‘To see somebody/something (direct object/object pronoun)’:

wa-ŝink ho metemhedéten ‘I saw the goats to be slaughtered for the funeral’ (CSOL I 10:8)

‘To see somebody/something (ḷe-)’:

aḷ-ŝiníken énhi ḷe-ṭad bᵉˁer di-ḥémɛḷ ˁeʸh ‘You haven’t seen a camel of mine carrying a load, have you?’ (CSOL I 17:31)

‘To see somebody (direct object) do something (imperfect)’:

wa-ḷaḷ ˁáṣor óˀoz tŝónis tšáḷaḥ díˀseʰ men ḥaḷf be-nefáṭe ‘When it strikes a goat, you can see how it jumps and snorts.’ (CSOL I 30:16)

‘To see/notice/ realize concerning somebody (direct object) that he had done something (perfect)’:

nɛ́hɛrk óˀorem wa-ŝínik óˀoz di-ˁíggoʰ ‘While passing by a road, I saw a goat who had just given birth.’ (CSOL I 10:9)

‘To see somebody (direct object) doing something (perfect)’:

ŝínik ˁídhɛḷ yaˁadóḷen ‘I see the pall bearers carrying me on a bier.’ (CSOL II 6:17)

‘To see somebody (ḷe-) do something (imperfect)’:

tóˀo kténḥik di-saḳɔ́tri ŝínoʰ ḥe díˀʸho ˁážeʰ etéḳi ‘When I returned to Soqotra, my wife saw me smoking.’ (CSOL I 6:38)

‘To see/notice/realize concerning somebody (ḷe-) that he had done something (perfect)’:

šéˁe ˁouyɛ́ghɛn tóˀo ŝíni díˀʸheʰ ḷe-ˀɛ́ˀɛfo gédeḥ men sfar wa-sᵉre wa-géšɛḷ éˀed ‘When a boy saw his parents coming back from a trip, he (ran to them,) fell and broke his hand.’ (CSOL I 8:49)

‘To see somebody (direct object) doing something (toˀo + imperfect)’:

wa-tóˀo eráḥan aḷ-fŝo ŝínik ˁag tóˀo yesáḳaḷ díˀʸheʰ éˀed ‘When we came to lunch, I saw the man favoring his hand (i.e. eating slowly and reluctantly).’ (CSOL II 30:15)

‘To see somebody (direct object) do something (toˀo + perfect)’:

ŝínik ˁag tóˀo góˀor bestán di-ˀɛ́ˀɛfo ‘I saw one man destroy other people’s palm grove.’ (CSOL I 2:5)

‘To see somebody (ḷe-) doing something (toˀo + imperfect)’:

ŝinɛ́yoʰ ḥe tóˀo aˀágaḥ tímhɛr ‘They saw how I was climbing the palms.’ (CSOL II 5:16)

‘To see/notice/realize concerning somebody (direct object) that … (énne/di-)’:

tóˀo ŝíni ˁag ˁážeʰ énneʰ megtáhideʰ beʸh ‘When the man saw how attentive the woman was to him...’ (CSOL I 7:16)

wa-maḷ ˁad yeḥéľen ŝíni ɛ́ˀɛfo di-šker ke-ṭahedédšen ‘While he was touring, he saw that local people were kind toward one another.’ (CSOL I 15:2)

‘To see/notice/realize that … (asyndetic or with anna)’:

ŝíni bíŝi órem ‘He saw there was no more road’ (CSOL I 15:8)

wa-ľísoʰ ˁaf tóˀo ŝíni diḥéko ánna zɛd mɛ́sɛ ‘And it rained until Diheko saw there was too much rain.’ (CSOL II 19:8) 

‘To see/know what … (wh-question)’:

ŝínik inɛ́m boḳ kédon be-ṭóudaˁ ‘Do you see what has appeared there in Tuda?’ (CSOL I 24:13)

Without complement:

wa-ḥére ľirɛ́ˀiš ɛ́ˀɛfo bíŝi di-ŝíni ‘He tried asking people, but nobody had seen her.’ (CSOL I 4:14)

In the speech of the informants of the Da’rho tribe “éḳdem ‘to see’ is very common, perhaps no less common than ŝíni. The two verbs appear to be used without any perceptible semantic or functional difference.” (Kogan 2015:519)