Sitting, standing, asleep
“She's sitting”, “they're standing”, “the child's asleep”. English uses -ing for these states. Darija uses a participle that agrees like an adjective, and no verb “to be”: galsa, sitting (she).
- Describe a scene: who's sitting, standing, asleep.
- Say where you're going or coming from right now.
- Say “I've eaten”, “I don't know” with a participle.
- Read a description of a café.
Twenty-one words
Nearly all participles. Listed masculine; for a woman add -a, for several -in.
Positions
-
ڭَالْسْ
gales
sitting; seated
With ڭ, the Darija g. From gles, sit down.
- وَاقْفْ waqef standing
-
نَاعْسْ
na3es
asleep
From n3es, lesson 23.
-
فَايْقْ
fayeq
awake
From faq.
- مْتّْكِي mtteki leaning; lying back
On the move
-
مَاشِي
mashi
going; on the way
Careful: also the negative mashi, “not”. Context separates them.
-
جَايْ
jay
coming
s-simana j-jayya, next week: lesson 25.
- رَاجْعْ raje3 coming back
- خَارْجْ kharej going out; leaving
-
سَاكْنْ
saken
living (in)
saken f Rabat, I live in Rabat.
States
-
وَاكْلْ
wakel
having eaten
The action is done and its result holds: “I'm fed”.
- شَارْبْ shareb having drunk
-
عَارْفْ
3aref
knowing
ma 3arefsh, I don't know: more common than ma kan3refsh.
-
فَاهْمْ
fahem
understanding
fahem?, got it?
-
لَابْسْ
labes
wearing
labsa jellaba, she's wearing a djellaba.
-
صَايْمْ
sayem
fasting
In Ramadan: ana sayem.
The café
-
الطَّبْلَة
t-tabla
table
From Spanish tabla. Plural t-tbali.
- الْكُرْسِي l-kursi chair
- الْجَّرِيدَة j-jarida newspaper
-
الْكَارْسُونْ
l-garsun
waiter
French garçon, with ڭ.
- الْمُوسِيقَى l-musiqa music
The participle as a state
Four sentences with no ka- and no past. Look at the words doing the verb's job.
- بَّا ڭَالْسْ فْالْقَهْوَةbba gales f l-qahwa
- مّي مَاشْيَة لْلسُّوقْ دَابَاmmi mashya l s-suq daba
- شُكْرَانْ، أَنَا وَاكْلْshokran, ana wakel
- الدّْرَارِي نَاعْسِينْd-drari na3sin
Is any verb conjugated? Why does mashya end in -a and na3sin in -in?
The rule
The active participle uses the pattern CaCeC: gles gives gales; n3es gives na3es. Defectives end in -i: mashi; hollow verbs put in a y: khayf, sayem.
It agrees like an adjective: gales, galsa, galsin.
It describes a state: being seated, being on the way. With action verbs, it says the action is done: wakel, I've eaten.
No ka-, no verb “to be”. Negative with ma...sh: ma 3arefsh, I don't know.
Participles
| Form | Say it | Means |
|---|---|---|
| ڭَالْسْ، ڭَالْسَة، ڭَالْسِينْ | gales, galsa, galsin | sitting (he, she, they) |
| وَاقْفْ، وَاقْفَة، وَاقْفِينْ | waqef, waqfa, waqfin | standing (he, she, they) |
| مَاشِي، مَاشْيَة، مَاشْيِينْ | mashi, mashya, mashyin | going (he, she, they) |
| جَايْ، جَايَّة، جَايِّينْ | jay, jayya, jayyin | coming (he, she, they) |
| أَنَا ڭَالْسْ | ana gales | I'm sitting down |
| هِيَ مَاشْيَة لْلْخْدْمَة | hiya mashya l l-khedma | she's on her way to work |
| حْنَا وَاكْلِينْ | 7na waklin | we've eaten |
| مَا عَارْفْشْ | ma 3arefsh | I don't know |
The participle doesn't say “I” or “you”; the pronoun or context does. It only says gender and number.
