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Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 14 · A1

Two plurals, chosen by who is in the room

English has one plural and it never asks who you are talking about. Darija has two regular ones, and it always asks: men, women, or things.

  • Put a trade or a job in the plural.
  • Choose -in or -at by looking at who is in the group.
  • Make the adjective plural along with the noun.
  • Read a job sign in a shop window.
1

Eighteen words

Most of the trades share one shape: doubled middle consonant, long a. nejjar, khebbaz, gezzar. That shape means “the one who does it for a living”, and every word built on it takes the same plural.

Trades

  • نْجَّارْ nejjar carpenter

    Plural nejjarin. The article is a sun letter here: النّْجَّارِينْ, n-nejjarin.

  • خْبَّازْ khebbaz baker

    The man who bakes. The bread itself is khobz, same root.

  • ڭْزَّارْ gezzar butcher

    Written with ڭ, the Moroccan letter for the g of “go”. Standard Arabic has no letter for that sound.

  • حْلَّاقْ 7ellaq barber
  • بْنَّايْ bennay builder, bricklayer

    Plural bennayin: the y stays and -in goes on after it.

  • فْلَّاحْ fella7 farmer

Women at work

  • خْيَّاطَة kheyyata seamstress

    The man is kheyyat, tailor. Drop the -a, add -at: kheyyatat.

  • خْبَّازَة khebbaza baker (a woman)

    English says “baker” for both. Darija never does: the -a is not optional.

  • حْلَّاقَة 7ellaqa hairdresser (a woman)
  • بَيَّاعَة beyya3a saleswoman, shop assistant

    From ba3, to sell. The man is beyya3.

Work

  • خْدَّامْ khddam worker; working

    Also an adjective: huwa khddam is “he has a job”. Plural khddamin, for men and women alike.

  • خْدْمَة khedma work, job
  • مْعَلّْمْ m3allem master craftsman, boss

    The man who runs the workshop. A woman in charge is m3allma.

  • مْطْلُوبْ mtlub wanted, required

    The word on every job sign. On a sign it goes plural: mtlubin.

How many, how good

  • بْزَّافْ bezzaf a lot, many

    Goes before the noun with d: bezzaf d l-khddamin, many workers.

  • شِي shi some

    shi khebbazin, some bakers. No article after it.

  • كُلّْ koll all, every

    With the article and a plural: koll l-khebbazin, all the bakers.

  • مْزْيَانْ mzyan good

    Plural mzyanin. See the grammar: it is the same plural for men and for women.

2

The regular plural

Singular on the right, plural on the left of each line. Look at what gets added, and at who is being talked about.

  1. هُوَ نْجَّارْ · هُومَا نْجَّارِينْhuwa nejjar · huma nejjarin
  2. هِيَ خْيَّاطَة · هُومَا خْيَّاطَاتْhiya kheyyata · huma kheyyatat
  3. كَايْنْ خْبَّازْ · كَايْنِينْ جُوجْ خْبَّازِينْkayn khebbaz · kaynin juj khebbazin
  4. الْحْلَّاقَة مْزْيَانَة · الْحْلَّاقَاتْ مْزْيَانِينْl-7ellaqa mzyana · l-7ellaqat mzyanin

Why does one pair end in -in and the next in -at?

The rule

Men, or a group with at least one man in it: -in. nejjar, nejjarin.

Women only: drop the final -a and add -at. kheyyata, kheyyatat.

Things often take -at too, especially words borrowed from French: tomobil, tomobilat. Not all of them do. Many ordinary nouns have a plural of their own, and that is next lesson.

The adjective follows the noun into the plural, and in the plural it has one form, in -in, whoever it describes: l-7ellaqat mzyanin, the hairdressers are good.

Singular and plural

Singular · pluralSayMeans
نْجَّارْ · نْجَّارِينْnejjar · nejjarincarpenter · carpenters
خْبَّازْ · خْبَّازِينْkhebbaz · khebbazinbaker · bakers (men, or mixed)
خْبَّازَة · خْبَّازَاتْkhebbaza · khebbazatbaker · bakers (women only)
خْيَّاطَة · خْيَّاطَاتْkheyyata · kheyyatatseamstress · seamstresses
مْزْيَانْ · مْزْيَانِينْmzyan · mzyaningood · good (plural, any gender)
سَاعَة · سَاعَاتْsa3a · sa3athour, watch · hours, watches
طُومُوبِيلْ · طُومُوبِيلَاتْtomobil · tomobilatcar · cars

Your -s works like one ending here, not two. The split between -in and -at is the whole difficulty for you, and it is a question English never asks: who is in the group?

