Arabic word sheet
سَمِعَ
To hear
- Type
- verb
- Root
- س م ع
Meaning and usage
To hear
To perceive a sound, a voice or words with the ear, whether one meant to or not.
سَمِعَ سَامِي صَوْتَ الْجَرَسِ
Sami heard the sound of the bell.
To listen to
To lend an ear to someone or something on purpose; in this sense the verb is followed by a small word meaning "to".
سَمِعَتْ لَيْلَى إِلَى كَلَامِ جَدَّتِهَا
Layla listened to her grandmother's words.
To hear of
To learn of a thing or a piece of news because people are talking about it.
سَمِعَ الْجِيرَانُ بِالْخَبَرِ
The neighbours heard of the news.
To heed, to obey
To do what someone says after hearing it: to follow his advice or his order.
سَمِعَ الْوَلَدُ لِأَبِيهِ وَرَتَّبَ غُرْفَتَهُ
The boy heeded his father and tidied his room.
Word family
What the root means س م ع
The root carries the idea of perceiving with the ear. From it come the words for hearing, the hearer, lending an ear and making someone hear something.
hearing
hearing, listening
سَمَاعٌ
to make hear
to listen attentively
to lend an ear, to listen out
تَسَمَّعَ
hearer, listener
سَامِعٌ
Synonyms
to lend an ear
أَصْغَى
Always deliberate: it means inclining the ear attentively, whereas the headword also covers what one hears without meaning to.
to obey
أَطَاعَ
It matches only the sense of obeying, and says it outright, without the image of listening.