What English gives you, and what it costs
Free: state versus action. “I'm sitting” versus “I sit down”: English already feels the difference. Darija splits it the same way: gales versus kangles.
Free: “I've eaten” as a present state. wakel is exactly that.
Costly: agreement. “Sitting” is the same for everyone in English. gales, galsa, galsin.
Your mistake, not someone else's
“I'm sitting” is a present continuous, and you've learnt that ka- covers the present continuous. So it goes onto gles. But kangles is the action, “I sit down”, or a habit.
أَنَا كَنْڭْلَسْ فْالْقَهْوَة دَابَا“I sit down in the café now”. Action, not state.
أَنَا ڭَالْسْ فْالْقَهْوَة دَابَا“I'm sitting in the café”.
And mashi: “going” and “not”. ana mashi l d-dar, I'm going home; hadi mashi dari, this isn't my house.
A café in the morning
A café scene described like a photo: almost all participles. Written for this lesson.
قَهْوَة فْالصّْبَاحْ
جُوجْ شْيُوخْ ڭَالْسِينْ حْدَا الْبَابْ، كَيْلْعْبُو الضَّامَة.
وَاحْدْ الشَّابّْ وَاقْفْ فْالْكُونْتْوَارْ، شَارْبْ الْقَهْوَة دْيَالُو وْ خَارْجْ.
مْرَا لَابْسَة جَلَّابَة زَرْقَة ڭَالْسَة بُوحْدْهَا، قَارْيَة الْجَّرِيدَة.
الْكَارْسُونْ جَايْ وْ مَاشِي بِينْ الطّْبَالِي.
فْالرّْكْنَة، قَطّْ نَاعْسْ فُوقْ كُرْسِي.
حْتَّى وَاحْدْ مَا زَرْبَانْشْ.
Did you follow?
What are the two old men doing?
Show answers
Sitting by the door, playing draughts.
Where's the young man, and what has he done?
Show answers
Standing at the counter; he's had his coffee and is leaving.
What's the woman wearing?
Show answers
A blue djellaba.
Who's in a hurry?
Show answers
Nobody: 7tta wa7ed ma zerbansh.
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.
1Fill in
The participle that agrees with the subject.
ڭَالْسَةوَاقْفِينْنَاعْسْمَاشْيَةوَاكْلْ
- مّي ___ فْالصَّالُونْ
- النَّاسْ ___ فْالطُّوبِيسْ
- مَا تْصْدَعْشْ، خُوكْ ___
- خْتِي ___ لْلْجَّامْعَة
- لَا شُكْرَانْ، أَنَا ___
2True or false?
According to the café scene.
- Two older men are sitting by the door.
- The young man is sitting down reading.
- The woman is alone.
- The cat is standing on the counter.
3Change the subject
Make the participle agree with the new subject.
- هُوَ ڭَالْسْ
4Pick the right one
Only one is correct.
- أَنَا مَاشِي لْلدَّارْ دَابَا
- أَنَا كَنْمْشِي لْلدَّارْ دَابَا نْتَا
- أَنَا مْشِيتْ لْلدَّارْ دَابَا غَدَّا
5Describe a scene
A station, a square, your home right now: five sentences with participles.
ڭَالْسْوَاقْفْمَاشِيجَايْلَابْسْ
The rest is in the A2 book
The A2 book (PDF)Show answers
| 1. Fill in | ڭَالْسَة; وَاقْفِينْ; نَاعْسْ; مَاشْيَة; وَاكْلْ |
|---|---|
| 2. True or false? | 1-True, 2-False, 3-True, 4-False |
The A2 book (PDF): Lessons 19 to 40
The web keeps the explanations free, for good. The book is what pays for them: all 22 lessons of A2 in one PDF, laid out to print or to work on screen.
I can now
- Describe who's sitting, standing or asleep.
- Say where I'm going now with mashi.
- Say “I've eaten” with wakel and “I don't know” with ma 3arefsh.
- Make the participle agree.