Prepositions can be used with question words in Arabic  just like English to make questions like from where? or where to? Examples of these questions can be found below:

من أين أنت؟

“Where are you from?”

إلى أين نذهب؟

“Where do we go?”

إلى متى الانتظار؟

“Until when do you wait?”

Certain prepositions like (من) and (عن) can join question words like (ماذا) to make one much shorter word which can be confusing to new learners of Arabic. Consider the following examples:

عمّ (= عن + ماذا) تتكلمون؟

“What are you talking about?”

ممّ (= من + ماذا) يتكون هذا الطبق؟

“What does this dish consist of?”

فيم (= في + ماذا)  يتخصص الطبيب؟

“What is the doctor specialized in?”

It is important to recognize these constructions and also to use them appropriately.