Lesson 15 · A1
Mouse, mice; tbsil, tbasel
English keeps a handful of plurals that change the inside of the word. In Darija that is how most everyday nouns work. The good news is that they follow a few shapes, and you can learn the shapes.
- Recognise a broken plural when you meet one.
- Use the three most frequent shapes.
- Name what is on a Moroccan table, in the singular and the plural.
- Read the ingredient list for a tajine.
Eighteen words
The first family comes in pairs, singular and plural, because a broken plural cannot be worked out from the singular with certainty. Learn them together, like “mouse, mice”. The ingredients come alone: most of them have no plural to learn.
On the table
-
كَاسْ · كِيسَانْ
kas · kisan
glass · glasses
The tea glass, above all. The long a becomes i and -an is added.
-
طْبْسِيلْ · طْبَاسْلْ
tbsil · tbasel
plate · plates
The shape to remember: tbasel. Most four-consonant nouns go this way.
-
مْغْرْفَة · مْغَارْفْ
mghrfa · mgharef
spoon · spoons
The -a of the singular vanishes in the plural. It does not come back as -at.
-
طَاجِينْ · طْوَاجْنْ
tajin · twajen
tajine · tajines
Both the clay pot and the dish cooked in it, as in English. The plural slips a w in after the first letter.
- بَرّْادْ · بْرَارْدْ berrad · brared teapot · teapots
-
مَاعُونْ · مْوَاعْنْ
ma3un · mwa3en
dish · the dishes
The plural is the washing-up: l-mwa3en.
In the tajine
-
لْحْمْ
l7em
meat
Uncountable, as in English. No plural in daily use.
-
بْصَلْ
bsel
onions
One word for the stuff, like “rice”. English says “onions” with an -s; Darija does not need one. A single onion is bsla.
-
مَاطِيشَة
matisha
tomatoes
Also a mass word. matisha already means “tomatoes”.
- بْطَاطَا btata potatoes
- خِيزُّو khizzu carrots
- زِيتُونْ zitun olives
-
حَامْضْ مْرَقّْدْ
7amed mreqqed
preserved lemon
Literally “lemon put to sleep”: salted and left in a jar for weeks. The taste of half the tajines in Morocco.
In the kitchen
-
زِيتْ
zit
oil
Olive oil unless someone says otherwise. Written the same as the start of zitun, olives.
- مْلْحْ mel7 salt
- كَامُّونْ kamun cumin
-
مَا
ma
water
With the article, l-ma. Short and very frequent.
-
كُوزِينَة
kuzina
kitchen
From Spanish cocina, by way of the north. Plural kuzinat, the regular -at: loanwords rarely break.
The plural inside the word
Singular on the right of each line, plural on the left. Look for the ending you learnt in lesson 14.
- عَنْدِي كَاسْ · عَنْدِي جُوجْ كِيسَانْ3endi kas · 3endi juj kisan
- هَادْ الطّْبْسِيلْ دْيَالِي · هَادْ الطّْبَاسْلْ دْيَالِيhad t-tbsil dyali · had t-tbasel dyali
- الْمْغْرْفَة فْ الْكُوزِينَة · الْمْغَارْفْ فْ الْكُوزِينَةl-mghrfa f l-kuzina · l-mgharef f l-kuzina
- كَايْنْ طَاجِينْ · كَايْنِينْ جُوجْ طْوَاجْنْkayn tajin · kaynin juj twajen
Where did the -in and the -at go?
The rule
They are not there. These plurals add no ending: they rebuild the word from its consonants, the way “foot” becomes “feet”. Arabic grammar calls them broken plurals.
There are many shapes, but three cover most of what you will say at A1:
1. CCaC → CCuC. ktab, ktub. With dar a y appears: dyur.
2. Add -an, and the a turns to i. bab, biban; kas, kisan.
3. Four consonants: C-C-a-C-e-C. tbsil, tbasel; mghrfa, mgharef. If the second sound of the singular is a long vowel, a w takes its place: tajin, twajen; 7anut, 7wanet.
Shape 3 is the one that pays: almost any noun with four consonants follows it.
