Darija lesson 16: the present tense with ka-

1

Nineteen words

The verbs are listed in their dictionary form, three consonants and nothing else. On its own that form means “he did it”, the past, which comes in lesson 22. Here you only need it as the core the present is built around.

Getting going

غْسْلْ ghsel to wash
kanghsel wejhi, I wash my face. Also the dishes: kanghsel l-mwa3en.
لْبْسْ lbes to get dressed, to wear
One verb for both. kanlbes, I get dressed; kanlbes l-k7el, I wear black.
فْطْرْ fter to have breakfast
A single verb. English needs three words for it.
شْرْبْ shreb to drink
خْرْجْ khrej to go out, to leave
With mn: kankhrej mn d-dar, I leave the house.

The working day

خْدْمْ khdem to work
The root of khedma, work, and khddam, worker, from lesson 14.
كْتْبْ kteb to write
The model verb of this lesson. Same root as ktab, book.
دْخْلْ dkhel to go in, to enter
With l: kandkhel l l-khedma, I go in to work.
طْبْخْ tbekh to cook
رْجْعْ rje3 to come back
The 3 is ع. It still counts as one of the three consonants.

Evening

رْقْدْ rqed to sleep, to go to bed
أَتَايْ atay tea
Green tea with mint, unless someone says otherwise.
وْجْهْ wjeh face
wejhi, my face: the vowel moves when the ending goes on.

When

فْ الصّْبَاحْ f s-sba7 in the morning
The sba7 of sba7 l-khir, lesson 1.
فْ الْعْشِيَّة f l-3shiya in the afternoon
From lunch until dark.
فْ اللِّيلْ f l-lil at night
بْكْرِي bekri early
دِيمَا dima always
Before the verb or after it, both are fine.
شْوِيَّة shwiya a little, a bit

2

The present with ka-

One verb, khdem, to work, in four sentences. Compare the beginning of the verb in each.

أَنَا كَانْخْدْمْ فْ الصّْبَاحْana kankhdem f s-sba7
هُوَ كَايْخْدْمْ فْ اللِّيلْhuwa kaykhdem f l-lil
نْتِ كَاتْخْدْمِي هْنَا؟nti katkhedmi hna?
حْنَا كَانْخْدْمُو فْ الْمْدِينَة7na kankhedmu f l-mdina

What stays the same in all four, and what changes with the person?

The rule

Every present verb starts with ka-. Straight after it comes a letter that tells you who:

n- for I and we, t- for you and for she, y- for he and they.

Then the three consonants. Then, only in three persons, an ending: -u for any plural, and -i when you speak to a woman.

So ka-n-kteb is “I write” and ka-y-ketb-u is “they write”. When the ending is added, the vowel inside moves back one place: kteb, -ketbu. You do not have to think about it; it is how the word is easiest to say.

The pronoun is now optional. kankteb on its own already says “I write”.

The whole of kteb

Person	Say	Means
أَنَا كَانْكْتْبْ	ana kankteb	I write
نْتَ كَاتْكْتْبْ	nta katkteb	you write (to a man)
نْتِ كَاتْكْتْبِي	nti katketbi	you write (to a woman)
هُوَ كَايْكْتْبْ	huwa kaykteb	he writes
هِيَ كَاتْكْتْبْ	hiya katkteb	she writes
حْنَا كَانْكْتْبُو	7na kanketbu	we write
نْتُومَا كَاتْكْتْبُو	ntuma katketbu	you write (plural)
هُومَا كَايْكْتْبُو	huma kayketbu	they write

Rows two and five are the same word: katkteb is “you write” to a man and “she writes”. The pronoun, or the situation, tells them apart. This is the one place you will want to keep the pronoun.

What English hands you, and what it charges you

Charged: eight forms where you have two, write and writes. There is no way round learning them.

Free, almost: they are all regular, and the person is at the front. You hear n-, t- or y- right after ka-, before the verb itself has started. The endings are only -u and -i.

