Darija lesson 27: saw me, bring it

1

Twenty-one words

The body, head to foot, and what it takes to look after it.

The head

الرَّاسْ r-ras head
ras l-3am, “head of the year”: New Year.
الْعِينْ l-3in eye
Also “spring” (of water). Plural l-3inin.
الْوْدْنْ l-wden ear
Plural l-wednin.
الْفُمّْ l-fumm mouth
السّْنَانْ s-snan teeth
الْوْجْهْ l-wjeh face
Lesson 16's word.

The body

الْيْدّْ l-yedd hand; arm
The whole arm up to the shoulder. yeddiyya, my hands.
الصّْبَعْ s-sbe3 finger
Plural s-sba3.
الرّْجْلْ r-rjel foot; leg
Like the hand: the whole leg.
الْكَرْشْ l-kersh belly; stomach
kaydrni kershi, I have a stomach ache.
الظّْهَرْ d-dher back
الصّْدَرْ s-sder chest

Hygiene

الصَّابُونْ s-sabun soap
Same Latin root as English “soap”: sapo.
الْفُوطَة l-futa towel
The striped hammam kind.
الْمِيكْرُوبْ l-mikrub germ
French microbe.
الْمْرَضْ l-mrad illness

Verbs

نَشّْفْ nesshef to dry
nesshefhum, dry them.
قَاسْ qas to touch
Hollow with i: kanqis, I touch. Negative order: ma tqissh.
حَكّْ 7ekk to rub; to scratch
Doubled. kat7ekkni, it itches: “it scratches me”.
حْمَى 7ma to protect
Defective: 7mi, protect.
دِيمَا dima always

2

The pronoun, glued on

Four sentences where a pronoun replaces a thing or a person. Find it.

كَنْغْسْلْ يْدِّيَّ وْ كَنْنَشّْفْهُمْkanghsel yeddiyya w kannesshefhum
مّي كَتْعَيّْطْ لِيَّ وْ كَتْشُوفْنِيmmi kat3eyyet liya w katshufni
الطّْبِيبْ فْحَصْهَاt-tbib f7es-ha
الصَّابُونْ؟ جِيبُو لِيَّs-sabun? jibu liya

Before or after the verb? Separate or attached?

The rule

Object pronouns attach to the end of the verb, in any tense and person:

-ni me · -k you · -u him, it · -ha her, it · -na us · -kum you all · -hum them.

They are the possessives of lesson 9 (dari, darek, daru…), with one difference: “me” is -ni, not -i.

“Him/it” changes with the verb's ending: after a consonant it is -u (shafu, he saw him); after a vowel it is -h, almost silent (shafuh, they saw him).

Negation wraps the whole block: ma shafnish, he didn't see me.

shaf with every pronoun

Form	Say it	Means
شَافْنِي	shafni	he saw me
شَافَكْ	shafek	he saw you
شَافُو	shafu	he saw him / it
شَافْهَا	shafha	he saw her / it
شَافْنَا	shafna	he saw us
شَافْكُمْ	shafkum	he saw you (plural)
شَافْهُمْ	shafhum	he saw them
شَافُوهْ	shafuh	they saw him / it

Look at the last two: shafu is “he saw him” and also “they saw”. For “they saw him” the -h is added: shafuh.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the order. Verb first, then the object pronoun: “saw me”, “bring it”. Same in Darija.

Costly: the glue. There is no space between shaf and -ni, and the stress moves.

Costly: “it”. English has one “it”. Darija uses -u for a masculine thing and -ha for a feminine one: s-sabun? jibu, but l-futa? jibha. You need to know the noun's gender.

Your mistake, not someone else's

English object pronouns are separate words, so you look for a separate word. The one you know for “me” is ana, and you put it where English puts “me”. But ana is a subject: it cannot be seen.

×شَافْ أَنَا فْالزَّنْقَة“Saw I in the street”. ana can't be an object.

✓شَافْنِي فْالزَّنْقَة“He saw me in the street”. Pronoun attached.

And “it” by gender: l-yedd, hand, is feminine; hands in the plural take -hum. s-sabun is masculine: jibu, not jibha.

3

Wash your hands

A health-centre leaflet. The steps and the moments are the ones recommended by the World Health Organization; the Darija wording is ours, not an official translation.

غْسْلْ يْدِّيكْ، حْمِي صَحّْتَكْ

١. فَزّْكْ يْدِّيكْ بْالْمَا وْ حَطّْ عْلِيهُمْ الصَّابُونْ.

٢. حُكّْهُمْ مْزْيَانْ: الصّْبَاعْ، الظّْفَارْ، وْ الْجّْهَة لْلُورْ.

٣. عِشْرِينْ تَانْيَة عْلَى الْأَقَلّْ.

٤. شَلّْلْهُمْ بْالْمَا وْ نَشّْفْهُمْ بْفُوطَة نْقِيَّة.

مَا تْقِيسْشْ عِينِيكْ وْلَا فُمَّكْ بْيْدِّيكْ الْمْوَسّْخِينْ.

إِمْتَى؟ قْبَلْ الْمَاكْلَة، مُورَا الطُّوَالِيطْ، وْ مْلِّي كَتْرْجَعْ لْلدَّارْ.

Wash your hands, protect your health

Did you follow?

What comes after wetting your hands?
Show answers
Soap: 7ett 3lihum s-sabun.
Which parts need a good rub?
Show answers
Fingers, nails and the backs.
For how long, at least?
Show answers
Twenty seconds.
What should dirty hands not touch?
Show answers
Eyes and mouth.

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.

1Replace

Swap the noun for a pronoun attached to the verb.

شَافْ خْتِي
كَنْغْسْلْ الْوْجْهْ
جِيبْ الصَّابُونْ
كَيْعْرْفْ الدّْرَارِي
شَافُو الطّْبِيبْ

2Pick the right one

Only one has the pronoun in the right place.

1. عَيّْطْ لِيَّ، مَا شَافْنِيشْ
2. عَيّْطْ لِيَّ، مَا شَافْ أَنَا
3. عَيّْطْ لِيَّ، مَا شَافَكْشْ أَنَا
1. كَنْحَبّْ نْتَ
2. كَنْحَبّْكْ
3. كَنْحَبّْ لِيكْ
1. الْيْدِّينْ: غْسْلْهُمْ
2. الْيْدِّينْ: غْسْلْهَا
3. الْيْدِّينْ: غْسْلُو
1. الْبْنْتْ؟ شَفْتْهَا
2. الْبْنْتْ؟ شَفْتُو
3. الْبْنْتْ؟ شَفْتْهُمْ

3Sort

Where is each part?

الرَّاسْ

Head

Arm

Body and legs

The rest is in the A2 book

8 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

4True or false?

According to the leaflet.

You should rub for at least twenty seconds.

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Write

Four sentences about personal care or housework, each with an attached pronoun.

غْسْلْهُمْنَشّْفْهُمْجِيبُوشُوفْهَا

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. Replace	شَافْهَا · كَنْغْسْلُو · جِيبُو · كَيْعْرْفْهُمْ · شَافُوهْ
2. Pick the right one	1-a, 2-b, 3-a, 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

Name the parts of the body.
Use -ni, -k, -u, -ha, -na, -kum, -hum on a verb.
Tell shafu, he saw him, from shafuh, they saw him.
Follow hygiene instructions.