Learn Arabic › A2 › ساء
ساء
to become bad, to worsen /ˈsaːʔa/
verbA2#1307 most common
Also: to displease, to grieve, to deteriorate, to get worse, to do evil
Example sentences
ساءَ الطقسُ اليومَ.
The weather turned bad today.
ساءَت صحّتُهُ في الشتاءِ.
His health worsened over the winter.
ساءَني أن أسمعَ بمرضِها.
It grieved me to hear of her illness.
ساءَت العلاقاتُ بين الجارَين بعد الخلافِ.
Relations between the two neighbours soured after the dispute.
كلّما ساءَ الفهمُ بينهما، ابتعدا أكثرَ.
The more the misunderstanding grew between them, the further apart they drifted.
ساءَت سُمعتُهُ حتّى لم يَعُدْ أحدٌ يأتمنُهُ على شيءٍ.
His reputation had deteriorated until no one would trust him with anything.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَسُوءُ | سُؤْتُ | سَأَسُوءُ |
| 2sg | تَسُوءُ | سُؤْتَ | سَتَسُوءُ |
| 3sg | يَسُوءُ | سَاءَ | سَيَسُوءُ |
| 1pl | نَسُوءُ | سُؤْنَا | سَنَسُوءُ |
| 2pl | تَسُوؤُونَ | سُؤْتُمْ | سَتَسُوؤُونَ |
| 3pl | يَسُوؤُونَ | سَاؤُوا | سَيَسُوؤُونَ |
Word family
سُوءevil, badness, harm
سَيِّئbad
سَيِّئَةmisdeed, sin
أَسَاءَto mistreat, to offend, to do wrong
أَسْوَأworse, worstEtymology
The verb comes from the Semitic triliteral root س-و-ء, which carries the sense of badness and evil. It is a hollow verb, so the weak middle radical و surfaces as a long ā in the past tense سَاءَ. The same root yields the common noun سُوء (evil, harm) and the adjective سَيِّئ (bad).
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