What English hands you, and what it charges you

Free: the rule is regular. Like your -s, you add an ending and the word stays whole. khebbaz is still there inside khebbazin.

Charged: gender. “The bakers” tells an English listener nothing about who they are. l-khebbazin and l-khebbazat tell a Moroccan exactly that, and you have to decide before you open your mouth.

Charged: the adjective. “Good bakers” keeps “good” the same. Here it goes plural too: khebbazin mzyanin.

Your mistake, not someone else's

English has no gendered plural, so the first ending you learn becomes “the plural”. It is usually -in. Then you use it for two women.

×نَادْيَة وْ سَلْمَى خْبَّازِينْ“Nadya and Salma are bakers”, with the men's ending. It sounds as if you had not noticed who they are.

✓نَادْيَة وْ سَلْمَى خْبَّازَاتْTwo women: -at.

And the reverse slip, once you have learnt -at: one man in a group of ten women and the plural goes back to -in. Karim w Nadya are khebbazin. It is the same rule as French and Spanish, and just as unfair.

3

Two job signs

The kind of card taped inside a shop window. Short, no verbs, and every plural on it is one from this lesson.

مَخْبْزَة الْبَرَكَة

مْطْلُوبِينْ

جُوجْ خْبَّازِينْ وْ بَيَّاعَة

الْمْعَلّْمْ كَايْنْ فْ الصّْبَاحْ

In a bakery window

دَارْ الْخْيَاطَة

مْطْلُوبِينْ جُوجْ خْيَّاطَاتْ

خْدْمَة دْيَالْ النّْهَارْ

On a sewing workshop door

Did you follow it?

  1. How many people does the bakery want, and are they men or women?

    Show answers

    Three: two bakers, juj khebbazin, men or a mixed pair; and one saleswoman, beyya3a.

  2. When can you find the boss?

    Show answers

    In the morning: l-m3allem kayn f s-sba7.

  3. Who does the workshop want?

    Show answers

    Two seamstresses, women: kheyyatat.

  4. Why is it mtlubin on the second sign, when the workers are women?

    Show answers

    Because mtlub works like an adjective, and the plural adjective has one form, in -in.

4

Check

The rule is on the page above. These show whether you can apply it without looking.

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.

1Sort

Put each word in the column of its plural.

نْجَّارْخْيَّاطَةڭْزَّارْبَيَّاعَةفْلَّاحْحْلَّاقَةخْدَّامْسَاعَة

Plural in -in

Plural in -at

2Make it plural

Rewrite each sentence about more than one person. Keep the gender.

  1. هُوَ نْجَّارْ
  2. هِيَ خْيَّاطَة
  3. أَنَا خْبَّازْ
  4. نْتِ حْلَّاقَة؟

3Fill the gap

Use each word from the box once.

خْبَّازِينْبَيَّاعَاتْمْزْيَانِينْخْيَّاطَاتْ

  1. فْ الْمَخْبْزَة كَايْنِينْ جُوجْ ___

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

4Right or wrong

Is the Darija correct for what the line describes?

  1. نَادْيَة وْ سَلْمَى خْبَّازَاتْ Two women who are bakers.

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

5Write

Write your own job sign in three lines: the shop, who is wanted, when the boss is in.

مْطْلُوبِينْجُوجْخْدَّامِينْكَايْنْ

The rest is in the A1 book

The A1 book
Show answers
1. SortPlural in -in: نْجَّارْ · ڭْزَّارْ · فْلَّاحْ · خْدَّامْ / Plural in -at: خْيَّاطَة · بَيَّاعَة · حْلَّاقَة · سَاعَة
2. Make it pluralهُومَا نْجَّارِينْ · هُومَا خْيَّاطَاتْ · حْنَا خْبَّازِينْ · نْتُومَا حْلَّاقَاتْ؟

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

  • Put a trade in the plural, for men or for women.
  • Say why a group of nine women and one man takes -in.
  • Make the adjective plural with its noun.
  • Read a job sign and say who is wanted.