How to say "to swim" in Arabic
False friendMeaningto swim
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
sabaḥaסבח
سبح
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
sakhaسَاخَا
How the two words are related
Sounds like a Hebrew word but means something else — handle with care.
Arabic root
س-ب-حHebrew root
ש-ב-חCareful: sabaḥa lines up letter for letter with Hebrew שבח, 'he praised' — but it means 'he swam'. The two meanings aren't total strangers, though: Arabic itself uses the same root for 'to glorify, extol' (sabbaḥa, tasbīḥ), so 'gliding freely' and 'praising' grew from one image in Arabic, even if Hebrew only kept the praising half.
Related Hebrew word:שבחshibeakhشِبِيَاخ
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo's swim is ʿām.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija too: ʿām.
In a phrase
He swims in the sea every morning