Skip to content
Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 43 · B1

A t- for “each other”

“They helped each other”, “they fell out”, “the town has changed”. English needs “each other” or “-self” or nothing at all. Darija puts a t- in front of the verb, and it works on the Form II and Form III verbs of the last two lessons.

  • Make Form V from Form II and Form VI from Form III.
  • Say learn, get used to, worry, change.
  • Say that people help each other, argue, meet.
  • Read a match report.
1

Twenty-four words

First family: Form V (t- + doubled consonant). Second: Form VI (t- + long a), nearly always plural, since it takes more than one.

Form V: oneself

  • تْعَلّْمْ t3ellem to learn

    From 3ellem, teach: “teach oneself”. One root, two English verbs.

  • تْبَدّْلْ tbeddel to change (by itself)

    From beddel, change something. tbeddelti, you've changed.

  • تْعَوّْدْ t3ewwed to get used to

    With 3la: t3ewwedt 3la l-makla.

  • تْفَرّْجْ tferrej to watch (a show)

    With f: tferrej f l-match.

  • تْقَلّْقْ tqelleq to worry; get anxious

    mqelleq, lesson 21, is its participle.

  • تْكَلّْمْ tkellem to speak (formal)

    Radio and speeches. On the street, hder.

Form VI: each other

  • تْعَاوْنُو t3awnu to help each other

    From 3awen.

  • تْخَاصْمُو tkhasmu to fall out; argue

    From khasem.

  • تْلَاقَاوْ tlaqaw to meet (each other)

    ntlaqaw f l-qahwa, see you at the café.

  • تْفَاهْمُو tfahmu to understand each other; agree

    Lesson 42's ttfahemna.

  • تْقَابْلُو tqablu to face; play against

    Two teams tqablu.

  • تْسَامْحُو tsam7u to forgive each other

Football

  • الْمَاتْشْ l-match match

    From English, via French.

  • الْفَرِيقْ l-feriq team

    Dual: l-feriqayn, both teams.

  • اللَّاعْبْ l-la3eb player

    Participle of l3eb.

  • الْكُولْ l-gol goal

    Pronounced with ڭ: gol.

  • الْحَكَمْ l-7akam referee

    “The one who judges”.

  • الْجُّمْهُورْ j-jumhur crowd; fans
  • الشُّوطْ sh-shut half (of a match)

    sh-shut lluwwel, first half.

  • الْبِينَالْتِي l-pinalti penalty

The result

  • رْبَحْ rbe7 to win
  • خْسَرْ khser to lose

    khsert, I lost. Not tkhesser, break down.

  • تْعَادْلُو t3adlu to draw

    Form VI: “even each other out”.

  • مَارْكَا marka to score

    French marquer: marka gol.

2

Forms V and VI

Four sentences. The first has Form II and Form V side by side; the others have verbs with t- in front.

  1. عَلّْمْنِي بَّا، وْ تْعَلّْمْتْ بْالزّْرْبَة3ellemni bba, w t3ellemt b z-zerba
  2. الْفَرِيقَيْنْ تْقَابْلُو نْهَارْ الْحَدّْl-feriqayn tqablu nhar l-7edd
  3. الْجُّوجْ تْخَاصْمُو وْ مَنْ بَعْدْ تْسَامْحُوj-juj tkhasmu w men be3d tsam7u
  4. الْمْدِينَة تْبَدّْلَاتْ بْزَّافْl-mdina tbeddlat bzzaf

In the first, who teaches and who learns? What does the t- add?

The rule

A t- in front of Form II gives Form V: 3ellem, teach → t3ellem, learn (“teach oneself”); beddel, change something → tbeddel, change.

A t- in front of Form III gives Form VI: 3awen, help → t3awnu, help each other; khasemtkhasmu, argue with each other. Being reciprocal, it's nearly always plural.

They conjugate like their source forms, t- attached: kant3ellem, t3ellemt; kayt3awnu, t3awenna.

In short, the t- does the work of English “-self” and “each other”, and sometimes of the passive.

From II to V, from III to VI

FormSay itMeans
عَلّْمْ ← تْعَلّْمْ3ellem → t3ellemteach → learn
بَدّْلْ ← تْبَدّْلْbeddel → tbeddelchange sth → change
عَاوْنْ ← تْعَاوْنُو3awen → t3awnuhelp → help each other
خَاصْمْ ← تْخَاصْمُوkhasem → tkhasmuargue with → argue with each other
كَنْتْعَلّْمْ · تْعَلّْمْتْkant3ellem · t3ellemtI learn · I learnt
كَيْتْعَاوْنُو · تْعَاوْنّْاkayt3awnu · t3awennathey help each other · we helped each other
غَادِي نْتْلَاقَاوْghadi ntlaqawwe'll meet
تْبَدّْلْتِي بْزَّافْtbeddelti bzzafyou've changed a lot

Row 4: Form III with m3a, “argue with someone”; Form VI alone, “argue with each other”.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “change” with and without an object. “I changed the tyre / I've changed”: English already feels two meanings; Darija gives them two forms.

