سأل / بيسأل saʾal / biyisʾal is the everyday Cairene verb “ask.” The person questioned is a direct object, while عن introduces the topic sought: سألت الموظف عن المعاد “I asked the employee about the appointment.” A full question can instead follow as content: سألته المعاد اتغير ولا لأ “I asked him whether the appointment had changed.”
The middle consonant is hamza /ʾ/, not a vowel break and not ع /ʿ/. It stays audible through سألت، بيسأل، اسأل. The written seat remains alif in these central forms, while the related noun سؤال puts hamza on waw. Track the consonant separately from its graphic seat.
Complete practical paradigm
These are mainstream urban Cairene forms (informal/neutral). Bare imperfect follows modals and other licensors; b-imperfect presents a current or recurring inquiry; joined حـ projects a future question.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | سَأَلْتْ saʾalt | أَسْأَلْ ʾasʾal | بَسْأَلْ basʾal | حَسْأَلْ ḥa-sʾal |
| إنت | سَأَلْتْ saʾalt | تِسْأَلْ tisʾal | بِتِسْأَلْ bitisʾal | حَتِسْأَلْ ḥa-tisʾal |
| إنتي | سَأَلْتِي saʾalti | تِسْأَلِي tisʾali | بِتِسْأَلِي bitisʾali | حَتِسْأَلِي ḥa-tisʾali |
| هو | سَأَلْ saʾal | يِسْأَلْ yisʾal | بِيِسْأَلْ biyisʾal | حَيِسْأَلْ ḥa-yisʾal |
| هي | سَأَلِتْ saʾalit | تِسْأَلْ tisʾal | بِتِسْأَلْ bitisʾal | حَتِسْأَلْ ḥa-tisʾal |
| إحنا | سَأَلْنَا saʾalna | نِسْأَلْ nisʾal | بِنِسْأَلْ binisʾal | حَنِسْأَلْ ḥa-nisʾal |
| إنتوا | سَأَلْتُوا saʾaltu | تِسْأَلُوا tisʾalu | بِتِسْأَلُوا bitisʾalu | حَتِسْأَلُوا ḥa-tisʾalu |
| هم | سَأَلُوا saʾalu | يِسْأَلُوا yisʾalu | بِيِسْأَلُوا biyisʾalu | حَيِسْأَلُوا ḥa-yisʾalu |
سألت موظفة الاستقبال عن نتيجة التحليل.
saʾalt mowaẓẓafit il-istiʾbāl ʿan natīgit it-taḥlīl.
I asked the receptionist about the test result.
ابني بيسأل أسئلة كتير لما يشوف حاجة جديدة.
ibni biyisʾal ʾasʾila kitīr lamma yishūf ḥāga gidīda.
My son asks lots of questions when he sees something new.
حنسألهم عن التفاصيل بعد ما الاجتماع يخلص.
ḥa-nisʾalhom ʿan it-tafāṣīl baʿd ma l-igtimāʿ yikhlaṣ.
We’ll ask them about the details after the meeting ends.
Person directly, topic with عن
The addressee follows directly: سأل مريم، سأل الدكتور، سألني. The subject matter follows عن: عن السعر، عن النتيجة، عنها. With both pronouns, each keeps its role: سألته عنها “I asked him about it/her.”
سألت البواب عن شقة فاضية في العمارة.
saʾalt il-bawwāb ʿan shaʾʾa fāḍya fil-ʿimāra.
I asked the doorman about an empty apartment in the building.
سألتها عنه، بس هي ماكانتش عارفة مكانه.
saʾaltha ʿanno, bass hiyya ma-kānitsh ʿārfa makāno.
I asked her about him, but she didn’t know where he was.
English ask someone something can also correspond to سأل حد سؤال: the person and the question noun are both overt. In ordinary clauses, this does not erase the productive عن frame for a topic.
