Darija lesson 34: a kilo of, a bottle of

1

Twenty-two words

Measures, containers and what goes in them. Measures are metric and French; containers mostly Arabic.

Measures

كِيلُو kilu kilo
Doesn't change with numbers: juj kilu, tlata kilu. Morocco is metric.
لِيطْرُو litru litre
Same: juj litru.
نُصّْ nuss half
nuss kilu, half a kilo.
رْبَعْ rbe3 quarter
rbe3 kilu, a quarter kilo. The clock's quarter.
حَبَّة 7ebba a piece; one item
For things sold singly: 7ebba dyal l-khobz, a loaf. Plural 7ebbat.
دْزِينَة dzina a dozen
French douzaine.

Containers

قَرْعَة qer3a bottle
Also “gourd”: the first bottles were. Plural qer3at.
بْوَاطَة bwata tin; can
بَاكِيَّة bakiya packet
French paquet.
مِيكَة mika plastic bag
The one the shop gives you.
قَبْطَة qebta bunch
Of mint, coriander, parsley.
طَرْفْ tarf piece; chunk

The larder

الْحْلِيبْ l-7lib milk
الْبِيضْ l-bid eggs
Collective. One egg: bida.
الْجّْبَنْ j-jben cheese
الرُّوزْ r-ruz rice
الْعْدَسْ l-3des lentils
الصَّابُونْ دْيَالْ الْمَاعُونْ s-sabun dyal l-ma3un washing-up liquid
“Soap for the dishes”.

Offers and amounts

الْبْرُومُوسْيُونْ l-bromosyun special offer
French promotion.
بْلَاشْ blash free
The shop word. batel, lesson 31, means the same.
شِي shi some
shi khobz, some bread.
بْزَّافْ دْيَالْ bzzaf dyal a lot of
Before a noun, with dyal: bzzaf dyal n-nas, a lot of people.

2

Measure, dyal, product

Four orders in a shop. Look at the word order and the start of the product.

عْطِينِي كِيلُو دْيَالْ الْبْطَاطَا3tini kilu dyal l-btata
بْغِيتْ جُوجْ قَرْعَاتْ دْيَالْ الْمَاbghit juj qer3at dyal l-ma
شْرِيتْ طَرْفْ دْيَالْ الْجّْبَنْshrit tarf dyal j-jben
خَصّْنَا قَبْطَة دْيَالْ النّْعْنَاعْkhassna qebta dyal n-ne3na3

Which word does the job of “of”? What does the product always carry?

The rule

A quantity is measure + dyal + product with article: kilu dyal l-btata, a kilo of potatoes.

French measures don't change with numbers: juj kilu, tlata litru. Arabic containers do: juj qer3at, two bottles.

For things bought one by one, 7ebba, “piece”: tlat 7ebbat dyal l-khobz, three loaves.

Amounts without a measure: shi, some; shwiya dyal, a little; bzzaf dyal, a lot of.

Quantities

Form	Say it	Means
كِيلُو دْيَالْ الطُّومَاطِيشْ	kilu dyal t-tomatish	a kilo of tomatoes
نُصّْ كِيلُو دْيَالْ اللّْحَمْ	nuss kilu dyal l-l7em	half a kilo of meat
جُوجْ لِيطْرُو دْيَالْ الْحْلِيبْ	juj litru dyal l-7lib	two litres of milk
قَرْعَة دْيَالْ الزِّيتْ	qer3a dyal z-zit	a bottle of oil
دْزِينَة دْيَالْ الْبِيضْ	dzina dyal l-bid	a dozen eggs
تْلَاتْ حَبَّاتْ دْيَالْ الْخُبْزْ	tlat 7ebbat dyal l-khobz	three loaves
طَرْفْ دْيَالْ الْجّْبَنْ	tarf dyal j-jben	a piece of cheese
شِي شْوِيَّة دْيَالْ الْمْلْحَة	shi shwiya dyal l-mel7a	a bit of salt

Every product has l-. None of the English ones has “the”.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the order. “A kilo of potatoes”, kilu dyal l-btata: measure, “of”, product.

Free: “a loaf”, “a bar”, “a head of lettuce”. English already counts some things by the piece, like 7ebba.

Costly: the article. “Of potatoes”, no “the”, is natural in English. dyal btata sounds clipped in Darija.

Your mistake, not someone else's

In a busy market, the telegram comes out: measure and product, nothing else. The seller will understand, but it's “kilo potatoes”.

×عْطِينِي كِيلُو بْطَاطَا“Give me kilo potatoes”. Understood, not said.

✓عْطِينِي كِيلُو دْيَالْ الْبْطَاطَا“Give me a kilo of potatoes”.

And plurals: juj kilu, not juj kilus. French-origin measures don't take a plural.

3

This week's offers

A corner-shop leaflet written for this lesson. The shop and the prices are invented, though close to real ones.

حَانُوتْ الْحُومَة · بْرُومُوسْيُونْ دْيَالْ السِّيمَانَة

قَرْعَة دْيَالْ الزِّيتْ (1 لِيطْرُو) · 18 دَرْهَمْ

دْزِينَة دْيَالْ الْبِيضْ · 15 دَرْهَمْ

كِيلُو دْيَالْ الرُّوزْ · 12 دَرْهَمْ

جُوجْ بَاكِيَّاتْ دْيَالْ أَتَايْ ← الثَّالْتَة بْلَاشْ

لِيطْرُو دْيَالْ الْحْلِيبْ · 7 دْرَاهَمْ

بْوَاطَة دْيَالْ الطُّومَاطِيشْ · 6 دْرَاهَمْ

الْبْرُومُوسْيُونْ مْنْ الِاتْنِينْ لْلْحَدّْ

Neighbourhood shop · This week's offers

Did you follow?

How much is a litre of oil?
Show answers
Eighteen dirhams.
What's the tea offer?
Show answers
Buy two packets, the third is free.
What's sold in a tin?
Show answers
Tomato: bwata dyal t-tomatish.
How long do the offers last?
Show answers
Monday to Sunday.

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 container with what it usually holds.

1	قَرْعَة دْيَالْ	a	النّْعْنَاعْ
2	دْزِينَة دْيَالْ	b	الزِّيتْ
3	قَبْطَة دْيَالْ	c	الْجّْبَنْ
4	طَرْفْ دْيَالْ	d	الْبِيضْ

2Fill in

The measure or container from the box each product needs.

كِيلُولِيطْرُوبَاكِيَّةحَبَّاتْبْوَاطَة

عْطِينِي ___ دْيَالْ الْحْلِيبْ
بْغِيتْ نُصّْ ___ دْيَالْ اللّْحَمْ
جِيبْ ___ دْيَالْ أَتَايْ
خَمْسْ ___ دْيَالْ الْخُبْزْ
___ دْيَالْ الطُّومَاطِيشْ لْلطَّاجِينْ

3True or false?

According to the leaflet.

A litre of oil costs eighteen dirhams.

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

4Sort

How is each thing bought?

الْحْلِيبْ

By the litre

By the kilo

By the piece

The rest is in the A2 book

8 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Your list

Write your weekly shopping list: at least six items, each with a quantity.

كِيلُو دْيَالْلِيطْرُو دْيَالْحَبَّةدْزِينَةشِي شْوِيَّة

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Fill in	لِيطْرُو · كِيلُو · بَاكِيَّة · حَبَّاتْ · بْوَاطَة

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

Ask for amounts with kilu dyal, litru dyal.
Name shopping containers.
Count loaves and other items with 7ebba.
Read a special-offers leaflet.