سَمَحَ expresses permission, authorization, or the fact that circumstances make something possible. Its grammar is not the same as English allow: the permitted person normally follows لـ, while the permitted thing or action follows بـ + noun/verbal noun or an أنْ clause. Thus “the guard allowed us to enter” is سمح لنا الحارس بالدخول or سمح لنا الحارس بأن ندخل.
The verb is a sound Form-I verb from root س-م-ح: سَمَحَ يَسْمَحُ. Because the root ends in the guttural ح, the imperfect uses a before the final radical. That vowel and the two prepositions belong in the lexical entry; the Form-I overview gives the larger conjugational contrast.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | س-م-ح، Form I | sound verb, فَعَلَ يَفْعَلُ |
| perfect | سَمَحَ | he allowed / permitted |
| imperfect indicative | يَسْمَحُ | he allows / permits |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | اِسْمَحْ | allow!; permit! |
| verbal noun | سَمَاحٌ | permission, allowing |
| active participle | سَامِحٌ | allowing, lenient; uncommon as a simple agent label |
| passive | سُمِحَ — يُسْمَحُ | was / is permitted |
| passive participle | مَسْمُوحٌ بِهِ | permitted, allowed |
The principal-parts chain is سَمَحَ — يَسْمَحُ — اِسْمَحْ — سَمَاحًا. The initial alif in the command is hamzat al-waṣl: ismaḥ initially, but واسمح is pronounced wasmaḥ in connected speech. The active participle سامح must not be confused with the Form-III verb سَامَحَ “forgave”; unvocalized script can conceal the difference between a participle and a finite verb.
سمحت الإدارة للموظفين بالعمل من المنزل يومين في الأسبوع.
samaḥati l-ʾidāratu lil-muwaẓẓafīna bil-ʿamali mina l-manzili yawmayni fī l-ʾusbūʿ.
The administration allowed employees to work from home two days a week. (Formal workplace register.)
يسمح النظام للمستخدم بتغيير كلمة المرور.
yasmaḥu n-niẓāmu lil-mustakhdimi bitaghyīri kalimati l-murūr.
The system allows the user to change the password. (Formal technical register.)
A compact working paradigm
As a sound verb, سمح retains all three root consonants: سَمَحْتُ، سَمَحْنَا، سَمَحُوا and أَسْمَحُ، نَسْمَحُ، تَسْمَحُ، يَسْمَحُ. Mood is regular: لن يسمحَ and لم يسمحْ. The commands are اِسْمَحْ، اِسْمَحِي، اِسْمَحَا، اِسْمَحُوا، اِسْمَحْنَ.
| Environment | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| perfect, 1 sg. | سَمَحْتُ | I allowed |
| indicative, 3 f.sg. | تَسْمَحُ | she / it allows |
| subjunctive | لَنْ يَسْمَحَ | he / it will not allow |
| jussive | لَمْ يَسْمَحْ | he / it did not allow |
| imperative | اِسْمَحْ | allow! / let! |
لن تسمح الجامعة بنشر النتائج قبل مراجعتها.
lan tasmaḥa l-jāmiʿatu binashri n-natāʾiji qabla murājaʿatihā.
The university will not permit publication of the results before reviewing them. (Formal academic.)
اسمحوا للركاب بالنزول قبل أن تصعدوا.
ismaḥū lir-rukkābi bin-nuzūli qabla ʾan taṣʿadū.
Allow passengers to get off before you board. (Formal public instruction.)
The passive is exceptionally useful because permissions are often announced without naming the authority: سُمح للزوار بالدخول “visitors were allowed to enter.” In the present, يُسمح بـ means “is permitted.” The passive participle generally retains بـ before the permitted matter: التصوير مسموح به.
سمح للصحفيين بدخول القاعة بعد انتهاء الاجتماع.
sumiḥa liṣ-ṣaḥafiyyīna bidukhūli l-qāʿati baʿda ntihāʾi l-ijtimāʿ.
Journalists were allowed to enter the hall after the meeting ended. (Formal passive.)
Ranked meanings and complement frames
1. Give a person permission: لـ + person + بـ + action
This is the clearest complete frame. لـ marks the beneficiary or permission-holder, while بـ introduces the permitted act, object, or access. The action is commonly a verbal noun: بالدخول، باستخدام، بالتقاط.
سمح الطبيب للمريض بمغادرة المستشفى صباحا.
samaḥa ṭ-ṭabību lil-marīḍi bimughādarati l-mustashfā ṣabāḥan.
The doctor allowed the patient to leave the hospital in the morning. (Formal medical.)
2. Use a finite action: لـ + person + أنْ / بأنْ
When a finite clause is preferable, both سمح له أن يفعل and سمح له بأن يفعل are established. بأنْ makes the connection to the permission frame explicit; the version without بـ is also normal. In both, أنْ governs the subjunctive.