الطالب سأل المدرس سؤال صعب في آخر المحاضرة.
iṭ-ṭālib saʾal il-modarris soʾāl ṣaʿb fi ʾākhir il-moḥāḍara.
The student asked the teacher a difficult question at the end of the lecture.
A whole question can follow
After the addressee, Cairene can place a yes/no or wh-question directly. There is no English auxiliary did to translate. In indirect questions, ordinary Egyptian preserves its own question order.
سألته القطر وصل ولا لسه.
saʾalto l-ʾaṭar wiṣil walla lissa.
I asked him whether the train had arrived yet.
المديرة سألتني ليه التقرير اتأخر.
il-modīra saʾalitni lēh it-taʾrīr itʾakhkhar.
The manager asked me why the report was late.
For fuller coverage of embedded question structure, see indirect questions.
Asking about, asking for, and requesting action
English ask for hides several Egyptian constructions. Use سأل عن to seek information about a thing. Use سأل على فلان to ask whether someone is there, ask for them at a door or office, or inquire after them (informal/neutral). Use طلب من حد حاجة / طلب منه يعمل when making a genuine request for an item or action.
خبطت على المكتب وسألت على الأستاذ سامح.
khabaṭt ʿala l-maktab wi-saʾalt ʿala l-ʾostāz Sāmiḥ.
I knocked at the office and asked for Mr. Sameh.
سألت عن الفاتورة، وبعدين طلبت منهم يبعتوا الأصل.
saʾalt ʿan il-fātūra, wi-baʿdēn ṭalabt minhom yibʿatu l-ʾaṣl.
I asked about the invoice, then requested that they send the original.
طلبت من جاري يوطي صوت التلفزيون.
ṭalabt min gāri yowaṭṭi ṣōt it-tilifizyōn.
I asked my neighbor to turn down the television.
Using سأل for every English ask produces incorrect participant frames. The distinction is semantic: information questions use سأل; requests often use طلب.
Commands, clitics, and negation
The commands are اسأل isʾal, اسألي isʾali, and اسألوا isʾalu. The initial alif provides a pronounceable onset; the following أ writes the root hamza. Do not delete either letter in careful spelling. Object suffixes attach directly, and final ـش encloses the complete verb-plus-object complex.
اسألي الدكتورة عن الأكل الممنوع بعد العملية.
isʾali d-duktōra ʿan il-ʾakl il-mamnūʿ baʿd il-ʿamaliyya.
Ask the doctor about foods to avoid after the operation. (to one woman)
ماتسألوش نفس السؤال قبل ما تقروا التعليمات.
ma-tisʾalūsh nafs is-soʾāl ʾabl ma tiʾru t-taʿlīmāt.
Don’t ask the same question before reading the instructions. (to several people)
ماسألتهاش عن السبب عشان كانت متضايقة.
ma-saʾalthāsh ʿan is-sabab ʿashān kānit mitḍāyʾa.
I didn’t ask her the reason because she was upset.
مابيسألنيش عن الشغل في وقت الراحة.
ma-biyisʾalnīsh ʿan ish-shoghl fi waʾt ir-rāḥa.
He doesn’t ask me about work during break time.
The first negative denies a bounded past question; the second denies a habit. Hamza spelling stays inside the larger negative word.
سؤال, أسئلة, and lexicalized relatives
The noun is سؤال soʾāl, plural أسئلة ʾasʾila. Its hamza has a different seat from verbal سأل, but the root consonant is the same. سائل sāyil “questioner/inquirer” occurs in institutional and formal language; everyday speech often says اللي بيسأل. Historical passive مسؤول is lexicalized as “responsible/person in charge,” not the ordinary passive “asked.”
عندي سؤالين عن شروط الاشتراك.
ʿandi soʾālēn ʿan shorūṭ il-ishtirāk.
I have two questions about the subscription terms.
المسؤولة عن التسجيل موجودة لحد تلاتة.
il-masʾūla ʿan it-tasgīl mawgūda liḥadd talāta.