Six words you already know
| Singular · plural | Say | Means |
|---|---|---|
| كْتَابْ · كْتُوبْ | ktab · ktub | book · books |
| دَارْ · دْيُورْ | dar · dyur | house · houses |
| بَابْ · بِيبَانْ | bab · biban | door · doors |
| فَارْ · فِيرَانْ | far · firan | mouse · mice |
| مْدْرَسَة · مْدَارْسْ | mdrasa · mdares | school · schools |
| حَانُوتْ · حْوَانْتْ | 7anut · 7wanet | shop · shops |
Row four is a gift: far, firan changes its vowel exactly where “mouse, mice” does. Keep that pair in mind as the model for all of them.
What English hands you, and what it charges you
Free: the idea. You already have “man, men”, “tooth, teeth”, “goose, geese”. You know a plural can live inside the word. French and Spanish speakers have almost nothing like it.
Charged: the numbers. English has about a dozen of these and they are fossils. In Darija they are the normal plural of old, everyday nouns. The -in and -at of lesson 14 are for people's trades, adjectives and newer words.
Free, once: mass nouns. “Meat”, “oil” and “salt” take no plural in English, and they take none here either. Darija just has more of them: onions and tomatoes are mass nouns too.
Your mistake, not someone else's
You have just learnt that plurals end in -at. So you give it to the plate.
×جُوجْ طْبْسِيلَاتْ“Two plateses.” Understood, and wrong. The ending belongs to another kind of word.
✓جُوجْ طْبَاسْلْ“Two plates.”
And the English reflex at the market: asking for bselat or matishat because “onions” and “tomatoes” have an -s. bsel and matisha are already plural in meaning. If you want one, ask for 7ebba d l-matisha, “a piece of tomato”.
What goes in a tajine
An ingredient list as it would be written on the back of an envelope before going to the market. The recipe is traditional; the wording is ours. Two broken plurals on it are from this lesson.
طَاجِينْ اللّْحْمْ بْالْخُضْرَة
لْرْبْعَة دْ النَّاسْ
كِيلُو دْ اللّْحْمْ
بْصَلْ، مَاطِيشَة، بْطَاطَا، خِيزُّو
حَامْضْ مْرَقّْدْ وْ زِيتُونْ
جُوجْ مْغَارْفْ دْ الزِّيتْ
مْلْحْ وْ كَامُّونْ
جُوجْ كِيسَانْ دْ الْمَا
Did you follow it?
How many people is it for?
Show answers
Four: l-reb3a d n-nas.
How much oil goes in?
Show answers
Two spoons: juj mgharef d z-zit. mgharef is the plural of mghrfa.
How much water?
Show answers
Two glasses: juj kisan d l-ma.
Why do onions and tomatoes have no number in front of them?
Show answers
Because bsel and matisha are mass nouns, like “rice”. You buy them by weight, not by count.
Check
The shapes are above. These show whether you can recognise them and produce them.
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.
1Match
Pair each singular with its plural.
| 1 | كَاسْ | a | طْوَاجْنْ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | طْبْسِيلْ | b | كِيسَانْ |
| 3 | طَاجِينْ | c | بْرَارْدْ |
| 4 | بَرّْادْ | d | طْبَاسْلْ |
2Pick the right one
Only one of the three is the plural a Moroccan would say.
- جُوجْ طْبْسِيلَاتْ
- جُوجْ طْبَاسْلْ
- جُوجْ طْبْسِيلِينْ
- هَادْ الْكِيسَانْ
- هَادْ الْكَاسَاتْ
- هَادْ الْكَاسِينْ
- جُوجْ دَارَاتْ
- جُوجْ دَارِينْ
- جُوجْ دْيُورْ
3Put the vowels back
Write the vowel marks on these four plurals. Each has the shape of one of the three patterns.
- طواجن
4Put it in order
Build the sentence from the pieces.
طْوَاجْنْعَنْدِيجُوجْ
5Sort
Some of these plurals add an ending, and some rebuild the word. Put each in its column.
خْبَّازِينْ
Ending -in or -at
Broken plural
Show answers
| 1. Match | 1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c |
|---|---|
| 2. Pick the right one | 1-b, 2-a, 3-c |
The A1 book: In preparation
Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.
I can now
- Tell a broken plural from a regular one.
- Make a plural in the C-C-a-C-e-C shape.
- Lay a table in Darija: glasses, plates, spoons.
- Read a tajine ingredient list and say how much of each.