سَمِعَ is the ordinary Form-I verb for hearing a sound, words, or news. It comes from root س-م-ع and is a sound verb, but its stem vowels must still be memorized: سَمِعَ in the perfect and يَسْمَعُ in the imperfect. Nothing in the unvocalized spelling tells an English-speaking learner that the first form has i and the second a.
The most important distinction is semantic rather than morphological. سمع الصوت means that a sound reached someone's hearing; استمع إلى الصوت presents deliberate listening and attention. سمع بالخبر means “heard of/about the news,” while سمع أن... reports the proposition heard. English often uses hear for all of these, but Arabic changes the frame to show what kind of hearing is involved.
The supporting vowel in اسمع follows the system explained in imperative formation. Attached-object patterns such as سمعته، سمع به، سمع منه connect to the broader register and clitic guide.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | س-م-ع، Form I | sound verb, فَعِلَ — يَفْعَلُ pattern |
| perfect | سَمِعَ | he heard |
| imperfect indicative | يَسْمَعُ | he hears / can hear |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | اِسْمَعْ | listen! / hear me out! |
| verbal nouns | سَمْعٌ، سَمَاعٌ | hearing; listening / audition according to context |
| active participle | سَامِعٌ | hearer; someone who hears |
| passive | سُمِعَ — يُسْمَعُ | was heard — is heard / audible |
| passive participle | مَسْمُوعٌ | heard; audible |
The principal-parts chain is سَمِعَ — يَسْمَعُ — اِسْمَعْ — سَمْعًا / سَمَاعًا. Both verbal nouns are established; سَمْع often names the faculty or sense of hearing, while سَمَاع commonly names hearing/listening as an event or practice. Their meanings overlap, and fixed collocations determine the natural choice.
سمعت صوت الماء خلف الجدار.
samiʿtu ṣawta l-māʾi khalfa l-jidār.
I heard the sound of water behind the wall. (Formal neutral.)
يسمع الجيران الموسيقى من الشقة العلوية كل مساء.
yasmaʿu l-jīrānu l-mūsīqā mina sh-shaqqati l-ʿulwiyyati kulla masāʾ.
The neighbors hear music from the upstairs apartment every evening. (Formal neutral.)
Compact conjugation, moods, and commands
The perfect uses سَمِعْـ before consonant-initial suffixes: سَمِعْتُ، سَمِعْتَ، سَمِعْنَا، سَمِعْنَ. Elsewhere it has سَمِعَـ: سَمِعَ، سَمِعَتْ، سَمِعَا، سَمِعُوا. The imperfect forms include أَسْمَعُ، تَسْمَعُ، يَسْمَعُ، نَسْمَعُ.
Mood changes only the final ending: يَسْمَعُ indicative, لَنْ يَسْمَعَ subjunctive, and لَمْ يَسْمَعْ jussive. The imperative needs an initial hamzat al-waṣl because the command stem begins with two consonants: اِسْمَعْ، اِسْمَعِي، اِسْمَعَا، اِسْمَعُوا، اِسْمَعْنَ. At the beginning of an utterance, pronounce the initial i; after a preceding word, it elides.
لن يسمع المتصل الرسالة ما دام مكبر الصوت معطلا.
lan yasmaʿa l-muttaṣilu r-risālata mā dāma mukabbiru ṣ-ṣawti muʿaṭṭalā.
The caller will not hear the message while the loudspeaker is out of order. (Formal technical context; subjunctive after لن.)
لم نسمع جرس الإنذار بسبب أعمال الحفر.
lam nasmaʿ jarasa l-ʾindhāri bisababi ʾaʿmāli l-ḥafr.
We did not hear the alarm because of the excavation work. (Formal neutral.)
اسمع التسجيل مرة أخرى قبل أن تجيب.
ismaʿi t-tasjīla marratan ʾukhrā qabla ʾan tujīb.
Listen to the recording once more before answering. (Formal instruction to one man; سمع is used imperatively as ‘listen/pay attention.’)
