How to say "to ask" in Arabic
CognateMeaningto ask
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
سَأَلَ
saʾalaסאל
سأل
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
שאל
sha'alشَاءَال
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
س-أ-لHebrew root
ש-א-לsaʾala = שאל exactly (س↔ש, hamza↔א). Arabic suʾāl (question) works just like Hebrew שאלה.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
سوّل
sewwelסולDarija's 'to ask' is sewwel: sewwelni — 'ask me'.
In a phrase
سَأَلَ الْمُعَلِّم
saʾala al-muʿallimסאל אל-מעלםHe asked the teacher