نَظَرَ / يَنْظُرُ is the basic Form-I verb for directing one's gaze or attention, from the sound root ن-ظ-ر. Its English translation changes with its complement: نظر إلى means “look at,” while نظر في means “look into, examine, or consider.” That preposition is part of the meaning, not optional decoration.
English look, watch, consider, and wait overlap only partly with نظر. Contemporary MSA normally uses شاهد + direct object for watching a film or event, نظر في for deliberating on a matter, and انتظر for ordinary waiting. This page keeps those frames separate and also labels older fixed uses rather than presenting them as everyday synonyms.
For sustained viewing rather than directed attention, compare the dedicated شاهد reference.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | ن-ظ-ر، Form I | sound verb |
| perfect | نَظَرَ | he looked / considered |
| imperfect | يَنْظُرُ | he looks / is considering |
| imperative | اُنْظُرْ | look! / consider! |
| maṣdar | نَظَرٌ | looking, consideration; also sight or view by context |
| active participle | نَاظِرٌ | one looking; observer; also superintendent in lexicalized uses |
| passive | نُظِرَ — يُنْظَرُ | was/is examined or considered, chiefly formal institutional prose |
| passive participle | مَنْظُورٌ | considered; pending before a court in a fixed legal collocation |
The ordinary sound-verb stems remain stable: نَظَرْتُ، نَظَرْنَا، يَنْظُرُونَ. The imperative begins with hamzat al-waṣl: it is written انظر, vocalized اُنْظُرْ, and loses its initial vowel after a preceding word, as in وانظر wa-nẓur “and look.”
نظرت إلى الشاشة فرأيت رسالة جديدة.
naẓartu ʾilā sh-shāshati faraʾaytu risālatan jadīda.
I looked at the screen and saw a new message. (Formal neutral.)
ينظر المجلس في الطلبات مرة كل أسبوع.
yanẓuru l-majlisu fī ṭ-ṭalabāti marratan kulla ʾusbūʿ.
The council reviews the applications once a week. (Formal institutional register.)
A compact working paradigm
Because نظر is sound, mood changes affect the ending without changing its consonantal stem.
| Environment | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| perfect samples | نَظَرَ، نَظَرَتْ، نَظَرْتُ، نَظَرُوا | he/she/I/they looked |
| indicative | يَنْظُرُ، تَنْظُرِينَ، يَنْظُرُونَ | looks; you f.sg. look; they look |
| subjunctive | لَنْ يَنْظُرَ، لَنْ يَنْظُرُوا | will not look |
| jussive | لَمْ يَنْظُرْ، لَمْ يَنْظُرُوا | did not look |
| imperatives | اُنْظُرْ، اُنْظُرِي، اُنْظُرُوا | look! by addressee |
لن تنظر اللجنة في الاعتراض قبل وصول الملف الكامل.
lan tanẓura l-lajnatu fī l-iʿtirāḍi qabla wuṣūli l-malaffi l-kāmil.
The committee will not consider the appeal before the complete file arrives. (Formal; subjunctive after لن.)
لم ينظر القاضي في القضية أمس بسبب غياب شاهد.
lam yanẓuri l-qāḍī fī l-qaḍiyyati ʾamsi bisababi ghiyābi shāhid.
The judge did not hear the case yesterday because a witness was absent. (Formal legal register; linking i before the article.)
انظروا إلى الخريطة قبل أن تختاروا الطريق.
unẓurū ʾilā l-kharīṭati qabla ʾan takhtārū ṭ-ṭarīq.
Look at the map before you choose the route. (Formal instruction to a group.)
Ranked senses and government
1. Direct the eyes: نظر إلى
For intentional visual attention, the default frame is نظر إلى + noun/pronoun. The object of attention follows إلى; it is not normally a bare direct object in contemporary neutral MSA. English can say “look at me,” while Arabic packages “at” into the verb phrase: انظر إليّ.
نظر الطبيب إلى صورة الأشعة ثم طلب فحصا إضافيا.
naẓara ṭ-ṭabību ʾilā ṣūrati l-ʾashiʿʿati thumma ṭalaba faḥṣan ʾiḍāfiyyan.
The doctor looked at the X-ray image and then requested another test. (Formal neutral.)
نظرت إليه طويلا، لكنها لم تتذكر أين رأته من قبل.
naẓarat ʾilayhi ṭawīlan, lākinnahā lam tatadhakkar ʾayna raʾathu min qabl.
She looked at him for a long time, but she could not remember where she had seen him before. (Formal neutral.)
2. Examine or consider: نظر في
With في, visual direction becomes intellectual or procedural examination. Individuals ينظرون في الخيارات “consider the options,” while courts, committees, and agencies تنظر في القضايا والطلبات “examine/hear cases and applications.” This is one of the verb's most frequent formal uses.
سننظر في جميع الخيارات قبل اتخاذ القرار النهائي.
sa-nanẓuru fī jamīʿi l-khiyārāti qabla ttikhādhi l-qarāri n-nihāʾiyy.
We will consider all the options before making the final decision. (Formal.)
نظر الباحث في السجلات القديمة بحثا عن دليل.
naẓara l-bāḥithu fī s-sijillāti l-qadīmati baḥthan ʿan dalīl.