The imperative naturally acquires a directive sense, “listen!” or “hear this,” even though the ordinary declarative verb often describes unintentional perception. This is not a contradiction: commanding someone to “hear” pragmatically asks them to direct their attention.
Ranked meanings and valency
1. Perceive a sound or speaker: direct object
The thing, voice, words, or person heard is a direct object: سمع صوتا، سمع الخبر، سمع المتحدث. With a person, the sentence normally means hearing that person speak, not merely hearing about them.
سمعت الممرضة المريض يناديها من الغرفة المجاورة.
samiʿati l-mumarriḍatu l-marīḍa yunādīhā mina l-ghurfati l-mujāwira.
The nurse heard the patient calling her from the next room. (Formal neutral.)
هل تسمعني بوضوح أم أقترب من الميكروفون؟
hal tasmaʿunī biwuḍūḥin ʾam ʾaqtaribu mina l-mīkrūfūn?
Can you hear me clearly, or should I move closer to the microphone? (Formal neutral, addressing one man.)
The construction سمع شخصا يفعل combines a direct object with a following imperfect clause: the object is simultaneously the understood subject of the second verb. English has the same broad pattern in “heard the patient calling,” but Arabic still marks المريض as accusative when full case is pronounced.
2. Hear that something is true: أن and إن
A proposition may follow أَنَّ after the verb: سمعت أن الموعد تغير “I heard that the appointment changed.” In direct or loosely quoted report, إِنَّ may introduce the reported statement, especially after a pause, but أنَّ is the straightforward embedded complement for learners.
سمعنا أن الطريق الساحلي أغلق بسبب العاصفة.
samiʿnā ʾanna ṭ-ṭarīqa s-sāḥiliyya ʾughliqa bisababi l-ʿāṣifa.
We heard that the coastal road had been closed because of the storm. (Formal neutral.)
سمعت من زميل موثوق أن الموعد قدم يوما.
samiʿtu min zamīlin mawthūqin ʾanna l-mawʿida quddima yawmā.
I heard from a trusted colleague that the appointment had been moved one day earlier. (Formal neutral.)
The source follows من. This matters because English distinguishes hear from someone and hear about someone only by the preposition; Arabic does too, but with من versus بـ / عن.
3. Hear of or about: بـ
سَمِعَ بِـ means “heard of, learned of, became aware of.” The preposition attaches directly to the noun: سمع بالحادث، سمعت به. This is not auditory perception of the noun itself; it is receipt of information about it.
سمع المستثمرون بالتغيير قبل صدور البيان الرسمي.
samiʿa l-mustathmirūna bit-taghyīri qabla ṣudūri l-bayāni r-rasmiyy.
The investors heard about the change before the official statement was issued. (Formal.)
هل سمعت بهذا التطبيق من قبل؟
hal samiʿta bihādhā t-taṭbīqi min qabl?
Have you heard of this application before? (Formal neutral, addressing one man.)
سمع عن is also widespread in contemporary Arabic for “heard about,” and older dictionaries record additional listening frames such as سمع له، سمع إليه. For clear contemporary formal production, use bare direct object for what was audibly perceived, بـ for hearing of something, من for the information source, and استمع إلى for deliberate listening. These defaults describe a productive system without denying attested alternatives.
Hearing versus listening: سمع and استمع إلى
سمع does not by itself guarantee attention. A person can سمع ضوضاء accidentally or لم يسمع السؤال because the connection failed. استمع إلى profiles an intentional activity: listening to a lecture, a recording, advice, or another speaker. In real use, commands such as اسمعني and collocations such as سمع كلامه can imply attention or obedience, so the contrast is not “possible versus impossible”; it is the default viewpoint.
سمعت البث في المقهى، لكنني لم أستمع إليه بعناية.
samiʿtu l-baththa fī l-maqhā, lakinnanī lam ʾastamiʿ ʾilayhi biʿināya.
I heard the broadcast in the café, but I did not listen to it carefully. (Formal neutral.)
استمع القاضي إلى التسجيل كاملا قبل إصدار القرار.
istamaʿa l-qāḍī ʾilā t-tasjīli kāmilan qabla ʾiṣdāri l-qarār.
