Skip to content
Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 42 · B1

Haggling with someone

Help, haggle, consult, argue, forgive, accompany: things you don't do alone. Darija puts them in their own mould, with a long a after the first consonant.

  • Recognise and conjugate a Form III verb.
  • Talk about dealing with people: helping, consulting, arguing, forgiving.
  • Haggle until a deal is struck.
  • Follow an account of a private sale.
1

Twenty-four words

The first family is Form III verbs; notice the long a in all of them. The rest are for buying and selling between private people.

With someone (Form III)

  • عَاوْنْ 3awen to help

    3awenni, help me. No preposition.

  • سَاوْمْ sawem to haggle

    With m3a: sawem m3a l-baye3.

  • شَاوْرْ shawer to consult; ask advice

    No preposition: shawer bbak, ask your father.

  • خَاصْمْ khasem to argue; quarrel

    With m3a, and 3la for what about.

  • سَامْحْ sameh to forgive

    sam7ni, forgive me: stronger than sme7 liya.

  • رَافْقْ rafeq to accompany
  • عَامْلْ 3amel to treat (someone)

    3amelni mzyan, he treated me well.

  • قَابْلْ qabel to receive; to face

    qabel d-dyaf, he received the guests.

  • حَاوْلْ 7awel to try

    Lesson 31's verb; now you know it's Form III.

The deal

  • الْبَايْعْ l-baye3 seller

    Participle of ba3.

  • الشّْرَّايْ sh-sherray buyer

    Intensive form from shra.

  • السّْمْسَارْ s-semsar middleman; broker
  • الْإِتِّفَاقْ l-ittifaq agreement

    Formal word.

  • الْكَلْمَة l-kelma (one's) word

    3titu l-kelma, I gave him my word: deal done.

  • الثِّيقَة t-tiqa trust

What it's like

  • مُسْتَعْمَلْ musta3mal used; second-hand

    Formal, from the ads.

  • نْقِي nqi clean; in good condition
  • مْقَادْ mqad running well

    Lesson 41's mqad, feminine with t-tomobil.

  • طْمَّاعْ tmma3 greedy
  • مْعْقُولْ m3qul reasonable

Set phrases

  • تّْفَاهْمْنَا ttfahemna we agreed

    Form VI, lesson 43: “we understood each other”.

  • اللّْه يْسَهّْلْ llah ysehhel may God make it easy

    The polite way to turn down a price and stay friends.

  • عْلَى خَاطْرَكْ 3la khatrek as you wish; for you

    “On your mood”. The seller giving way.

  • بَارَكْ اللّْه فِيكْ barak llah fik thank you; bless you

    Warmer than shokran.

2

Form III

Four sentences with verbs where the first consonant is followed by a long a. Another person is involved in each.

  1. خُويَا عَاوْنِّي فْالْخْدْمَةkhuya 3awenni f l-khedma
  2. سَاوْمْتْ مْعَاهْ نُصّْ سَاعَةsawemt m3ah nuss sa3a
  3. قْبَلْ مَا نْشْرِي، شَاوْرْتْ صَاحْبِيqbel ma nshri, shawert sa7bi
  4. خَاصْمُو عْلَى الْفْلُوسْ وْ مَنْ بَعْدْ تْسَامْحُوkhasmu 3la l-flus w men be3d tsam7u

Who is the other person in each sentence? Is a preposition needed to name them?

The rule

Form III lengthens the vowel after the first consonant: C-a-C-e-C. 3awen, sawem, shawer.

It says the action is done with or towards someone: help someone, haggle with someone, consult someone, argue with someone.

It conjugates like a regular four-letter verb: kan3awen, 3awent, ghadi n3awen. When an ending starts with a vowel, the inner e drops: 3awnat, kay3awnu.

Some take the other person as a direct object (3awenni, shawert bba); others use m3a (sawem m3a, khasem m3a).

3awen and friends

FormSay itMeans
عَاوْنْ · كَيْعَاوْنْ · غَادِي يْعَاوْنْ3awen · kay3awen · ghadi y3awenhelped · helps · will help
عَاوْنْتْ · عَاوْنَاتْ · عَاوْنُو3awent · 3awnat · 3awnuI helped · she helped · they helped
كَنْعَاوْنْكْkan3awnekI help you
سَاوْمْتْ مْعَ الْبَايْعْsawemt m3a l-baye3I haggled with the seller
شَاوْرْتْ بَّاshawert bbaI asked my father
خَاصْمَاتْ مْعَ خْتْهَاkhasmat m3a khthashe argued with her sister
سَامْحْنِيsam7niforgive me
رَافْقْنَاهْ لْلْمَحَطَّةrafeqnah l l-ma7attawe took him to the station

Rows 4 and 6 with m3a, as in English “with”; the rest direct, as in English “help”, “ask”, “forgive”.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: help, consult, accompany, forgive take a direct object in English, and in Darija too.

