Darija lesson 21: feelings and double consonants

1

Twenty words

Feelings and moods. The adjectives in the second family agree: -a for a woman, -in for a plural, as in lesson 4. English adjectives never do this, so check each one.

Feeling

حَبّْ 7ebb to love; to like
kan7ebb atay, I like tea; kan7ebbek, I love you. One verb for both.
حَسّْ 7ess to feel
With b-: kan7ess b l-berd, I'm cold, “I feel the cold”.
كْرَهْ kreh to hate; can't stand
ضْحَكْ d7ek to laugh
Emphatic ḍ, as in daw. Present kand7ek.
بْكَى bka to cry
Defective, like lesson 19: kanbki.
تْوَحّْشْ twe77esh to miss (someone)
twe77eshtek, I miss you: past in form, but that is how it is always said.

How you are

فَرْحَانْ fer7an happy
fer7ana for a woman.
حْزِينْ 7zin sad
عْيَّانْ 3eyyan tired
The honest answer to labas? on a Friday afternoon.
مْقَلّْقْ mqelleq worried
With 3la: worried about someone.
مْعَصّْبْ m3esseb stressed; angry
From 3asab, nerve: “on edge”.
خَايْفْ khayf scared
The participle of khaf from lesson 20. Participles as states: lesson 37.
مْرْتَاحْ mrta7 relaxed; comfortable

Inside

الْقَلْبْ l-qelb the heart
الْفَرْحَة l-fer7a joy; celebration
Also a wedding: l-fer7a dyal khti, my sister's wedding.
الْحُبّْ l-7ubb love

More double verbs

حَلّْ 7ell to open
Doubled. kan7ell. With a short l, 7el, it slides toward another root.
سَدّْ sedd to close
Doubled. sedd l-bab, close the door.
شَدّْ shedd to hold; to grab
Doubled. On the phone, shedd is “hold on”.
عَدّْ 3edd to count
Doubled. Money, days.

2

The double consonant

Four sentences with verbs ending in a double consonant: 7ebb, 7ell, 7ess, sedd. Compare them with kankteb from lesson 16.

كَنْحَبّْ أَتَايْ بْالنّْعْنَاعْkan7ebb atay b n-ne3na3
هِيَ كَتْحَلّْ الْبَابْhiya kat7ell l-bab
كَنْحَسّْ بْالْبَرْدْkan7ess b l-berd
الدّْرَارِي كَيْسَدُّو الشَّرْجَمْd-drari kayseddu sh-sherjem

Is anything new in the conjugation? What happens to the double when -u or -i is added?

The rule

Doubled (geminate) verbs repeat the last root consonant: 7-b-b, 7-l-l, s-d-d. In the dictionary they sound like one closed syllable with a long consonant: 7ebb.

In the present they conjugate exactly like regular verbs: kan7ebb, kat7ebbi, kay7ebbu. No vowel changes, nothing drops.

The only thing to watch is the double. It stays in every person, and when -u or -i is added it splits across two syllables: kan-7eb-bu. That is what the shadda, the small ّ over the letter, marks.

The whole of 7ebb

Person	Say it	Means
أَنَا كَنْحَبّْ	ana kan7ebb	I love
نْتَ كَتْحَبّْ	nta kat7ebb	you love (to a man)
نْتِ كَتْحَبِّي	nti kat7ebbi	you love (to a woman)
هُوَ كَيْحَبّْ	huwa kay7ebb	he loves
هِيَ كَتْحَبّْ	hiya kat7ebb	she loves
حْنَا كَنْحَبُّو	7na kan7ebbu	we love
نْتُومَا كَتْحَبُّو	ntuma kat7ebbu	you love (plural)
هُومَا كَيْحَبُّو	huma kay7ebbu	they love

If you know kankteb, you know this. The table is here so you see the shadda in all eight rows.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: you already make double consonants, just not inside words. Say “bookcase”, “black cat”, “big game” at normal speed: the k, the k, the g are held. That hold is the shadda.

Costly: English spelling. “Hello”, “happy”, “dinner” write a double and say a single. Your eye has learnt to ignore double letters. In Darija, the shadda always means hold.

Costly: agreement. fer7an, fer7ana, fer7anin: happy for a man, a woman, a group. English “happy” never changes, so you will forget the -a.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You see kan7ell, and your spelling habit reads the double l as one, like “hello”. The result is kan7el, which is not “I open”. Hold the l as you would in “full load”.

×كَنْحَلْ الْبَابْSingle l. The listener has to guess.

✓كَنْحَلّْ الْبَابْ“I open the door”. Long l: kan-7ell.

And the agreement slip: a woman saying ana fer7an. It is ana fer7ana. English “I'm happy” gives you no warning.

3

A voice message

A voice message from one sister to another, transcribed. Written for this lesson. Count how many moods she goes through in forty seconds.

السَّلَامْ أَ خْتِي، كِي دَايْرَة؟

تْوَحّْشْتْكْ بْزَّافْ. الدَّارْ خَاوْيَة بْلَا بِيكْ.

أَنَا عْيَّانَة شْوِيَّة، الْخْدْمَة كْتِيرَة، وَلَكِنْ فَرْحَانَة.

مّي مْقَلّْقَة عْلِيكْ. كَتْحَسّْ بْلِّي نْتِ بْعِيدَة.

كُلّْ لِيلَة كَنْحَلّْ التِّيلِيفُونْ وْ كَنْشُوفْ التّْصَاوْرْ دْيَالْكْ.

كَنْحَبّْكْ. عَيّْطِي لِينَا.

Voice message, 42 seconds

Did you follow?

Why is the house empty?
Show answers
Because the sister is away: bla bik, without you.
How is the speaker?
Show answers
A bit tired from work, but happy.
Who is worried?
Show answers
Their mother: mmi mqelleqa 3lik.
What does she do every night?
Show answers
Opens her phone and looks at her sister's photos.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the A2 book. In the second one, you supply the shaddas.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the A2 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Match

Join each state to what the person does.

1	فَرْحَانْ	a	كَيْرْقُدْ بْكْرِي
2	حْزِينْ	b	كَيْضْحَكْ
3	عْيَّانْ	c	كَيْسَدّْ الْبَابْ
4	خَايْفْ	d	كَيْبْكِي

2Add the vowels

Put in the missing ḥarakāt. Don't forget the shadda.

كنحب
كتحلي
كيسدو
كنحس بالبرد

3True or false?

According to the voice message.

The speaker misses her sister.

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

4Make it plural

Make it plural: he to they, I to we, you to you all.

هُوَ فَرْحَانْ

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Leave a message

Write a voice message of at least four sentences to someone you miss. Say how you are.

تْوَحّْشْتْكْكَنْحَبّْعْيَّانْفَرْحَانْ

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Add the vowels	كَنْحَبّْ · كَتْحَلِّي · كَيْسَدُّو · كَنْحَسّْ بْالْبَرْدْ

The A2 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 how I am: tired, happy, worried, relaxed.
Conjugate 7ebb, 7ell, sedd and 7ess.
Hold the double consonant in every person.
Say twe77eshtek and kan7ebbek.