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məʕə/

Preposition

مع • (maʕa)

1. with, together with, in the company of

   Synonym: ويا (wiya)

   1. (by extension) to have

   Synonym: عند (ʕind)

2. pro-, for, advocate of, supporting

   Antonym: ضد (ð̣id)

   Synonym: ويا (wiya)

Usage notes

Unlike other prepositions, مع (maʕa) can be used with the verb negation particle ما (mā) (as well as the regular preposition negation particle مو (mū)), especially in its inflected forms.

Inflection

Inflected forms of مع
Base form					مع (maʕa)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		معاي (maʕāy)		معانا (maʕāna)
2nd person		معاك (maʕāk)	معاچ (maʕāč)	معاكم (maʕākum)
3rd person		معاه (maʕā)	معاها (maʕāha)	معاهم (maʕāhum)

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَ (maʕa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʕ/, /maʕa/

Preposition

مع • (maʕ)

1. with, together with, in the company of

   حروح معاك

   ḥarūḥ maʕāk

   I will go with you

2. in spite of, despite
3. toward, in relation to
4. pro, for, advocate of, supporting

Inflection

Inflected forms of مع
Base form					مع (maʕ)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		معاي (maʕāya)		معانا (maʕāna)
2nd person		معاك (maʕāk)	معاكي (maʕāki)	معاكم (maʕākum)
3rd person		معاه (maʕā)	معاها (maʕāha)	معاهم (maʕāhum)

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَ (maʕa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʕa/

Conjunction

مع • (mʕa)

1. as (at the same instant that)

   مع جيت، مشى ينعس. ― mʕa jīt, mša yinʕas ― As I came, he went to sleep.

Preposition

مع • (mʕa)

1. with, together with, in the company of

   ماش نخرج معاه. ― māš nuḵruj mʕāh ― I will go out with him.

2. pro, for, advocate of, supporting

   آنا مع البارصا فهاد الدوري.

   ʔāna mʕa l-bārṣa f-hād ed-dawri

   I am supporting FC Barcelona in this tournament.

Inflection

Inflected forms of مع
Base form					مع (mʕa)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		معاي (mʕāy, mʕāya)		معانا (mʕāna)
2nd person		معاك (mʕāk)	معاكي (mʕāki)	معاكم (mʕākum)
3rd person		معاه (mʕāh)	معاها (mʕāha)	معاهم (mʕāhum)

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَ (maʕa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʕ/, [maʕ]

• Audio (Jerusalem):

  (file)

Preposition

مع • (maʕ)

1. with, together with, in the company of
2. (by extension) to have

   Synonyms: عند (ʕind), إلـ (ʔil-)

Inflection

(variant A):

Inflected forms of مع
Base form					مع (maʕ)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		معي (maʕi)		معنا (maʕna)
2nd person		معك (maʕak)	معك (maʕek)	معكم (maʕkom)
3rd person		معه (maʕo)	معها (maʕha)	معهم (maʕhom)

(variant B):

Inflected forms of مع
Base form					معا (maʕa)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		معاي (maʕāy)		معانا (maʕāna)
2nd person		معاك (maʕāk)	معاك (maʕāki)	معاكم (maʕākom)
3rd person		معاه (maʕā)	معاها (maʕāha)	معاهم (maʕāhom)

Tunisian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَ (maʕa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʕa/

Preposition

مع (mʕa)

1. with, together with, in the company of

   تحبشي تجي معايا؟

   tḥibbši tji mʕāya?

   Would you like to come with me?

Inflection

inflected forms of مع
Base form					مع (mʕa)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		معايا (mʕāya)		معانا (mʕāna)
2nd person		معاك (mʕāk)		معاكم (mʕākum)
3rd person		معاه (mʕāh)	معاها (mʕāha)	معاهم (mʕāhum)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَعَ (maʕa).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mə(ʔ)/

Preposition

مَع • (ma') (Hindi spelling मअ) (literary)

1. with, alongside

   Synonym: ساتھ (sāth)

Further reading

• “مع”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “مع”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “مع”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “مع”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “مع”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 1103
• John Shakespear (1834) “مع”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC