Darija lesson 35: turn right, go past

1

Twenty-two words

Verbs are given in the imperative, which is how directions come.

Moving (imperative)

سِيرْ sir go; keep going
Imperative of hollow sar. For directions, more usual than mshi.
دُورْ dur turn
From dar, hollow with u.
قْطَعْ qte3 cross
No preposition: qte3 z-zenqa.
فُوتْ fut go past
No preposition, unlike English “past”: fut l-banka.
خُوذْ khud take
Imperative of irregular khda. khud z-zenqa t-tanya, take the second street.
تْبَعْ tbe3 follow
tbe3 l-7it, follow the wall.
وَقّْفْ weqqef stop
To a taxi driver: weqqef hna.

Which way

عْلَى لِيمِينْ 3la limen (to the) right
With 3la, “on”. Full form l-imin; on the street, limen.
عْلَى لِيسْرْ 3la liser (to the) left
Also with 3la.
نِيشَانْ nishan straight on
From Turkish nişan, “aim”.
قُدَّامْ qeddam in front of
حْدَا 7da next to
مْقَابْلْ mqabel opposite
With l-: mqabla l l-qahwa, opposite the café. It agrees: mqabel, mqabla.
فْالرّْكْنَة f r-rkna on the corner

Landmarks

الزَّنْقَة z-zenqa street
الدَّرْبْ d-derb alley
The narrow medina lane, often a dead end.
الْبَابْ l-bab door; gate
Also the great medina gates: Bab.
السَّاحَة s-sa7a square
الْبُوسْطَة l-busta post office
From Spanish or French “post”.
الْبَنْكَة l-banka bank
Feminine: l-banka, from Italian or Spanish banca.

Getting lost

تَّالْفْتْ ttaleft I'm lost
Past form: “I got lost”. From ttalef.
فِينْ جَا؟ fin ja? where is it?
“Where did it come?”: the Moroccan way to ask where a place is. It agrees: fin jat l-busta?

2

Each verb with its partner

Four directions. Note what comes straight after each verb.

سِيرْ نِيشَانْ حْتَّى لْلْبُوسْطَةsir nishan 7tta l l-busta
مَنْ بَعْدْ دُورْ عْلَى لِيسْرْmen be3d dur 3la liser
قْطَعْ السَّاحَة وْ فُوتْ الْجَّامَعْqte3 s-sa7a w fut j-jame3
الْبَنْكَة حْدَا الْبُوسْطَة، مْقَابْلَة لْلْقَهْوَةl-banka 7da l-busta, mqabla l l-qahwa

Which verbs are followed by a preposition, and which go straight to the noun?

The rule

Darija movement verbs have a fixed preposition, learnt with the verb:

dur 3la: turn onto · sir 7tta l: go as far as · tla3 m3a: go up along · dkhul l: go into · khruj mn: come out of.

Others take no preposition at all: qte3 z-zenqa, cross the street; fut l-banka, go past the bank; khud z-zenqa, take the street; tbe3 l-7it, follow the wall.

All in the imperative (lesson 26): -i to a woman, -u to a group. duri 3la limen, qet3u z-zenqa.

Verb and preposition

Form	Say it	Means
سِيرْ نِيشَانْ	sir nishan	go straight on
دُورْ عْلَى لِيمِينْ	dur 3la limen	turn right
قْطَعْ الزَّنْقَة	qte3 z-zenqa	cross the street
فُوتْ الْبَنْكَة	fut l-banka	go past the bank
خُوذْ الزَّنْقَة التَّانْيَة	khud z-zenqa t-tanya	take the second street
سِيرْ حْتَّى لْلسَّاحَة	sir 7tta l s-sa7a	go as far as the square
طْلَعْ مْعَ الدّْرُوجْ	tla3 m3a d-druj	go up the stairs
دْخُلْ لْلدَّرْبْ	dkhul l d-derb	go into the alley

Row 4 is the trap: English needs “past”, Darija needs nothing.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “cross the street”, “take the second”, “follow the wall”. Direct objects in English too.

Free: the habit of phrasal verbs. You already learn “go up”, “go past”, “turn off” as units. Treat dur 3la and sir 7tta the same way.

Costly: “turn right” has no preposition in English; Darija needs one: 3la limen. And “go past” has a particle that fut doesn't.

Your mistake, not someone else's

“Turn to the right” or “turn right”: either way, if you add anything, you reach for l-, the “to” of lesson 12. The result sounds like “turn towards the right thing”.

×دُورْ لْلِيمِينْWith l-. Sounds odd.

✓دُورْ عْلَى لِيمِينْ“Turn right”. With 3la.

And “go past the bank”: fut mn l-banka is a calque of “past”. fut l-banka.

3

How to reach the guesthouse

Directions a guesthouse sends its guests, written for this lesson. The medina is invented; the habit of sending them is not.

كِيفَاشْ تْوْصَلْ لْدَارْ الضّْيَافَة

دْخُلْ مْنْ الْبَابْ الْكْبِيرْ دْيَالْ الْمْدِينَة.

سِيرْ نِيشَانْ حْتَّى لْلسَّاحَة، فِيهَا نَافُورَة.

دُورْ عْلَى لِيمِينْ وْ فُوتْ الْحَمَّامْ.

خُوذْ الدَّرْبْ التَّالْتْ عْلَى لِيسْرْ. الدَّرْبْ ضَيّْقْ، مَا تْخَافْشْ.

الدَّارْ فْالرّْكْنَة، الْبَابْ زْرْقْ. دُقّْ جُوجْ مَرَّاتْ.

تَّالْفْتِي؟ عَيّْطْ لِينَا: 0600 00 00 00.

How to reach the guesthouse

Did you follow?

What is in the square?
Show answers
A fountain: nafura.
Which building do you pass after turning?
Show answers
The hammam.
Why does it say “don't be afraid”?
Show answers
Because the alley is narrow.
What's the guesthouse door like?
Show answers
Blue. Knock twice.

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.

1The preposition

The one each verb takes.

عْلَىحْتَّىمْعَلْ

دُورْ ___ لِيسْرْ
سِيرْ نِيشَانْ ___ لْلسَّاحَة
طْلَعْ ___ الدّْرُوجْ
دْخُلْ ___لدَّرْبْ

2Put in order

Build each direction.

حْتَّىلْلْبُوسْطَةسِيرْنِيشَانْ
عْلَىالتَّانْيَةخُوذْلِيمِينْالزَّنْقَة
الْحَمَّامْالْبَنْكَةحْدَا

3True or false?

According to the directions.

You go in through the big medina gate.

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. قْطَعْ الزَّنْقَة
2. قْطَعْ فْالزَّنْقَة
3. قْطَعْ لْلزَّنْقَة

The rest is in the A2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A2 book

5Your home

In five steps, explain how to reach your home from the nearest station or stop.

سِيرْ نِيشَانْدُورْ عْلَىفُوتْحْدَاحْتَّى

The rest is in the A2 book

The A2 book

Show answers

1. The preposition	عْلَى · حْتَّى · مْعَ · لْ
2. Put in order	سِيرْ نِيشَانْ حْتَّى لْلْبُوسْطَة · خُوذْ الزَّنْقَة التَّانْيَة عْلَى لِيمِينْ · الْبَنْكَة حْدَا الْحَمَّامْ

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 fin jat...? and follow the answer.
Give directions with sir, dur, qte3, fut, khud.
Use each verb's preposition, or none.
Say I'm lost: ttaleft.