Darija lesson 23: went, said, brought

1

Twenty words

A day from morning to night. Almost every verb in the first family is one of the awkward ones: check its type before you conjugate.

Verbs of the day

فَاقْ faq to wake up
Hollow. Past feqt, I woke up.
نْعَسْ n3es to fall asleep
Regular: n3est. rqed from lesson 16 is going to bed; this is dropping off.
بْدَا bda to start
Defective: bdit, I started.
سَالَى sala to finish
Defective: salit, I finished.
نْسَى nsa to forget
Defective: nsit. Present kansa, with a: one of the few that doesn't switch to i.
قْرَا qra to read; to study
Defective: qrit. kanqra f l-jami3a, I study at university.
بَاتْ bat to spend the night
Hollow: bet, I spent the night.

Meals

الْفْطُورْ l-ftur breakfast
From fter, lesson 16.
الْغْدَا l-ghda lunch
The main meal of the Moroccan day.
الْعْشَا l-3sha dinner
تْغْدَّى tghedda to have lunch
tghedda: “to do ghda”. Defective: tgheddit.
تْعْشَّى t3eshsha to have dinner
Same pattern: t3eshshit, I had dinner.

Places and paper

الْكُنَّاشْ l-kunnash notebook
Where the diary goes.
الْمَوْعِدْ l-maw3id appointment
Doctor, office, anywhere with a queue.
الْحَمَّامْ l-7ammam the public bath
The neighbourhood hammam, not a bathroom.
السّْبِيطَارْ s-sbitar the hospital
Spanish hospital, h lost on the way, p turned into b: Arabic has no p.

To sum up

كُلّْشِي kullshi everything
kullshi mzyan, all good.
وَالُو walu nothing
The answer to ash derti?: walu.
بْزَّزْ bezzez by force; no choice
bezzez 3liya, I had no choice.
مْزْيَانْ mzyan good; fine

2

Three past patterns

Four sentences with a defective verb, two hollow ones and a doubled one. Watch what happens right before the ending.

الْبَارَحْ مْشِيتْ لْلسّْبِيطَارْl-bare7 mshit l s-sbitar
قُلْتْ لِيهْ: سْمْحْ لِيَّqolt lih: sme7 liya
هِيَ جَابَتْ الْخُبْزْhiya jabet l-khobz
حَلِّينَا الْبَابْ وْ دْخَلْنَا7ellina l-bab w dkhelna

In mshit, where does the i come from? In qolt, where did the a of qal go?

The rule

The endings are lesson 22's: -t, -ti, -at, -na, -tu, -u. What changes is the stem just before them.

Defective (msha): before -t, -ti, -na, -tu, add an i: mshit, mshina. With “she” and “they” the a stays: mshat, mshaw.

Hollow (qal, jab): before -t, -ti, -na, -tu the long vowel shortens and changes: qolt, jebt. With “she” and “they” the a comes back: qalet, qalu.

Doubled (7ebb): before -t, -ti, -na, -tu add -i-, like the defectives: 7ebbit, 7ebbina. With “she” and “they”, nothing odd: 7ebbat, 7ebbu.

In short: the change always happens in the -t persons (I, you, we, you all). He, she and they look like the dictionary.

The three patterns

Forms	Say it	Means
مْشِيتْ · مْشَى · مْشَاوْ	mshit · msha · mshaw	I went · he went · they went
مْشِيتِي · مْشَاتْ · مْشِينَا	mshiti · mshat · mshina	you went · she went · we went
قُلْتْ · قَالْ · قَالُو	qolt · qal · qalu	I said · he said · they said
جِبْتْ · جَابْ · جَابُو	jebt · jab · jabu	I brought · he brought · they brought
قَالَتْ · قُلْنَا	qalet · qolna	she said · we said
حَبِّيتْ · حَبّْ · حَبُّو	7ebbit · 7ebb · 7ebbu	I loved · he loved · they loved
حَبَّاتْ · حَبِّينَا	7ebbat · 7ebbina	she loved · we loved
كْلِيتْ · جِيتْ	klit · jit	I ate · I came

Last row: kla and ja, irregular in the present, are ordinary defectives in the past. For once, the odd ones fall into line.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: patience with irregulars. You already carry go/went and bring/brought. Three patterns with rules is a better deal.

