Darija lesson 12: in, to, from, with, on, by

1

Seventeen words

Several of these came into Darija from Spanish or French. That helps you less than it helps a Spanish or French speaker, but the sound still gives most of them away.

Getting around

الطّْرَامْ t-tram the tram
From French. Casablanca and Rabat both run one.
الْمْحَطَّة l-m7etta the station, the stop
Any stop: tram, bus or train. Feminine.
غَادِي ghadi going (said by or of a man)
Not a verb but a describing word, so it agrees: one form for a man, one for a woman. ana ghadi, “I'm going”.
غَادْيَة ghadya going (said by or of a woman)
عْلَى رْجْلِيَّا 3la rjliya on foot
Literally “on my legs”. This is one of the few places where 3la matches your “on”.

Places

الدَّارْ الْبِيضَا d-dar l-bida Casablanca
Literally “the white house”. In speech almost everyone says كَازَا, Kaza.
السُّوقْ s-suq the market
الْجَامَعْ l-jame3 the mosque
The last letter is ع. Do not stop at jame.
السّْبِيطَارْ s-sbitar the hospital
From Spanish hospital, filed down to fit Darija.
الْمْدْرَسَة l-mdrasa the school
The same word English borrowed as madrasa. In Darija it is any school.
الْبَانْكَة l-banka the bank
A loan, and it sounds like one. Feminine.
الْكُورْنِيشْ l-kurnish the seafront
From French corniche. In Casablanca it is the seafront drive along the ocean.
الْمْدِينَة الْقْدِيمَة l-mdina l-qdima the old town, the medina
You met it on lesson 1's business card.

Near and far

قْرِيبْ qrib near
“Near the market” is qrib l-s-suq: near to, with l-.
بْعِيدْ b3id far
“Far from” uses mn: b3id mn hna, far from here.
حْدَا 7da next to
No “to” after it: 7da l-banka, next the bank.
لْهِيهْ lhih over there
Said with a nod or a pointed chin.

2

Where you are, where you are going

Four sentences. Each one has a small word that says where. Two of them are a single consonant.

أَنَا فْ كَازَاana f Kaza
هِيَ غَادْيَة لْفَاسْhiya ghadya l-Fas
هُوَ غَادِي بِالطّْرَامْhuwa ghadi b-t-tram
حْنَا مْنْ الرّْبَاطْ7na mn r-Rbat

Which word means “in”, which “to”, which “from”, which “by”?

The rule

Where you are: f. ana f Kaza. It covers in, at, and most of on.

Where you are going: l-, stuck to the word. ghadya l-Fas. Before the article it doubles: l-l-kurnish, written لِلْكُورْنِيشْ.

Where you come from: mn. With someone: m3a. On top of something: 3la. And how — the means, the tool, the language: b-, as in b-t-tram.

The six prepositions

Darija	Say	Means
فْ كَازَا	f Kaza	in Casablanca — where you are
لْفَاسْ	l-Fas	to Fez — where you are going
مْنْ فَاسْ	mn Fas	from Fez — where you started
مْعَ صَاحْبِي	m3a sa7bi	with my friend — company
بِالطّْرَامْ	b-t-tram	by tram — the means
عْلَى الطَّبْلَة	3la t-tabla	on the table — on top of

l-Fas looks like “the Fez”. It is not: city names take no article (lesson 2), so that l- can only be “to”.

What English hands you, and what it charges you

Free: “to” is l- and “at/in” is f, and English keeps them apart just as Darija does. A French speaker says à Casa for both and has to learn the split. You have it.

Free: “by tram”, “by bus”. English already marks the means with its own word, and that word is b-.

Charged: “on”. English uses it for the tram, the street, the bus, Monday. Darija uses f for all of those: f t-tram, f z-zenqa. 3la is only for on top of something.

Your mistake, not someone else's

The question you will ask most in Morocco: “what's this in Darija?” English says “in”, so you reach for f. But a language is a means, like a tram, and the means takes b-.

×شْنُو هَادِي فْ الدَّارِجَة؟“What's this inside Darija?” Understood, and wrong.

✓شْنُو هَادِي بِالدَّارِجَة؟“What's this in Darija?”

And the English one: “I'm on the tram” turned into 3la t-tram. That puts you on the roof. Inside a vehicle is f.

3

A tram line

A simplified tram line, invented for this lesson. The stop names are the kind you would see in Casablanca, but this is not the real network, and the green line does not exist. Look at the first stop: it uses dyal from lesson 10.

الطّْرَامْ · الْخَطّْ الْخْضَرْ

الْمْحَطَّة دْيَالْ التّْرَانْ

السّْبِيطَارْ

السُّوقْ الْكْبِيرْ

الْمْدِينَة الْقْدِيمَة

الْجَامَعْ الْكْبِيرْ

الْكُورْنِيشْ

Line map at the stop

غَادِي لِلْكُورْنِيشْ

الْمْحَطَّة الْجَايَّة: الْمْدِينَة الْقْدِيمَة

Display inside the carriage

Did you follow it?

Which way is this tram going?
Show answers
To the seafront: ghadi l-l-kurnish. The doubled l- is “to” plus the article.
You are at the big market. What is the next stop?
Show answers
The old town, l-mdina l-qdima. The display in the carriage says so too.
You board at the seafront and want the hospital. How many stops?
Show answers
Four: the great mosque, the old town, the big market, the hospital.
Say “from the station to the seafront”.
Show answers
mn l-m7etta l-l-kurnish. Two prepositions, one of them a single letter.

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.

1Fill the gap

Complete with فْ, لْ, مْعَ, عْلَى or مْنْ. Each is used once.

فْلْمْعَعْلَىمْنْ

أَنَا ___ الدَّارْ الْبِيضَا
هِيَ غَادْيَة ___ فَاسْ
هُوَ ___ صَاحْبُو
الْكْتَابْ ___ الطَّبْلَة
حْنَا ___ الرّْبَاطْ

2Match

Pair each question with its answer.

1	فِينْ نْتَ؟	a	أَنَا مْنْ فَاسْ
2	فِينْ غَادِي؟	b	أَنَا فْ السُّوقْ
3	مْنِينْ نْتَ؟	c	مْعَ صَاحْبِي
4	مْعَ مْنْ نْتَ؟	d	غَادِي لِلْكُورْنِيشْ

3Pick the right one

Find the Darija for: 1. What's this in Darija? 2. I'm from Casablanca. 3. She's going by tram.

1. شْنُو هَادِي فْ الدَّارِجَة؟
2. شْنُو هَادِي بِالدَّارِجَة؟
3. شْنُو هَادِي مْعَ الدَّارِجَة؟

The rest is in the A1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

4Set off

Each person is somewhere. Rewrite the sentence so that they are going there instead.

أَنَا فْ فَاسْ

The rest is in the A1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

5Write

Three lines: where you are, where you are from, and where you are going, how, and with whom.

فْلْمْنْمْعَبِالطّْرَامْ

The rest is in the A1 book

The A1 book

Show answers

1. Fill the gap	فْ · لْ · مْعَ · عْلَى · مْنْ
2. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c

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 where I am, and where I am going.
Say where I come from and who I am with.
Follow the stops on a tram line.
Ask what something is called in Darija, with b-.