Learn Arabic › B2 › سِيَّما
سِيَّما
especially /ˈsij.ja.maː/
adverbB2#3353 most common
Also: particularly, let alone, above all
Example sentences
أحب الفواكه، لا سيما التفاح.
I love fruits, especially apples.
يحب الطلاب الرياضة، لا سيما كرة القدم.
Students love sports, especially football.
تزداد الحرارة في الصيف، ولا سيما في شهر يوليو.
Heat rises in summer, especially in July.
يجب الاهتمام بالصحة، ولا سيما في مرحلة الشيخوخة.
One must look after health, especially in old age.
تواجه الدول النامية تحديات اقتصادية كبيرة، ولا سيما في ظل الأزمات العالمية الراهنة.
Developing countries face major economic challenges, especially amid the current global crises.
لا سيما إذا أخذنا بعين الاعتبار التداعيات السياسية والاجتماعية المترتبة على هذا القرار، فإن اتخاذه يتطلب حذرا شديدا.
Especially if we take into account the political and social repercussions of this decision, making it calls for great caution.
Word family
لا سيماespecially, particularly
سواءequal, same; whether
سيّانthe two being equal
استوىto become even, level, or straight
تساوىto be equal, on par with one another
Etymology
سِيَّما fuses سِيّ, a construct-state form of سَواء meaning "equal" or "like," with the indefinite pronoun ما, "what." The combination reads literally as "equal to what." It almost always follows the negative particle لا, giving the fixed phrase لا سيما, literally "not equal to what," which came to mean "especially" or "particularly." This construction is already standard in Classical Arabic and remains common in formal Modern Standard Arabic prose.
Learn Arabic the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free