Learn Arabic › A1 › عَلِم
عَلِم
to know /ˈʕa.li.ma/
verbA1#70 most common
Also: to learn (of), find out, to be aware of, to come to know
Example sentences
عَلِمْتُ الْخَبَرَ.
I learned the news.
عَلِمَتْ أُمِّي بِنَجَاحِي.
My mother found out about my success.
هَلْ عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ الِامْتِحَانَ غَدًا؟
Did you know that the exam is tomorrow?
عَلِمْنَا بِالْحَادِثِ مِنَ الْأَخْبَارِ.
We learned about the accident from the news.
لَمَّا عَلِمَ الْمُدِيرُ بِالْمُشْكِلَةِ، تَدَخَّلَ فَوْرًا.
When the manager found out about the problem, he intervened immediately.
لَوْ عَلِمْتُ بِمَا سَيَحْدُثُ، لَمَا تَرَكْتُهُ يَذْهَبُ وَحْدَهُ.
Had I known what would happen, I would not have let him go alone.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَعْلَمُ (aʿlamu) | عَلِمْتُ (ʿalimtu) | سَأَعْلَمُ (sa-aʿlamu) |
| 2sg | تَعْلَمُ (taʿlamu) | عَلِمْتَ (ʿalimta) | سَتَعْلَمُ (sa-taʿlamu) |
| 3sg | يَعْلَمُ (yaʿlamu) | عَلِمَ (ʿalima) | سَيَعْلَمُ (sa-yaʿlamu) |
| 1pl | نَعْلَمُ (naʿlamu) | عَلِمْنَا (ʿalimnā) | سَنَعْلَمُ (sa-naʿlamu) |
| 2pl | تَعْلَمُونَ (taʿlamūna) | عَلِمْتُمْ (ʿalimtum) | سَتَعْلَمُونَ (sa-taʿlamūna) |
| 3pl | يَعْلَمُونَ (yaʿlamūna) | عَلِمُوا (ʿalimū) | سَيَعْلَمُونَ (sa-yaʿlamūna) |
Word family
عِلْم (ʿilm)knowledge, science
عَالِم (ʿālim)scholar, scientist
مَعْلُومَة (maʿlūma)a piece of information
عَلَّمَ (ʿallama)to teach
مُعَلِّم (muʿallim)teacher
Etymology
عَلِمَ derives from the Proto-Semitic triconsonantal root ʿ-l-m, tied to marking, recognizing, and knowing. In Arabic it became the core verb for 'to know,' and the same root yields عِلْم (knowledge/science), عَالِم (scholar), and عَلَامَة (sign, mark). The 'knowing' sense is shared with South Semitic languages such as Geʿez.
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