The person in charge of registration is here until three.
The hamza-seat paradigm explains why the radical and its written support must be tracked separately.
A short dialogue
أ: سألت الصيدلي الدوا يتاخد قبل الأكل ولا بعده؟
A: saʾalt iṣ-ṣaydali d-dawa yittākhid ʾabl il-ʾakl walla baʿdo?
A: Did you ask the pharmacist whether the medicine is taken before or after food?
ب: سألته، وقاللي بعد الأكل بنص ساعة.
B: saʾalto, wi-ʾālli baʿd il-ʾakl binoṣṣ sāʿa.
B: I asked him, and he told me half an hour after food.
Register and pronunciation
سأل / بيسأل is mainstream Egyptian (informal/neutral). Formal MSA shares the root and spelling but adds different vowel and mood morphology (formal/MSA). Professional language may use استفسر عن “inquire about” or تقدم بطلب “submit a request,” but these do not replace everyday سأل and طلب. Regional, age, class, and community differences can affect short vowels and preferred politeness formulas; the /ʾ/ hamza itself remains distinct from /ʿ/ in the Cairene baseline.
Common Mistakes
1. Confusing hamza with ع.
سألت علي عن ميعاد القطر.
saʾalt ʿAli ʿan miʿād il-ʾaṭar.
saʿalt ʾAli ʾan miʿād il-ʾaṭar.
Pronunciation error—سأل contains /ʾ/, while علي and عن contain /ʿ/.
✅ سألت علي عن ميعاد القطر قبل ما أنزل.
saʾalt ʿAli ʿan miʿād il-ʾaṭar ʾabl ma ʾanzil.
I asked Ali about the train time before going downstairs.
2. Adding لـ before the person asked.
❌ سألت للموظفة عن النتيجة.
Incorrect—the person questioned is a direct object.
✅ سألت الموظفة عن النتيجة وكتبت الرقم.
saʾalt il-mowaẓẓafa ʿan in-natīga wi-katabt ir-raʾam.
I asked the employee about the result and wrote down the number.
3. Using سأل for a requested action with no request frame.
❌ سألت جاري يوطي الصوت.
Incorrect for the intended request—ordinary Cairo uses طلبت منه.
✅ طلبت من جاري يوطي الصوت عشان البيبي نايم.
ṭalabt min gāri yowaṭṭi ṣ-ṣōt ʿashān il-bēbi nāyim.
I asked my neighbor to turn the sound down because the baby is asleep.
4. Putting the suffix after negative ـش.
❌ ماسألتش ها عن العنوان.
Incorrect—the direct-object suffix precedes final ـش.
✅ ماسألتهاش عن العنوان عشان كانت مستعجلة.
ma-saʾalthāsh ʿan il-ʿunwān ʿashān kānit mistaʿgila.
I didn’t ask her about the address because she was in a hurry.
Key Takeaways
- Keep root hamza /ʾ/ audible throughout سأل–بيسأل–اسأل and distinguish it from ع /ʿ/.
- Put the person asked directly after the verb and introduce the topic with عن.
- Use سأل على for asking for/inquiring after a person, but طلب من for a requested item or action.
- Join object suffixes inside ما...ش, and learn سؤال, سائل, and lexicalized مسؤول separately.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Hamza-Seat Changes across Full Verb ParadigmsC1 — Track root hamza through Cairene verb paradigms while separating pronunciation from its changing written support.
- Medial Hamza SeatingB2 — Choose أ, ؤ, ئ, or ء inside words while accounting for inherited spelling and Egyptian vowel changes.
- Communication CollocationsA2 — Use Egyptian communication verbs with the correct person, topic, content, recipient, and reply frames.
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Egyptian direct-object pronouns to past, imperfect, and negative verb hosts while preserving gender, clitic order, and discourse reference.
- Embedded QuestionsA2 — Embed who, what, where, when, and whether questions in Cairene clauses without English inversion or do-support.