Free: argue with, haggle with: English “with” is Darija m3a.

Costly: the long a. English long vowels drift into diphthongs (“ay”, “ow”). Hold a flat, open a: 3a-a-wen.

Your mistake, not someone else's

In fast speech, English shortens unstressed vowels to almost nothing. Do that to 3awen and you lose the long a, which is what makes it Form III.

×عْوَنْتُو فْالْخْدْمَةShort a: not a word.

✓عَاوْنْتُو فْالْخْدْمَة“I helped him at work”. With the long a.

And “help with”: 3awenni f l-khedma, help me with the work, uses f, not m3a.

3

How I bought the car

A first-person account of a private car sale, written for this lesson. The figures are plausible; the people are invented. Look for the Form III verbs: there are five.

كِيفَاشْ شْرِيتْ الطُّومُوبِيلْ

لْقِيتْ طُومُوبِيلْ مُسْتَعْمْلَة فْالْأَنْتِرْنِيتْ. الْبَايْعْ طْلَبْ سْتِّينْ أَلْفْ دَرْهَمْ.

قْبَلْ مَا نْمْشِي، شَاوْرْتْ صَاحْبِي كَرِيمْ، هُوَ مِيكَانِيسْيَانْ. قَبْلْ يْرَافْقْنِي.

كَرِيمْ شَافْ الْمُوطُورْ وْ قَالْ: مْقَادَّة، وَلَكِنْ الْبْنُوَاتْ خَصّْهُمْ يْتّْبَدّْلُو.

سَاوْمْنَا مْعَ الْبَايْعْ سَاعَة كَامْلَة. هُوَ مَا كَانْشْ طْمَّاعْ، كَانْ مْعْقُولْ.

فْالْأَخِيرْ تّْفَاهْمْنَا عْلَى خَمْسَة وْ خَمْسِينْ أَلْفْ. عْطِيتُو الْكَلْمَة وْ عْطَانِي يْدُّو.

كَرِيمْ مَا بْغَاشْ يَاخُذْ حْتَّى رْيَالْ. قُلْتْ لِيهْ: بَارَكْ اللّْه فِيكْ، عَاوْنْتِينِي بْزَّافْ.

How I bought the car

Did you follow?

  1. Who did he consult before going, and why?

    Show answers

    His friend Karim, who's a mechanic.

  2. What did Karim say about the car?

    Show answers

    The engine is fine, but the tyres need changing.

  3. What was the final price?

    Show answers

    Fifty-five thousand dirhams: five thousand below the asking price.

  4. How much did Karim charge?

    Show answers

    Nothing, not a penny.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the B1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Match

Each Form III verb with what usually follows it.

1سَاوْمْaمّْكْ لْلسّْبِيطَارْ
2شَاوْرْbمْعَ الْبَايْعْ
3رَافْقْcصَاحْبَكْ عْلَى الْغْلْطَة
4سَامْحْdالْوَالِدِينْ قْبَلْ مَا تْقَرَّرْ

2Fill in

With the verb from the box each sentence needs. No vowels.

عاوناتنيساومناشاورتخاصمورافقتها

  1. ختي ___ فالماكلة
  2. ___ مع مول الزربية ساعة
  3. قبل ما نبدل الخدمة، ___ مراتي
  4. الجيران ___ على بلاصة ديال الطوموبيل
  5. مي كانت مريضة، ___ للطبيب

3True or false?

According to the account.

  1. The car is new.

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

4Conjugate

For the person and tense in brackets.

  1. كَنْعَاوْنْ (هُومَا، الْبَارَحْ)

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

5Your haggle

In six sentences, tell a purchase you haggled over, or invent one.

سَاوْمْشَاوْرْعَاوْنْتّْفَاهْمْنَامْعْقُولْ

The rest is in the B1 book

The B1 book
Show answers
1. Match1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Fill inعاوناتني · ساومنا · شاورت · خاصمو · رافقتها

The B1 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

  • Recognise Form III by its long a.
  • Say help, haggle, consult, argue, forgive, accompany.
  • Know which verbs take m3a and which go direct.
  • Close a deal: ttfahemna, 3titu l-kelma.