صَدَقَ be truthful in Arabic
صَدَقَ is how you say “be truthful” in Arabic.
Root ص د ق ṣ-d-q. verb (form I). ṣadaqa.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of be truthful in Arabic
- to speak the truth, tell the truth the opposite of كذب, 'to lie'
- to prove true, be correct said of an opinion, a dream, or an oath
- to be firm, steadfast in battle
- to tell someone the truth about something used transitively, e.g. صَدَقَهُ الحَدِيثَ, 'he told him the news truly'
Example sentence
قال اصدقني ما الذي جئت له؟
He said: Tell me honestly, what have you come for?
أَصْدِقْنِي tell me honestly
A command 'be truthful with me!' to 'you'; the ending '-ni' adds 'me' — 'tell me the truth'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Central to the vocabulary of honesty in classical and Qur'anic Arabic, standing as the direct opposite of كَذَبَ ('to lie'). It covers not only truthful speech but also true opinions, fulfilled promises, and steadfastness in a fight, as in the Qur'anic praise of men who 'fulfilled the covenant they made with God' (رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا ٱللّٰهَ عَلَيْهِ).
Words from the same root
- صِدْق truthfulness, truth
- صَدِيق a friend
- صَدَقَة charity, alms
- صَادِق truthful, sincere
- صِدِّيق one who is deeply truthful
More example sentences
وَصَدَقَ وَاللهِ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ، وَأَمَّا الْحَدِيثُ فَمَا فِيهِ حَصْرُ الْكَبَائِرِ
And by Allah, Ibn Abbas was correct. As for the Hadith, it does not limit the major sins.
وَصَدَقَ and he was correct
A fused 'and' plus a past-tense verb with its 'he' subject built in, 'and he spoke truly'. The plural-free 'he' is carried in the verb's shape, opening the affirmation.
وَلَا يَزَالُ الرَّجُلُ يَصْدُقُ وَيَتَحَرَّى الصِّدْقَ حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ صَدِيقًا
And a man continues to tell the truth and to seek truthfulness until he is recorded with God as a truthful person.
يَصْدُقُ he tells the truth
A present-tense verb 'tells the truth' with its 'he' subject inside, describing the ongoing behavior governed by the 'continues' frame. It paints the habitual action that persists.
فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسِلْمِ أَمَّا إِنَّهُ قَدْ صَدَقَكَ وَهُوَ كَذُوبٌ،
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: Know that he has indeed told you the truth, yet he is a liar.
صَدَقَكَ told the truth to you
A past-tense verb of telling-the-truth with the 'you' object built onto its end, so the act, an unstated 'he' doer, and the listener as recipient sit in one word. The attached ending marks the addressee as the one told the truth.
فَعُرِفَ سَيِّدُهُ أَنَّهُ قَدْ صَدَقَ فَطَابَتْ نَفْسُهُ
Then his master realized that he had been truthful, and his soul was pleased.
صَدَقَ been truthful
A past verb, 'was truthful', with the 'he' subject built in, governed by the preceding 'qad' to read as a completed, emphasised 'had indeed been truthful'. The doer sits inside the verb. It is the substance of what the master realised.
قَالَ صَدَقْت
He said: 'You have spoken the truth.'
صَدَقْتَ you have spoken the truth
A past-tense verb 'you spoke truly', addressed to a single male listener; the '-ta' on the end is the built-in 'you' subject, so no separate pronoun appears. It forms a complete one-word sentence confirming the previous speaker. Arabic folds subject person, number and gender into the verb ending like this.
قَالَ صَدَقْت
He said: 'You have spoken the truth.'
صَدَقْتَ you have spoken the truth
A past-tense verb 'you spoke truly', spoken to one male listener; the '-ta' ending is the built-in 'you' subject. It stands as a complete one-word sentence affirming the previous speaker. Person, number and gender of the doer all live inside the verb's ending.
Common questions
- How do you say "be truthful" in Arabic?
- صَدَقَ (ṣadaqa).
- What is the opposite of صَدَقَ?
- كَذَبَ (kadhaba), 'to lie' — the two verbs are treated as direct opposites in Arabic.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).