Learn Arabic › B2 › آسَف
آسَف
to anger, to provoke to wrath /ˈʔaː.sa.fa/
verbB2#3738 most common
Also: to sadden, to grieve (someone), to vex, to distress
Example sentences
هذا الخبر آسَفني.
This news upset me.
غيابك عن الحفل آسَف أصدقاءك.
Your absence from the party upset your friends.
يُؤْسِفُني أنني لا أستطيع الحضور غدًا.
I'm sorry that I can't attend tomorrow.
آسَفَتْهُ معاملةُ زملائه له.
The way his colleagues treated him angered him.
سَيُؤْسِفُ الجميعَ تأجيلُ المشروع مرة أخرى.
Postponing the project again will upset everyone.
فَلَمَّا آسَفُونَا انتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُم.
So when they angered Us, We took retribution upon them.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أُؤْسِفُ | آسَفْتُ | سَأُؤْسِفُ |
| 2sg | تُؤْسِفُ | آسَفْتَ | سَتُؤْسِفُ |
| 3sg | يُؤْسِفُ | آسَفَ | سَيُؤْسِفُ |
| 1pl | نُؤْسِفُ | آسَفْنَا | سَنُؤْسِفُ |
| 2pl | تُؤْسِفُونَ | آسَفْتُمْ | سَتُؤْسِفُونَ |
| 3pl | يُؤْسِفُونَ | آسَفُوا | سَيُؤْسِفُونَ |
Word family
أَسِفَto be sorry, to grieve, to be vexed
آسِفsorry (the everyday word used to apologize)أَسَفregret, sorrow, griefمُؤْسِفregrettable, saddeningتَأَسَّفَto express regret, to apologize formally
Etymology
آسَف comes from the Arabic root ء-س-ف (ʔ-s-f), a root that covers both grief and anger, an old Semitic pairing where deep sorrow and deep anger sit close together. The base verb أَسِفَ means 'to grieve, to be vexed.' آسَفَ is its Form IV causative counterpart, meaning 'to cause that grief or anger in someone else.' The alif madda at the start marks the fusion of the causative prefix hamza with the root's own initial hamza. Arabic is a Semitic language, not an Indo-European one, so no PIE root applies here.
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