Learn Arabic › A1 › سَيِّء
سَيِّء
bad /ˈsaj.jiʔ/
adjectiveA1#203 most common
Also: evil, poor (in quality), nasty
Example sentences
هٰذا الفيلم سَيِّء.
This movie is bad.
الطقس سَيِّء اليوم.
The weather is bad today.
عندي خبر سَيِّء لك.
I have bad news for you.
كان أداء الفريق سَيِّئاً في المباراة الأخيرة.
The team's performance was bad in the last match.
على الرغم من جودة المنتج، فإن خدمة العملاء سَيِّئة جداً.
Despite the product's quality, the customer service is very bad.
لم تكن سُمعته سَيِّئة إلى هٰذا الحدّ لولا الشائعات التي طاردته لسنوات.
His reputation would not have been so bad were it not for the rumors that chased him for years.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | سَيِّءٌ | سَيِّئُونَ |
| Genitive | سَيِّءٍ | سَيِّئِينَ |
| Accusative | سَيِّئاً | سَيِّئِينَ |
| Vocative | يا سَيِّءُ | يا سَيِّئُونَ |
Word family
سُوءevil, harm
سَاءَto be bad, to harm or displease
أَسَاءَto do wrong, to offend
أَسْوَأworse, worstسَيِّئةmisdeed, fault, sin
Etymology
سَيِّء comes from the triliteral root س-و-أ, which carries the sense of being bad or harmful. It is the active participle of the verb سَاءَ (sāʾa), 'to be bad, to harm, to displease.' The word follows the فَيْعِل pattern used with hollow roots, the same shape as سَيِّد (sayyid, 'master'), where the medial و assimilates into a doubled ي. The related noun سُوء (sūʾ) means 'evil' or 'harm.'
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