أما

See also: آما‎, اما‎, and إما‎

أما - Arabic

أَمَّا • (ʔammā)

as for; followed by a noun or pronoun, itself followed by the particle فَـ‎ (fa-)

It doesn't affect the case of the noun that follows:
‏أَمَّا ٱلرَّجُلُ فَهُوَ فَقِيرٌ.‎‎ ― ʔammā r-rajulu fahuwa faqīrun. ― As for the man, he is poor.
‏أَمَّا ٱلرَّجُلَ ٱلْفَقِيرَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ!‎‎ ― ʔammā r-rajula l-faqīra falā taqhar! ― As for the poor man, don't oppress him!

Maltese: imma
Moroccan Arabic: أما‎ (ʔamma)
→ Azerbaijani: amma
→ Bashkir: әммә (ämmä)
→ Persian: اما‎ (ammâ)
→ Ottoman Turkish: اما‎ (ammâ)
- Turkish: ama
- → Albanian: ama (Kosovo)
- → Armenian: ամա (ama), ամմա (amma)
- → Laz: ამა (ama)
→ Urdu: اما‎ (ammâ)
→ Hausa: àmmā
- → Yoruba: àmọ́ (اموَْ)
  - → Gun: àmɔ́
- → Nupe: àmáà

أما • (ʔamma)

أما • (ʔamma)

whereas, as for, but
- ‏ألف شيكل ممكن اعطي ك — أمّا ألفين، هلا والله ما بقدر.‎‎
  - ʔalf šēkel mumken aʕṭīk, ʔamma ʔalfēn halla walla mā baʔdar.
  - I can give you a thousand shekels — as for two thousand, I really can't right now.
- ‏كل هادا، معليش — أمّا يكذب علي كمان؟‎‎
  - kull hāda, maʕlēš — ʔamma yikzeb ʕalay kamān?
  - All of this is fine — but that he should lie to me too?
- Synonym: بسّ‎ (bass)
used to indicate surprise or other strong feelings in an exclamation
- ‏دخلنا جول — أمّا شو جول!‎‎
  - daḵalna gōl — ʔamma šū gōl!
  - We scored a goal — what a goal!
- Synonym: ما‎ (ma)

Note that ما‎ (ma) can only be used in the third sense before an elative adjective, whereas أمّا‎ (ʔamma) is more flexible. Although أمّا‎ (ʔamma) could be used before an elative adjective, it is most commonly seen before a nominal phrase introduced by شو‎ (šū).