Darija lesson 11: saying no with ma…sh and mashi

1

Twenty words

The verbs come as fixed chunks. You will see how ka- works in lesson 16; for now, learn them whole and watch where the negative lands.

Liking

كَنْحَبّْ kan7ebb I like, I love
One verb for both. kan7ebb atay is “I like tea”; said of a person it is love. Context does the rest.
مَا كَنْحَبّْشْ ma kan7ebbsh I don't like
Look at both ends: ma in front, -sh glued to the back. There is no “do” to lean on.
كَيْعْجَبْنِي kay3jebni I like it (it pleases me)
Built backwards from English: the thing is the subject and you are the object. Old English worked this way too — “it likes me” — before the verb turned round. For a feminine thing it becomes كَتْعْجَبْنِي, kat3jebni.
مَا كَيْعْجَبْنِيشْ ma kay3jebnish I don't like it
The -sh goes after the -ni: kay3jebni + sh. It sticks to whatever is last.

Wanting and refusing

بْغِيتْ bghit I want
It looks like a past tense, and it is one. Darija uses it for “I want” right now. bghit atay: I'd like some tea.
مَا بْغِيتْشْ ma bghitsh I don't want
Blunt on its own. Add shukran and it becomes a polite “no thanks”.
وَالُو walu nothing
It cancels the -sh. “I want nothing” is ma bghit walu: ma stays, -sh goes. Rather like English, which does not say “I don't want nothing” either.
وَاخَا wakha OK, all right
The yes to an offer. You will hear it fifty times a day.

Passing judgement

مْزْيَانْ mzyan good
The all-purpose adjective. Feminine mzyana.
زْوِينْ zwin nice, pretty
For things and places as much as people. Feminine zwina.
خَايْبْ khayb bad, ugly
Both at once. Stronger than English “not great”: mashi mzyan is the softer way to say it.
بْنِينْ bnin tasty, delicious
Food only. Feminine bnina.
بْزَّافْ bezzaf a lot, very
It goes after: kan7ebb atay bezzaf, “I like tea a lot”.
شْوِيَّة shwiya a little

Things to have an opinion on

أَتَايْ atay mint tea
Never “tea” in the English sense. Green tea, fresh mint, a lot of sugar.
الْقَهْوَة l-qahwa coffee
Feminine, so its adjectives take -a: l-qahwa bnina.
الْحُوتْ l-7ut fish
The first letter is ح, not your h.
الْكُورَة l-kura football, the ball
Football, never the American kind.
الْمُوسِيقَى l-musiqa music
الْبْحَرْ l-b7er the sea

2

Wrap it, or put it in front

Four negative sentences. In two, the negative is split in half around a word. In the other two, it stands in front as one piece.

مَا كَنْحَبّْشْ الْحُوتْma kan7ebbsh l-7ut
مَا عَنْدِيشْ أَتَايْma 3endish atay
الْقَهْوَة مَاشِي بْنِينَةl-qahwa mashi bnina
أَنَا مَاشِي مَغْرِبِيana mashi maghribi

What kind of word gets wrapped, and what kind does not?

The rule

A verb is wrapped: ma before it, -sh after it. ma kan7ebbsh, ma bghitsh. So is 3end, which behaves like a verb here: ma 3endish, “I don't have”.

Anything that is not a verb — an adjective, a noun, a place — takes mashi in front, whole. mashi mzyan, “not good”. ana mashi maghribi, “I'm not Moroccan”.

One exception to keep: when the sentence has walu, “nothing”, the -sh drops. ma bghit walu.

The two negatives

Darija	Say	Means
مَا كَنْحَبّْشْ	ma kan7ebbsh	I don't like — verb, wrapped
مَا بْغِيتْشْ	ma bghitsh	I don't want — verb, wrapped
مَا عَنْدِيشْ	ma 3endish	I don't have — 3end, wrapped
مَاشِي مْزْيَانْ	mashi mzyan	not good — adjective, mashi
أَنَا مَاشِي مَغْرِبِي	ana mashi maghribi	I'm not Moroccan — no verb, mashi
مَا بْغِيتْ وَالُو	ma bghit walu	I want nothing — walu eats the -sh

The -sh sticks to the last sound of the word, even a suffix: 3endi becomes ma 3endish, kay3jebni becomes ma kay3jebnish.

