Modern Standard Arabic does not package every bodily state in the same way that English does. A speaker feels something with أشعر بـ, suffers from something with أعاني من, and is affected or diagnosed with the participle مصاب بـ. The prepositions are part of these frames: they are not optional translations of English with, from, or by.
These expressions also locate the speaker on a register scale. أشعر بتعب is a neutral personal report, أعاني من إرهاق مزمن sounds more sustained or clinical, and مصاب بالتهاب رئوي presents a diagnosed condition. Controlling the frame therefore conveys stance as well as vocabulary.
Body-part reference has its own determiner choices; see Body Parts and Possessor Reference when a symptom is localized in الرأس، الظهر، اليد or another part.
Three frames, three viewpoints
| Frame | Fixed grammar | Variable slot | Usual viewpoint and register |
|---|---|---|---|
| أشعر بـ + noun | بـ governs a genitive noun phrase | ألم، دوار، تعب، تحسن، قلق | the experiencer reports a sensation or feeling; neutral MSA |
| أعاني من + noun | من governs a genitive noun phrase | حساسية، أرق، صداع، مرض مزمن | an ongoing, recurrent, or burdensome problem; neutral to clinical |
| مصاب بـ + noun | the participle agrees with the person; بـ introduces the condition | عدوى، التهاب، إصابة، مرض | an affected or diagnosed state; medical and news reporting |
The words in the variable column are substitutions, but not every symptom fits every head equally well. أشعر بألم is an immediate perception; أعاني من ألم مزمن presents pain as a continuing problem. مصاب بألم is normally a poor pairing because pain is felt, whereas an infection or disease is something with which a person can be described as مصاب.
أشعر بـ: the experiencer's report
شَعَرَ — يَشْعُرُ “feel, perceive” takes بـ before a nominal sensation in this meaning. The subject is the experiencer, and the noun after بـ names what reaches that person's awareness.
أشعر بألم حاد في أسفل الظهر منذ صباح أمس
ʾashʿuru bi-ʾalamin ḥāddin fī ʾasfali ẓ-ẓahri mundhu ṣabāḥi ʾams
I have felt a sharp pain in my lower back since yesterday morning. (neutral/formal MSA)
تشعر المريضة بتحسن واضح بعد العلاج
tashʿuru l-marīḍatu bitaḥassunin wāḍiḥin baʿda l-ʿilāj
The patient feels noticeably better after the treatment. (literally, ‘feels a clear improvement’)
The second example shows a useful nonliteral equivalence. English naturally uses the adjective better; Arabic can use the event noun تحسن “improvement” inside the same أشعر بـ frame. This is productive, but the result must still be an attested state or sensation, not any noun that happens to follow English feel.
With a proposition rather than a noun, Arabic changes structure: أشعر أن حالتي تتحسن “I feel that my condition is improving.” That أنّ clause expresses a judgment about a situation. It does not cancel the nominal frame أشعر بـ; the two complements do different jobs.
أشعر أن حرارتي ترتفع كل مساء
ʾashʿuru ʾanna ḥarāratī tartafiʿu kulla masāʾ
I feel that my temperature rises every evening. (a judgment expressed as a clause)
أعاني من: a problem with duration or burden
عَانَى — يُعَانِي is a Form III final-weak verb. In the health frame it governs من, and the condition is normally presented as troublesome, recurrent, or lasting. It is stronger than a momentary أشعر بـ and can sound clinical when the following noun is a diagnosis.
أعاني من حساسية شديدة تجاه الفول السوداني
ʾuʿānī min ḥasāsiyyatin shadīdatin tijāha l-fūli s-sūdāniyy
I suffer from a severe peanut allergy.
يعاني كثير من الموظفين من الإرهاق بسبب ساعات العمل الطويلة
yuʿānī kathīrun mina l-muwaẓẓafīna mina l-ʾirhāqi bisababi sāʿāti l-ʿamali ṭ-ṭawīla(h)
Many employees suffer from exhaustion because of the long working hours. (formal report style)
The same frame extends beyond medicine when a situation is construed as a persistent difficulty: تعاني المدينة من نقص المياه “the city suffers from a water shortage.” That is productive metaphor, not a separate preposition. In everyday health questions, however, do not inflate a minor passing feeling into أعاني من unless duration or burden is intended.
مصاب بـ: an agreeing participle
مُصَاب is the passive participle associated with أَصَابَ “afflict, strike, injure.” As an adjective or nominal predicate it agrees with the affected person in gender and number. Its بـ phrase identifies the illness, infection, or injury.