Costly: the “ay” glide. msha + t tempts you into “mshayt”, rhyming with “might”. The a disappears completely: mshit rhymes with “sheet” said short.

Costly: the short o. qolt has the o of “caught” cut short, not the “ow” of “colt”.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You know msha means “he went” and you glue on the -t for “I”. The a and the new i merge into a diphthong, the way English merges them in “might”. That merge does not happen in Darija.

×أَنَا مْشَيْتْ لْلْخْدْمَةWith a diphthong. Sounds like badly read Standard Arabic.

✓أَنَا مْشِيتْ لْلْخْدْمَة“I went to work”. The a goes; the i stays.

With hollow verbs the old mistake returns: keeping the long a. “I said” is qolt, short o, never qalt.

3

A diary page

A diary page, written for this lesson, the kind jotted down before sleep. Look for the three patterns: it is full of them.

الْجُّمْعَة، فْاللِّيلْ

الْيُومْ فَقْتْ بْكْرِي. نْسِيتْ الْفْطُورْ وْ مْشِيتْ لْلْخْدْمَة.

فْالْغْدَا كْلِيتْ غِيرْ شْوِيَّة دْيَالْ الْخُبْزْ.

فْالْعْشِيَّة كَانْ عَنْدِي مَوْعِدْ فْالسّْبِيطَارْ. الطّْبِيبْ قَالْ: كُلّْشِي مْزْيَانْ.

مَنْ بَعْدْ مْشِيتْ لْلْحَمَّامْ وْ جِبْتْ الْحُوتْ لْلْعْشَا.

تْعْشِّيتْ، قْرِيتْ شْوِيَّة، وْ نْعَسْتْ. نْهَارْ مْزْيَانْ.

Friday, at night

Did you follow?

Did the writer have breakfast?
Show answers
No: nsit l-ftur, forgot.
What was lunch?
Show answers
Just a bit of bread.
What did the doctor say?
Show answers
That everything is fine: kullshi mzyan.
What was brought home for dinner?
Show answers
Fish: jebt l-7ut.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the A2 book.

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.

1Sort

Which family does each verb belong to?

مْشِيتْقُلْتْحَبِّيتْنْسِيتْجِبْتْحَلِّيتْقْرِيتْفَقْتْسَدِّيتْ

Defective

Hollow

Doubled

2Pick the right one

Only one form exists.

1. هُومَا مْشَاوْ
2. هُومَا مْشِيوْ
3. هُومَا مْشُو
1. أَنَا قَالْتْ
2. أَنَا قُلْتْ
3. أَنَا قِيلْتْ
1. حْنَا حَبْنَا
2. حْنَا حَبِّينَا
3. حْنَا حْبَبْنَا
1. هِيَ جَابَتْ
2. هِيَ جِبْتْ
3. هِيَ جَابْ

3Into the past

Same subject. Work out the verb family first.

كَنْمْشِي لْلسُّوقْ

The rest is in the A2 book

4 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

4True or false?

According to the diary page.

The writer woke up early.

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Write your diary

Tell last Saturday in at least five sentences. Use verbs from all three families.

فَقْتْمْشِيتْكْلِيتْقُلْتْنْعَسْتْ

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. Sort	Defective: مْشِيتْ · نْسِيتْ · قْرِيتْ / Hollow: قُلْتْ · جِبْتْ · فَقْتْ / Doubled: حَبِّيتْ · حَلِّيتْ · سَدِّيتْ
2. Pick the right one	1-a, 2-b, 3-b, 4-a

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

Tell a whole day in the past.
Say mshit, qolt, jebt, 7ebbit with no glides and no long a.
Remember that he, she and they look like the dictionary.
Use klit and jit, regular in the past.