Free: one present, not two. “I write” and “I'm writing” are both kankteb. You never have to choose between them here.

Your mistake, not someone else's

In English the present is the bare verb: “I work”. So ka- looks like decoration, and you drop it. The bare form exists in Darija, which is why it is dangerous: it means something else.

×أَنَا نْخْدْمْ فْ الصّْبَاحْNot a statement. It sounds like “let me work in the morning”, or “should I work in the morning?”. You will need that form after bgha, “want”, in lesson 29.

✓أَنَا كَانْخْدْمْ فْ الصّْبَاحْ“I work in the morning.” Every day, or right now: the same words.

And the English -s, turned upside down. You are used to marking “he” and nobody else. Here huwa gets y- and hiya gets t-: kaykteb, katkteb. “She” takes the same letter as “you”. Say hiya kaykteb and you have given her a man's verb.

3

A day, hour by hour

A timetable, the kind you jot down to see where the day goes. Every line is one or two verbs in the first person, with kan- at the front.

النّْهَارْ دْيَالِي

7:00 · كَانْغْسْلْ وْجْهِي وْ كَانْلْبْسْ

7:30 · كَانْفْطْرْ وْ كَانْشْرْبْ أَتَايْ

8:00 · كَانْخْرْجْ مْنْ الدَّارْ

9:00 · كَانْدْخْلْ لْلْخْدْمَة

18:00 · كَانْرْجْعْ لْلدَّارْ

20:00 · كَانْطْبْخْ

22:00 · كَانْكْتْبْ شْوِيَّة

23:00 · كَانْرْقْدْ

My day

Did you follow it?

What does the writer do at half past seven?
Show answers
Has breakfast and drinks tea: kanfter w kanshreb atay.
When do they get home?
Show answers
At six in the evening: kanrje3 l d-dar.
What do they do at ten at night?
Show answers
Write a little: kankteb shwiya.
There is no ana anywhere on the list. How do you know who is doing all this?
Show answers
From the n after ka-. kan- can only be “I”.

4

Check

You have seen the pattern. These show whether you can produce it, person by person.

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

Use each verb from the box once. Look at who the subject is.

كَانْخْرْجْكَاتْلْبْسِيكَايْرْقْدُوكَايْشْرْبْ

أَنَا ___ مْنْ الدَّارْ بْكْرِي
نْتِ ___ دِيمَا الْكْحْلْ
الدّْرَارِي ___ بْكْرِي
هُوَ ___ أَتَايْ فْ الْعْشِيَّة

2Make it plural

I becomes we, you becomes you plural, he and she become they.

أَنَا كَانْخْدْمْ فْ الصّْبَاحْ
هُوَ كَايْكْتْبْ بْزَّافْ
نْتَ كَاتْخْرْجْ بْكْرِي
هِيَ كَاتْرْقْدْ فْ اللِّيلْ

3Right or wrong

Is the Darija correct for what the line says?

نْتِ كَاتْكْتْبِي “You write”, to a woman.

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

4Put it in order

Build the sentence from the pieces.

بْكْرِيمْنْكَانْخْرْجْالدَّارْ

The rest is in the A1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

5Write

Write your own day in at least four sentences, from breakfast to bed. Use ka- in every verb.

كَانْفْطْرْكَانْخْرْجْكَانْخْدْمْكَانْرْجْعْكَانْرْقْدْ

The rest is in the A1 book

The A1 book

Show answers

1. Fill the gap	كَانْخْرْجْ · كَاتْلْبْسِي · كَايْرْقْدُو · كَايْشْرْبْ
2. Make it plural	حْنَا كَانْخْدْمُو فْ الصّْبَاحْ · هُومَا كَايْكْتْبُو بْزَّافْ · نْتُومَا كَاتْخْرْجُو بْكْرِي · هُومَا كَايْرْقْدُو فْ اللِّيلْ

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

Tell someone what I do in a normal day.
Put a regular verb in all eight persons.
Say who is doing something from the letter after ka-.
Explain why the verb without ka- is not a present.