المريض مصاب بالتهاب رئوي ويحتاج إلى المراقبة
al-marīḍu muṣābun bi-ltihābin riʾawiyyin wayaḥtāju ʾilā l-murāqaba(h)
The patient has pneumonia and needs monitoring. (clinical; literally, ‘is affected by a pulmonary inflammation’)
الممرضتان مصابتان بعدوى فيروسية خفيفة
al-mumarriḍatāni muṣābatāni biʿadwā fayrūsiyyatin khafīfa(h)
The two nurses have a mild viral infection. (subject-first dual agreement)
أعلنت الوزارة أن ثلاثة أشخاص مصابون بالمرض
ʾaʿlanati l-wizāratu ʾanna thalāthata ʾashkhāṣin muṣābūna bil-maraḍ
The ministry announced that three people had the disease. (formal/news)
In the last example مصابون is human masculine plural because it predicates a condition of أشخاص. English has does not reveal this agreement; Arabic requires the participle to match its controller. For an injury whose location is central, the finite passive may be more direct: أصيب اللاعب في ركبته “the player was injured in his knee.”
A clinical exchange and register choices
قال الطبيب: هل تشعرين بدوار عندما تقفين؟ قالت: نعم، لكنني لا أعاني من الغثيان
qāla ṭ-ṭabību: hal tashʿurīna biduwārin ʿindamā taqifīna? qālat: naʿam, lākinnanī lā ʾuʿānī mina l-ghathayān
The doctor said, ‘Do you feel dizzy when you stand?’ She said, ‘Yes, but I do not suffer from nausea.’ (formal clinical dialogue)
Formal MSA is appropriate in medical forms, cross-regional interviews, news, and prepared patient information. In spontaneous local conversation, speakers normally use their dialect's health vocabulary and pronunciation. Those forms are legitimate (informal, regional), but inserting one without a label into an MSA sentence falsely presents it as the cross-regional default.
English speakers also tend to overuse لدي “I have.” It is grammatical in لدي حساسية من البنسلين, especially on a form, but the three frames above add information: felt experience, sustained suffering, or diagnosed state. The best choice is the one that matches the speaker's intended viewpoint.
Common Mistakes
Dropping the governed preposition after أشعر
❌ أشعر ألما في صدري
Incorrect valency—nominal أشعر requires بـ before the sensation.
✅ أشعر بألم في صدري منذ الفجر
ʾashʿuru bi-ʾalamin fī ṣadrī mundhu l-fajr
I have felt pain in my chest since dawn.
Copying English with after suffer
❌ أعاني بحساسية موسمية
Incorrect preposition—أعاني in this frame governs من, not بـ.
✅ أعاني من حساسية موسمية في الربيع
ʾuʿānī min ḥasāsiyyatin mawsimiyyatin fī r-rabīʿ
I suffer from a seasonal allergy in spring.
Failing to make the participle agree
❌ المريضة مصاب بالإنفلونزا
Incorrect agreement—مصاب must be feminine singular with المريضة.
✅ المريضة مصابة بالإنفلونزا وتتعافى في المنزل
al-marīḍatu muṣābatun bil-ʾinfilūnzā watataʿāfā fī l-manzil
The patient has influenza and is recovering at home.
Substituting مصاب for every unpleasant sensation
❌ أنا مصاب بالتعب بعد الرحلة
Unnatural collocation for ordinary tiredness—التعب is normally felt; مصاب suggests a condition that afflicts or injures.
✅ أشعر بتعب شديد بعد الرحلة الطويلة
ʾashʿuru bitaʿabin shadīdin baʿda r-riḥlati ṭ-ṭawīla(h)
I feel very tired after the long journey.
Leaving a regional alternative unlabeled
أنا تعبان كتير من مبارح
ʾanā taʿbān ktīr min mbāriḥ
I've been very tired since yesterday. (informal, regional: Levantine—not the neutral MSA model)
✅ أشعر بتعب شديد منذ أمس
ʾashʿuru bitaʿabin shadīdin mundhu ʾams
I have felt very tired since yesterday. (formal MSA)
Key Takeaways
- أشعر بـ reports an experienced sensation; أعاني من frames a sustained burden; مصاب بـ classifies an affected or diagnosed person.
- Keep بـ، من، بـ with their respective nominal frames; English prepositions do not predict Arabic valency.
- مصاب is a participle and agrees with the person it describes.
- Separate productive substitution from lexical compatibility: pain can be felt, while infections and diseases commonly occur with مصاب.
- Label clinical, news, and regional usage so learners know where a natural expression belongs.
Related Topics
- Study and Work CollocationsA2 — Describe subjects, institutions, graduation, employers, roles, and projects with درس، تخرج, and عمل in their productive frames.
- Possession and Need FramesA2 — Express what someone has, lacks, owns, or needs with عند، لدى، لـ, and احتاج إلى.
- Introductions and Personal InformationA1 — Introduce yourself and exchange names, origins, residence, and work through productive Modern Standard Arabic frames.