The judge listened to the entire recording before issuing the decision. (Formal legal register.)
Passive and participles
The passive is سُمِعَ — يُسْمَعُ. A sound or statement becomes the subject: سُمع صوت، تُسمع أصوات. The passive participle مسموع means “heard” or “audible” and appears in technical collocations such as نطاق مسموع “audible range.” Active سامع often needs context; for a regular audience member, مستمع “listener” is usually more idiomatic because it conveys intentional listening.
سمع دوي قوي في أنحاء المدينة قبيل الفجر.
sumiʿa dawiyyun qawiyyun fī ʾanḥāʾi l-madīnati qubayla l-fajr.
A loud boom was heard throughout the city shortly before dawn. (Formal journalistic passive.)
صوت المتحدث غير مسموع في الصفوف الخلفية.
ṣawtu l-mutaḥaddithi ghayru masmūʿin fī ṣ-ṣufūfi l-khalfiyya.
The speaker's voice is not audible in the back rows. (Formal neutral.)
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| سَمِعَ صَوْتًا | hear a sound (neutral) |
| سَمِعَ أَنَّ | hear that (neutral/formal) |
| سَمِعَ بِالْخَبَرِ | hear of/about the news (neutral/formal) |
| سَمِعَ مِنْ مَصْدَرٍ | hear from a source (formal) |
| سَمْعًا وَطَاعَةً | with willing obedience; literally hearing and obedience (formal/set phrase) |
| عَلَى مَرْأًى وَمَسْمَعٍ مِنْ | in full view and hearing of (formal/literary) |
Common Mistakes
Guessing the imperfect vowel
❌ هو يسمع الأخبار كل صباح.
yasmiʿu
Incorrect reading—the verified imperfect is يَسْمَعُ with a-vowel, not يَسْمِعُ.
✅ هو يسمع الأخبار كل صباح.
huwa yasmaʿu l-ʾakhbāra kulla ṣabāḥ.
He hears the news every morning.
Confusing the direct object with بـ
❌ سمعت بالمغنية في القاعة.
Incorrect for the intended ‘I heard the singer in the hall’—بـ means heard of/about her.
✅ سمعت المغنية في القاعة.
samiʿtu l-mughanniyata fī l-qāʿa.
I heard the singer in the hall.
Using عن for the source of information
❌ سمعت عن زميلي أن الرحلة ألغيت.
Incorrect for ‘heard from my colleague’—عن makes the colleague the topic; the source follows من.
✅ سمعت من زميلي أن الرحلة ألغيت.
samiʿtu min zamīlī ʾanna r-riḥlata ʾulghiyat.
I heard from my colleague that the flight had been canceled.
Omitting the imperative's supporting alif
❌ سمع التعليمات أولا.
Incorrect as a standard imperative—سمع is read as a perfect verb; the command is اسمع.
✅ اسمع التعليمات أولا.
ismaʿi t-taʿlīmāti ʾawwalā.
Listen to the instructions first.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize سمع، يسمع، اسمع، سماعا with the verified stem vowels.
- Use a direct object for a sound/person heard, بـ for hearing of something, من for the source, and أن for a reported proposition.
- Use استمع إلى when deliberate, sustained listening is central.
- Passive سُمِعَ — يُسْمَعُ and participle مَسْمُوع describe what was heard or is audible.
Related Topics
- تكلم — speak a language or converseB1 — Conjugate تكلم and distinguish speaking a language, speaking in a language, conversing with someone, and talking about a topic.
- نظر — look at with إلىB1 — Use نظر with إلى for visual attention, في for examination, and its distinct formal and fixed senses.
- كان — beA2 — Reference the hollow verb كان across its full paradigm, copular and existential senses, predicate case, conditionals, and high-frequency collocations.
- Deriving the Imperative from the JussiveA2 — Derive positive second-person imperatives by removing the imperfect prefix and supplying the correct initial vowel or hamza.
- Clitics in Formal Writing versus SpeechC1 — Keep the full Modern Standard Arabic suffix system distinct from regional spoken reductions and host-conditioned variants.