The researcher examined the old records in search of evidence. (Academic.)
3. Regard something from an angle: نظر إلى... بوصفه / على أنه
Formal analytical Arabic uses نظر إلى X بوصفه Y or نظر إلى X على أنه Y for “view/regard X as Y.” The إلى phrase introduces what is being viewed; بوصفه or على أنه supplies the interpretation.
ينظر كثير من الخبراء إلى التعليم المبكر بوصفه استثمارا طويل الأجل.
yanẓuru kathīrun mina l-khubarāʾi ʾilā t-taʿlīmi l-mubakkiri biwaṣfihi stithmāran ṭawīla l-ʾajal.
Many experts regard early education as a long-term investment. (Academic/formal.)
4. Waiting: fixed, literary, or older uses
Bare transitive نظر فلانا can mean “wait for someone” in Classical and older usage, but it is not the safe everyday MSA default. Contemporary prose normally uses انتظر فلانا. Learners are most likely to meet the older sense in the proverb إن غدا لناظره قريب “tomorrow is near for the one waiting for it” (literary/proverbial). Recognize it; do not generalize it to routine travel or appointments.
إن غدا لناظره قريب.
ʾinna ghadan lināẓirihi qarīb.
Tomorrow is near for the one who awaits it. (Literary proverb: what is coming will soon be known.)
Passive and participles
The visual sense is normally active, but the deliberative sense has a useful institutional passive: نُظر في الطلب “the application was considered” and يُنظَر في القضية “the case is being heard.” Because في still belongs to the frame, the item examined remains after في; it does not become a direct passive subject in this construction.
نظر في الشكوى خلال الجلسة المغلقة.
nuẓira fī sh-shakwā khilāla l-jalsati l-mughlaqa.
The complaint was considered during the closed session. (Formal institutional passive.)
The passive participle منظور is most useful in legal القضية المنظورة أمام المحكمة “the case pending before the court.” The active participle ناظر can mean “one looking,” but it also has lexicalized occupational meanings such as “superintendent” (formal, regionally variable), so context matters.
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| نَظَرَ إِلَى | look at; regard (neutral/formal) |
| نَظَرَ فِي الْأَمْرِ | consider/look into the matter (formal) |
| وَجْهَةُ نَظَرٍ | point of view (neutral) |
| نَظَرًا إِلَى | in view of / because of (formal connective) |
| بِالنَّظَرِ إِلَى | considering / with regard to (formal) |
| نَظَرَ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ | look at one another (neutral) |
نظرا إلى سوء الأحوال الجوية، أجلت الرحلة حتى الصباح.
naẓaran ʾilā sūʾi l-ʾaḥwāli l-jawwiyyati, ʾujjilati r-riḥlatu ḥattā ṣ-ṣabāḥ.
In view of the bad weather, the flight was postponed until morning. (Formal.)
Common Mistakes
Dropping إلى with visual “look at”
❌ نظر المدير التقرير بسرعة.
Incorrect for the intended neutral meaning ‘looked at the report’—use إلى. A bare object belongs to older or specialized senses and does not express this default frame.
✅ نظر المدير إلى التقرير بسرعة.
naẓara l-mudīru ʾilā t-taqrīri bisurʿa.
The director looked at the report quickly.
Using إلى for institutional examination
❌ ستنظر المحكمة إلى القضية غدا.
Incorrect for ‘hear/examine the case’—إلى suggests looking toward it; procedural examination takes في.
✅ ستنظر المحكمة في القضية غدا.
sa-tanẓuru l-maḥkamatu fī l-qaḍiyyati ghadā.
The court will hear the case tomorrow.
Using نظر for watching an unfolding program
❌ نظرنا إلى المباراة كاملة مساء أمس.
Awkward for watching the whole match—نظر إلى focuses on directing the gaze, not sustained viewing.
✅ شاهدنا المباراة كاملة مساء أمس.
shāhadnā l-mubārāta kāmilatan masāʾa ʾams.
We watched the entire match yesterday evening.
Using the older waiting sense as the modern default
❌ نظرت الحافلة نصف ساعة.
Incorrect for ordinary ‘waited for the bus’ in contemporary MSA—use انتظر with a direct object.
✅ انتظرت الحافلة نصف ساعة.
intaẓartu l-ḥāfilata niṣfa sāʿa.
I waited for the bus for half an hour.
Key Takeaways
- نَظَرَ — يَنْظُرُ — اُنْظُرْ is a regular sound Form-I set from ن-ظ-ر.
- Use إلى for visual direction and في for examination, deliberation, and formal case review.
- Use شاهد + direct object for watching a film, match, or unfolding event.
- Ordinary “wait for” is انتظر + direct object; bare نظر in that sense is fixed, literary, or older.
- The passive نُظر في and legal منظور أمام المحكمة are productive formal frames.
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- سمع — hearB1 — Conjugate سمع and distinguish direct auditory perception, hearing of news, clausal reports, sources, and intentional listening.
- شاهد — watch or observe as a Form III transitive verbB1 — Conjugate شاهد and use its direct-object frames for watching, viewing, witnessing, and formal observation.
- كان — beA2 — Reference the hollow verb كان across its full paradigm, copular and existential senses, predicate case, conditionals, and high-frequency collocations.