سمحت له اللجنة بأن يعيد تقديم الطلب.
samaḥat lahu l-lajnatu biʾan yuʿīda taqdīma ṭ-ṭalab.
The committee allowed him to resubmit the application. (Formal administrative.)
سمح لنا المشرف أن نغادر بعد تسليم الأجهزة.
samaḥa lanā l-mushrifu ʾan nughādira baʿda taslīmi l-ʾajhiza.
The supervisor allowed us to leave after handing in the equipment. (Formal neutral.)
3. Rules or circumstances permit something
The subject need not be a person. A law, design, budget, schedule, or set of conditions may allow an action. This usage describes possibility created by a rule or situation rather than someone personally granting permission.
تسمح الميزانية بشراء جهازين إضافيين هذا الشهر.
tasmaḥu l-mīzāniyyatu bishirāʾi jihāzayni ʾiḍāfiyyayni hādhā sh-shahr.
The budget allows the purchase of two additional devices this month. (Formal.)
إذا سمح الوقت فسأجيب عن الأسئلة في النهاية.
ʾidhā samaḥa l-waqtu fa-saʾujību ʿani l-ʾasʾilati fī n-nihāya.
If time permits, I will answer questions at the end. (Formal presentation language.)
4. اسمح لي: a polite discourse formula
اسمح لي أن... is a conventional formal way to take the floor, offer a correction, or introduce an explanation: “allow me to...” It is polite but more formal than ordinary dialectal conversation.
اسمح لي أن أوضح الفرق بين الخيارين.
ismaḥ lī ʾan ʾuwaḍḍiḥa l-farqa bayna l-khiyārayn.
Allow me to explain the difference between the two options. (Formal/polite.)
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| سَمَحَ لَهُ بِالدُّخُولِ | allowed him to enter (formal-neutral) |
| سَمَحَ لَهُ بِأَنْ يَفْعَلَ | allowed him to do (formal) |
| إِذَا سَمَحَ الْوَقْتُ | if time permits (formal-neutral) |
| اِسْمَحْ لِي أَنْ | allow me to (polite/formal) |
| غَيْرُ مَسْمُوحٍ بِهِ | not permitted (notices/formal) |
| بِإِذْنٍ مُسْبَقٍ | with prior permission (administrative) |
Common Mistakes
Making the permitted person a direct object
❌ سمح المدير الموظف بالمغادرة.
Incorrect English transfer—the permission-holder normally follows لـ.
✅ سمح المدير للموظف بالمغادرة.
samaḥa l-mudīru lil-muwaẓẓafi bil-mughādara.
The director allowed the employee to leave.
Replacing permission بـ with من
❌ سمح للزوار من الدخول.
Incorrect—من belongs to the contrasting verb منع ‘prevent’; سمح introduces the permitted action with بـ.
✅ سمح للزوار بالدخول.
sumiḥa liz-zuwwāri bid-dukhūl.
Visitors were allowed to enter.
Keeping the indicative after أنْ
❌ سمح لهم أن يغادرون مبكرا.
Incorrect—the plural imperfect is subjunctive after أنْ, so final ن drops.
✅ سمح لهم أن يغادروا مبكرا.
samaḥa lahum ʾan yughādirū mubakkiran.
He allowed them to leave early.
Confusing سمح with سامح
❌ سامح لي بالدخول إلى المختبر.
Incorrect for ‘allow me’—سامح is the Form-III verb ‘forgive’; permission uses Form-I سمح.
✅ اسمح لي بالدخول إلى المختبر.
ismaḥ lī bid-dukhūli ʾilā l-mukhtabar.
Allow me to enter the laboratory.
Key Takeaways
- Learn سَمَحَ — يَسْمَحُ — اِسْمَحْ — سَمَاحًا as a sound Form-I bundle.
- Mark the permitted person with لـ and the permitted noun or action with بـ.
- A finite action may follow as أنْ or بأنْ + subjunctive.
- Use سُمح لـ... بـ... and مسموح به when the permission-giver is backgrounded.
Related Topics
- طلب — requestB1 — Conjugate طلب and separate its direct-object, من + person, أن-clause, seeking, summoning, and formal administrative frames.
- منع — prevent with من + maṣdar and take a direct person objectB1 — Conjugate منع and distinguish preventing a person with من, averting an event, banning an activity, and formal passive prohibition.
- كان — beA2 — Reference the hollow verb كان across its full paradigm, copular and existential senses, predicate case, conditionals, and high-frequency collocations.
- Form I: The Lexical BaseA2 — Learn why Form I must be stored through verified principal parts, stem-vowel class, valency, and maṣdar rather than one universal pattern.
- أن + Subjunctive ComplementB1 — Use light أن with a finite subjunctive complement, tracking who performs the embedded action and when a verbal noun is a better alternative.