Darija lesson 32: bigger than, the best

1

Twenty-one words

The first two families are comparatives. Each one comes from an adjective you already know.

More and less

كْبَرْ kber bigger; older
From kbir. Used for age: kber menni, older than me.
صْغَرْ sgher smaller; younger
From sghir.
كْتَرْ ktar more (amount)
From ktir, a lot.
قْلّْ qell less
From qlil, little. The qell of clock time: “quarter to”.
حْسَنْ 7sen better
Comparative of mzyan, from another root. Like good / better.
خْيَبْ khyeb worse
From khayb, bad, ugly.
زْيَنْ zyen prettier
From zwin.

Price, age, weather

غْلَى ghla more expensive
From ghali.
رْخَصْ rkhes cheaper
From rkhis.
قْدَمْ qdem older (things)
From qdim.
سْخَنْ skhen hotter
From skhun.
بْرَدْ bred colder
From bared.

The city

الْمْدِينَة الْقْدِيمَة l-mdina l-qdima the medina, old town
الصّْنَاعَة s-sna3a industry
السُّكَّانْ s-sukkan inhabitants
الْحْيَاة l-7ayat life
Everyday life: l-7ayat ghalya, life is expensive.
الْكْرَا l-kra rent
Lesson 2's word.

To compare

بْحَالْ b7al like; as
Equality: b7al Fas, like Fez.
مَنْ men than
The preposition “from”. menni, than me.
بْزَّافْ bzzaf much; a lot
After the comparative: kber bzzaf, much bigger.
كَاعْ ga3 at all; even
With ڭ. ga3 kber, even bigger.

2

One form to compare

Four comparisons: size, age, price and one “biggest”. Look at the adjective.

كَازَا كْبَرْ مَنْ فَاسْKaza kber men Fas
خْتِي صْغَرْ مَنِّيkhti sgher menni
الْكْرَا فْكَازَا غْلَى مَنْ الْكْرَا فْفَاسْl-kra f Kaza ghla men l-kra f Fas
كَازَا هِيَ كْبَرْ مْدِينَة فْالْمَغْرِبْKaza hiya kber mdina f l-Maghrib

Is there any word meaning “more”? What happened to kbir?

The rule

The comparative is a new form of the adjective: the three consonants with a single e before the last one. kbir → kber; sghir → sgher; qdim → qdem.

Adjectives ending in a vowel put it at the end: ghali → ghla.

“Than” is men: kber men Fas, bigger than Fez. With a pronoun: menni, than me; mennek, than you.

The comparative doesn't agree: khti sgher menni, my sister is younger than me, no -a.

Superlative: add the article, l-kber, the biggest; or put it before a bare noun, kber mdina, the biggest city.

Irregular: mzyan → 7sen, better.

From adjective to comparative

Form	Say it	Means
كْبِيرْ ← كْبَرْ	kbir → kber	big → bigger
صْغِيرْ ← صْغَرْ	sghir → sgher	small → smaller
غَالِي ← غْلَى	ghali → ghla	expensive → more expensive
قْدِيمْ ← قْدَمْ	qdim → qdem	old → older
مْزْيَانْ ← حْسَنْ	mzyan → 7sen	good → better
كْبَرْ مَنْ فَاسْ	kber men Fas	bigger than Fez
الْكْبَرْ فْالْمَغْرِبْ	l-kber f l-Maghrib	the biggest in Morocco
كْبَرْ مْدِينَة	kber mdina	the biggest city

Row 3: English needs “more” for long adjectives. Darija doesn't: ghla.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: -er. “Bigger”, “colder”, “older”: English already builds comparatives inside the adjective. Darija does it by changing vowels, not adding a suffix, but the idea is yours.

Free: good / better. Irregular in both.

Costly: “more” for long words. “More expensive” feels natural to you; in Darija it's ghla, one short word.

Your mistake, not someone else's

For anything longer than one syllable, English reaches for “more”. You look for Darija “more” and add it to the plain adjective. With bzzaf, it comes out as “very big from Fez”.

×كَازَا كْبِيرَة بْزَّافْ مَنْ فَاسْ“Casa is very big from Fez”. Neither comparative nor superlative.

✓كَازَا كْبَرْ مَنْ فَاسْ“Casablanca is bigger than Fez”.

And no agreement: khti kber menni, not kbra. Handy for you: English comparatives don't agree either.

3

Casablanca or Fez?

A comparison written for this lesson. That Casablanca is the biggest city and Fez far older is fact; the rest is opinion, and says so.

كَازَا وْلَّا فَاسْ؟

كَازَا هِيَ كْبَرْ مْدِينَة فْالْبْلَادْ، وْ فِيهَا كْتَرْ مَنْ الْخْدْمَة.

فَاسْ قْدَمْ مَنْ كَازَا بْزَّافْ، وْ الْمْدِينَة الْقْدِيمَة دْيَالْهَا كَاعْ كْبَرْ.

الْكْرَا فْكَازَا غْلَى، وَلَكِنْ الْخْلَاصْ تَا هُوَ كْتَرْ.

فْالصّْيْفْ فَاسْ سْخَنْ؛ كَازَا بْرَدْ حِيتْ عْلَى الْبْحَرْ.

الْحْيَاة فْفَاسْ رْخَصْ مَنْ كَازَا. شْكُونْ حْسَنْ؟ عْلَى حْسَابْ اللِّي بْغِيتِي.

Casablanca or Fez?

Did you follow?

Why go to Casablanca?
Show answers
It's the biggest and has more work.
What's special about Fez?
Show answers
It's much older, and its medina bigger still.
What makes up for Casablanca's rent?
Show answers
Wages, which are higher too.
Why is Casablanca cooler in summer?
Show answers
Because it's by the sea.

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

Each adjective with its comparative.

1	كْبِيرْ	a	حْسَنْ
2	رْخِيصْ	b	كْبَرْ
3	مْزْيَانْ	c	قْدَمْ
4	قْدِيمْ	d	رْخَصْ

2Compare

Turn the two sentences into one comparison.

خُويَا كْبِيرْ. أَنَا لَا.
هَادْ الطُّومُوبِيلْ غَالْيَة. دِيكْ لَا.
الْيُومْ بَارْدْ. الْبَارَحْ لَا.
هَادْ الْقَهْوَة مْزْيَانَة. دِيكْ لَا.

3True or false?

According to the comparison.

Casablanca is the country's biggest city.

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

4Pick the right one

Only one is correct.

1. خْتِي صْغْرَة مَنِّي
2. خْتِي صْغَرْ مَنِّي
3. خْتِي صْغِيرَة مَنِّي

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Your city

Compare your city with another in five sentences. Use one superlative.

كْبَرْ مَنْغْلَىحْسَنْالْ...بْحَالْ

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Compare	خُويَا كْبَرْ مَنِّي · هَادْ الطُّومُوبِيلْ غْلَى مَنْ دِيكْ · الْيُومْ بْرَدْ مَنْ الْبَارَحْ · هَادْ الْقَهْوَة حْسَنْ مَنْ دِيكْ

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

Compare with kber men, ghla men, 7sen men.
Form the comparative of a three-consonant adjective.
Say “the best” and “the biggest city”.
Say “like” with b7al.