Darija lesson 26: giving orders, baking bread

1

Twenty-one words

What you need for home-made bread and what you do with it. Verbs are in dictionary form; their imperatives are in the rule.

Ingredients

الدّْقِيقْ d-dqiq flour
الْخْمِيرَة l-khmira yeast
Also sourdough starter.
الْمْلْحَة l-mel7a salt
Lesson 5 had l-mel7; both forms are heard.
السّْكَّرْ s-sekkar sugar
English “sugar” goes back to the same Arabic word, via Latin and French.
الزِّيتْ z-zit oil
Olive oil by default.
الْمَا الدَّافِي l-ma d-dafi lukewarm water
dafi, warm. Not cold, not hot.

What to do

عْجَنْ 3jen to knead
Imperative 3jen, 3ejni, 3ejnu.
زَادْ zad to add
Hollow with i: imperative zid, zidi. Also “more, go on”: zid!
حَطّْ 7ett to put
Doubled: 7ett, 7etti, 7ettu.
خَلَّى khella to leave; to let
Four-letter defective: khelli, leave. khellih, leave it.
غَطَّى ghetta to cover
Same pattern: ghetti, cover.
قْطَعْ qte3 to cut
طَيّْبْ tiyyeb to cook; to bake
Oven or hob. tiyyeb, bake it.
خْلَطْ khlet to mix

What with

الْفَرَّانْ l-ferran the oven
The home one. The neighbourhood bakery oven, where bread used to be taken, is also l-ferran.
الطّْبْسِيلْ t-tbsil bowl
الْكَاسْ l-kas glass
As a measure: kas dyal l-ma, a glass of water.
الْمْعَلْقَة l-m3elqa spoon
m3elqa dyal, a spoonful of.

Care and time

رَدّْ الْبَالْ redd l-bal careful!
“Bring back your attention”. Invariable.
سَاعْتَيْنْ sa3tayn two hours
Dual, lesson 69. For now, a set phrase.
حْتَّى 7tta until
7tta ykber, until it rises. Lesson 52.

2

Orders and negative orders

Three orders and one prohibition, taken from the recipe. Compare the last one with the other three.

حَطّْ الدّْقِيقْ فْالطّْبْسِيلْ7ett d-dqiq f t-tbsil
زِيدِي شْوِيَّة دْيَالْ الْمَاzidi shwiya dyal l-ma
عَجْنُو مْزْيَانْ3ejnu mzyan
مَا تْحْلّْشْ الْفَرَّانْma t7ellsh l-ferran

Which letter does the prohibition have that the orders don't?

The rule

The imperative is the present without ka- and without the person letter: tkteb → kteb, write. To a woman, add -i: ketbi. To a group, -u: ketbu.

Each verb family keeps its vowel: mshi (defective), qul, jib (hollow), 7ell (doubled).

Two irregulars: kul, eat; aji, come.

The negative order is not the imperative with a negative. It is the present without ka-, keeping its t-, inside ma...sh: ma tktebsh, don't write; ma tketbish, to her; ma tketbush, to a group.

One order, three people

Man · woman · group	Say it	Means
كْتَبْ · كَتْبِي · كَتْبُو	kteb · ketbi · ketbu	write
مْشِي · مْشِي · مْشِيوْ	mshi · mshi · mshiw	go
قُولْ · قُولِي · قُولُو	qul · quli · qulu	say
جِيبْ · جِيبِي · جِيبُو	jib · jibi · jibu	bring
حَلّْ · حَلِّي · حَلُّو	7ell · 7elli · 7ellu	open
كُولْ · كُولِي · كُولُو	kul · kuli · kulu	eat
أَجِي · أَجِي · أَجِيوْ	aji · aji · ajiw	come
مَا تْكْتْبْشْ · مَا تْمْشِيشْ	ma tktebsh · ma temshish	don't write · don't go

English uses one form for all three columns. Darija uses three. With defectives, man and woman coincide: mshi.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the bare verb. English orders are the plain verb, “open”, “add”. So are Darija's, for a man: 7ell, zid.

Costly: “don't”. English negates any order the same way. Darija switches form: the t- of “you” comes back.

Costly: who you are talking to. “Add the salt” is the same to anyone in English. In Darija it is zid, zidi or zidu.

Your mistake, not someone else's

In English, “don't” + the order works for every verb. So you take 7ell, open, and wrap ma...sh round it. The result sounds like “he didn't open”, a past statement, not an order.

×مَا حَلّْشْ الْفَرَّانْNegated imperative. Heard as “he didn't open”.

✓مَا تْحْلّْشْ الْفَرَّانْ“Don't open the oven”. With the t of “you”.

And speaking to a woman: it's zidi, not zid. English “add” never tells you.

3

Home-made bread

The round loaf made in almost every Moroccan home. The recipe belongs to everyone; the text is ours, in the imperative from start to finish, the way it is dictated in a kitchen.

خُبْزْ الدَّارْ

كِيلُو دْيَالْ الدّْقِيقْ · مْعَلْقَة دْيَالْ الْخْمِيرَة · مْعَلْقَة دْيَالْ الْمْلْحَة

حَطّْ الدّْقِيقْ وْ الْمْلْحَة فْالطّْبْسِيلْ وْ خْلَطْهُمْ.

دَوّْبْ الْخْمِيرَة فْكَاسْ دْيَالْ الْمَا الدَّافِي.

زِيدْ الْمَا شْوِيَّة بْشْوِيَّة وْ عْجَنْ رْبْعْ سَاعَة.

قْطَعْ الْعْجِينْ جُوجْ، وْ غَطِّيهْ بْكْسَا.

خَلِّيهْ سَاعَة حْتَّى يْكْبَرْ. مَا تْحْلّْشْ الطّْبْسِيلْ!

طَيّْبْ فْالْفَرَّانْ نُصّْ سَاعَة. رَدّْ الْبَالْ: مَا تْخَلِّيهْشْ يْتْحْرَقْ.

Home-made bread

Did you follow?

Where is the yeast dissolved?
Show answers
In a glass of lukewarm water.
How long do you knead?
Show answers
A quarter of an hour: rbe3 sa3a.
What must you not do while the dough rises?
Show answers
Open the bowl: ma t7ellsh t-tbsil.
How long does it bake?
Show answers
Half an hour.

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.

1Match

The order to a man with the order to a woman.

1	كْتَبْ	a	حَلِّي
2	قُولْ	b	كَتْبِي
3	حَلّْ	c	مْشِي
4	مْشِي	d	قُولِي

2Forbid it

Turn the order into a prohibition, for the same person.

حَلّْ الْبَابْ
زِيدِي الْمْلْحَة
مْشِيوْ دَابَا
كُولْ الْخُبْزْ

3Put in order

Four steps from the recipe, scrambled.

فْالطّْبْسِيلْحَطّْالدّْقِيقْ

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

4Pick the right one

The one that is a correct order.

1. جِيبْ لِيَّ الْمَا
2. جَابْ لِيَّ الْمَا
3. كَتْجِيبْ لِيَّ الْمَا

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Your recipe

In at least five orders, explain how to make tea or something you cook. Include one prohibition.

حَطّْزِيدْخْلَطْخَلِّيهْمَا ... شْ

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Forbid it	مَا تْحْلّْشْ الْبَابْ · مَا تْزِيدِيشْ الْمْلْحَة · مَا تْمْشِيوْشْ دَابَا · مَا تَاكُلْشْ الْخُبْزْ

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

Give an order to a man, a woman and a group.
Forbid with ma t...sh.
Follow and dictate a recipe.
Soften an order with 3afak.