Learn Arabic › B2 › سَبَح
سَبَح
to swim /ˈsa.ba.ħa/
verbB2#3377 most common
Also: to float, to glide (through water)
Example sentences
أَنَا أَسْبَحُ فِي الْمَسْبَحِ.
I swim in the pool.
هُوَ سَبَحَ فِي الْبَحْرِ أَمْسِ.
He swam in the sea yesterday.
تُحِبُّ أُخْتِي أَنْ تَسْبَحَ كُلَّ صَبَاحٍ.
My sister loves to swim every morning.
سَبَحَ الأَوْلَادُ لِمُدَّةِ سَاعَةٍ رَغْمَ بُرُودَةِ الْمَاءِ.
The boys swam for an hour despite the cold water.
عَلَى الرَّغْمِ مِنَ الأَمْوَاجِ الْعَالِيَةِ، أَصَرَّ السَّبَّاحُ عَلَى أَنْ يَسْبَحَ حَتَّى الشَّاطِئِ الْبَعِيدِ.
Despite the high waves, the swimmer insisted on swimming to the distant shore.
سَبَحَتِ الْحِيتَانُ عَبْرَ الْمُحِيطِ الْهَادِئِ فِي هِجْرَتِهَا السَّنَوِيَّةِ الَّتِي تَمْتَدُّ آلَافَ الْأَمْيَالِ.
The whales swam across the Pacific Ocean in their annual migration, which extends thousands of miles.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَسْبَحُ | سَبَحْتُ | سَأَسْبَحُ |
| 2sg | تَسْبَحُ | سَبَحْتَ | سَتَسْبَحُ |
| 3sg | يَسْبَحُ | سَبَحَ | سَيَسْبَحُ |
| 1pl | نَسْبَحُ | سَبَحْنَا | سَنَسْبَحُ |
| 2pl | تَسْبَحُونَ | سَبَحْتُمْ | سَتَسْبَحُونَ |
| 3pl | يَسْبَحُونَ | سَبَحُوا | سَيَسْبَحُونَ |
Word family
سِبَاحَةswimming
سَبَّاحswimmer
مَسْبَحswimming poolسَبَّحَto glorify, to praise (God)
تَسْبِيحglorification, praise
Etymology
سَبَح comes from the triliteral Semitic root s-b-ḥ, whose core sense involves swift, gliding motion. In Arabic this gave the plain verb for swimming. A related derived form, سَبَّحَ, means to glorify God, likely from the same idea of steady, repeated motion applied to repeated praise. Hebrew keeps a cognate root with the meaning to praise, which points to the same split between physical and devotional senses across the Semitic family.
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