Arabic word sheet
سَأَلَ
To ask, to question
- Type
- verb
- Root
- س ء ل
Meaning and usage
To ask, to question
To ask someone for information, to question him about something one wants to know. What the question is about is most often introduced by a small word meaning “about”.
سَأَلَ الطَّالِبُ الْمُعَلِّمَ عَنِ الدَّرْسِ.
The student asked the teacher about the lesson.
To ask for something, to request
To ask someone to give a thing: an object, money, a favour. Also said of someone who lives on what people give him.
سَأَلَتْ لَيْلَى جَارَتَهَا قَلِيلًا مِنَ الْمِلْحِ.
Layla asked her neighbour for a little salt.
Word family
What the root means س ء ل
The root carries the idea of asking: seeking to know something, or seeking to be given something by someone. From it come the question, the matter one asks about, the one who asks, and asking one another.
question, request
سُؤَالٌ
question, matter, issue
مَسْأَلَةٌ
one who asks; beggar
سَائِلٌ
to ask one another, to wonder
تَسَاءَلَ
Synonyms
to inquire, to seek news
اِسْتَخْبَرَ
It matches only the sense of asking in order to know, in a more formal register, and is never used for asking to be given a thing.
to request, to seek
طَلَبَ
It matches the sense of asking for a thing and is broader: one may seek to obtain without saying a word to anyone, whereas the headword implies addressing someone.
Opposites
to answer
أَجَابَ