Costly: “each other”. English adds two words; Darija adds one letter. Don't translate “each other” on top: t3awenna is enough.

Costly: learn / teach. Two unrelated English verbs, one Darija root with and without t-. Easy to swap.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You met 3ellem first, in lesson 41, so it comes out when you think “learn”. But 3ellemt is “I taught”.

×عَلّْمْتْ الدَّارِجَة فْالْمَغْرِبْ“I taught Darija in Morocco”.

تْعَلّْمْتْ الدَّارِجَة فْالْمَغْرِبْ“I learnt Darija in Morocco”.

Some speakers do say “learn someone something” in English dialect; Darija's 3ellem is that verb, not “learn”.

3

The derby

A local derby report in the style of ary.wikipedia's sports entries. Teams and score are invented; the vocabulary is any match's.

دِيرْبِي الْمْدِينَة: اتِّحَادْ 2 – نَجْمْ 2

الْفَرِيقَيْنْ تْقَابْلُو نْهَارْ الْحَدّْ فْالْمَلْعَبْ الْكْبِيرْ قُدَّامْ عِشْرِينْ أَلْفْ مْتْفَرّْجْ.

فْالشُّوطْ اللّْوّْلْ، النَّجْمْ مَارْكَا جُوجْ كُولَاتْ. الْجُّمْهُورْ دْيَالْ الِاتِّحَادْ تْقَلّْقْ.

فْالشُّوطْ التَّانِي، الْمُدَرِّبْ بَدّْلْ جُوجْ دْ اللَّاعْبِينْ، وْ الْفَرِيقْ تْبَدّْلْ.

اللَّاعْبِينْ وَلَّاوْ كَيْتْعَاوْنُو وْ كَيْتْفَاهْمُو مْزْيَانْ. مَارْكَاوْ كُولْ وْ مَنْ بَعْدْ بِينَالْتِي.

فْالدّْقِيقَة 90، جُوجْ لَاعْبِينْ تْخَاصْمُو، وْ الْحَكَمْ خَرّْجْ وَاحْدْ مْنْهُمْ.

فْالْأَخِيرْ تْعَادْلُو. وَلَكِنْ مُورَا الْمَاتْشْ، اللَّاعْبِينْ تْسَامْحُو وْ تْبَادْلُو الْمَايُّوهَاتْ.

City derby: Ittihad 2 – Nejm 2

Did you follow?

  1. What was the half-time score?

    Show answers

    Two–nil to Nejm.

  2. What did the coach do?

    Show answers

    Changed two players, and the team changed.

  3. What happened in the 90th minute?

    Show answers

    Two players fell out and the referee sent one off.

  4. How did it all end?

    Show answers

    A draw; the players made up and swapped shirts.

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 verb with its t- form.

1عَلّْمْaتْعَاوْنُو
2بَدّْلْbتْعَلّْمْ
3عَاوْنْcتْسَامْحُو
4سَامْحْdتْبَدّْلْ

2Fill in

With the verb from the box. No vowels.

تعلمتتلاقيناتخاصموتعودتكنتفرج

  1. ___ السياقة فجوج شهور
  2. ___ فالقهوة بلا ما نتفاهمو
  3. الجيران ___ على الصداع
  4. ___ على الماكلة ديال هنا
  5. ___ فالماتش فالتيليفيزيون

3True or false?

According to the report.

  1. Ittihad won.

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

4Sort

Form V or Form VI?

تْعَلّْمْ

Form V (oneself)

Form VI (each other)

The rest is in the B1 book

7 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

5Your match

In six sentences, tell a match or competition you watched.

تْقَابْلُورْبَحْخْسَرْتْعَادْلُوتْفَرّْجْتْ

The rest is in the B1 book

The B1 book
Show answers
1. Match1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Fill inتعلمت · تلاقينا · تخاصمو · تعودت · كنتفرج

The B1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

I can now

  • Form Forms V and VI with t-.
  • Tell 3ellem, teach, from t3ellem, learn.
  • Say people help each other, argue, meet.
  • Report a match.