The line you already draw

Free: English splits its negative in two already, and in the same place. With a verb you need “don't”: “I don't like fish”. With “to be” you just say “not”: “it's not good”, “I'm not Moroccan”. Where you would say don't, Darija wraps. Where you would say isn't or am not, Darija says mashi. A French speaker has no such test; you have one built in.

Charged: the back half. English puts nothing after the verb, so the -sh feels like an extra. It is not optional. ma kan7ebb on its own sounds cut off.

Your mistake, not someone else's

Once ma…sh clicks, it feels like the real negative and mashi like a spare. So it spreads, and English speakers wrap words that are not verbs. Run the English test: “I'm not Moroccan” has no “don't”, so nothing gets wrapped.

×أَنَا مَا مَغْرِبِيشْWrapped, but there is no verb inside to wrap.

✓أَنَا مَاشِي مَغْرِبِي“I'm not Moroccan.”

And the other direction: ma kan7ebb l-7ut, with the -sh left off. English stops at the verb, so your mouth does too. Say the -sh as if it were part of the word, because it is.

3

A ten-question survey

A short survey of the kind you fill in at a language exchange. It is ours, written for this lesson. Nine questions are yes-or-no with wash, from lesson 6; the last one hides a negative.

وَاشْ كَتْحَبّْ أَتَايْ؟

وَاشْ كَتْحَبّْ الْقَهْوَة؟

وَاشْ كَتْحَبّْ الْحُوتْ؟

وَاشْ كَتْحَبّْ الْبْحَرْ؟

وَاشْ كَتْحَبّْ الْكُورَة؟

وَاشْ كَتْحَبّْ الْمُوسِيقَى؟

وَاشْ كَازَا زْوِينَة؟

وَاشْ نْتَ مَغْرِبِي؟

وَاشْ بْغِيتِي أَتَايْ؟

شْنُو مَا كَتْحَبّْشْ؟

Survey: what do you like?

Did you follow it?

Answer the fish question with a no.
Show answers
لَا، مَا كَنْحَبّْشْ الْحُوتْ — lla, ma kan7ebbsh l-7ut. A verb, so it is wrapped.
Answer “wash nta maghribi?” with a no.
Show answers
لَا، أَنَا مَاشِي مَغْرِبِي. No verb in there, so mashi.
Where is the negative in the last question?
Show answers
ma kat7ebbsh: “what don't you like?” Same wrapping inside a question.
Who is the survey written to?
Show answers
A man: kat7ebb. To a woman it is kat7ebbi, and in the negative the -sh goes after the i: ma kat7ebbish.

4

Check

The rule is already in front of you. These tell you whether it has stuck.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the A1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Make it negative

Rewrite each sentence in the negative. Decide first: is there a verb to wrap?

كَنْحَبّْ الْحُوتْ
أَتَايْ بْنِينْ
عَنْدِي أَتَايْ
هِيَ مَغْرِبِيَّة
بْغِيتْ الْقَهْوَة

2Sort them

Put each word in the column of the negative it takes.

كَنْحَبّْمْزْيَانْبْغِيتْمَغْرِبِيعَنْدِيزْوِينْكَيْعْجَبْنِيهْنَا

Wrapped in ma…sh

mashi in front

3True or false

Read the Darija. Is the English statement about the speaker true or false?

مَا كَنْحَبّْشْ الْقَهْوَة The speaker likes coffee.

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

4Put it in order

Build the sentence from its pieces.

كَنْحَبّْشْالْمُوسِيقَىمَا

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

5Write

Three lines about your tastes: something you like, something you don't, and something that is not good. At least one of each negative.

كَنْحَبّْمَا كَنْحَبّْشْمَاشِيبْزَّافْوَالُو

The rest is in the A1 book

The A1 book

Show answers

1. Make it negative	مَا كَنْحَبّْشْ الْحُوتْ · أَتَايْ مَاشِي بْنِينْ · مَا عَنْدِيشْ أَتَايْ · هِيَ مَاشِي مَغْرِبِيَّة · مَا بْغِيتْشْ الْقَهْوَة
2. Sort them	Wrapped in ma…sh: كَنْحَبّْ · بْغِيتْ · عَنْدِي · كَيْعْجَبْنِي / mashi in front: مْزْيَانْ · مَغْرِبِي · زْوِينْ · هْنَا

The A1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

Tell me when it is out

I can now

Say what I like and what I don't.
Refuse an offer with ma bghitsh, and accept with wakha.
Wrap a verb in ma…sh without dropping the -sh.
Use mashi in front of anything that is not a verb.