Levantine Arabic/Verbs perception

The present tense is rarely used for verbs of perception, when they have a passive meaning (eg. “to hear”). A current perception is expressed by the active participle instead.

Some of those words can also have an active meaning (eg. “to listen”) depending on the context.

Past tense		Present tense		Active participle		English
شاف	šāf	بشوف	bišūf	شايف	šāyef	to see
تطلّع	tṭallaʕ	بتطلّع	bitṭallaʕ	-		to look
تفرّج	tfarraj	بتفرّج	bitfarraj	-		to look; to watch
سمع	simeʕ	بسمع	bismaʕ	سامع	sāmeʕ	to hear; to listen
حسّ	ḥass	بحسّ	biḥess	حاسس	ḥāses	to feel
عرف	ʔiref	بعرف	biʔref, biʔraf, byaʔref	عارف	ʕāref	to know
فهم	fihem	بفهم	bifham	فاهم	fāhem	to understand