It broke by itself
Nobody broke the glass: it broke. Nobody cut the water: it went off. English does this three ways, “broke”, “was cut off”, “got stolen”. Darija does it one way: tt- in front of the verb.
- Report events without saying who did them.
- Build the tt- verb and make it agree with the thing.
- Talk about water and power cuts, thefts, fires.
- Read a week of local incidents.
Twenty-four words
The first family is tt- verbs. The last is participles describing the state things were left in.
It just happened (tt-)
-
تّْكْسَرْ
ttkser
to break; get broken
l-kas ttkesrat, the glass broke.
- تّْفْتَحْ ttfte7 to open; come open
- تّْسَدّْ ttsedd to close; get shut
-
تّْسْرَقْ
ttsreq
to get stolen
ttsreq liya l-portabl, my phone got stolen.
- تّْحْرَقْ tt7req to burn; burn down
- تّْقْطَعْ ttqte3 to be cut off (water, power, road)
- تّْلْقَى ttlqa to turn up; be found
-
تّْنْسَى
ttnsa
to be forgotten
ttnsat liya, I forgot it: “it got forgotten on me”.
What
-
الْعَافْيَة
l-3afya
fire
Also “health”: l-3afya. Context separates them.
-
الْمَا
l-ma
water
Masculine: l-ma rje3, the water's back.
- الضَّوْ d-daw power; electricity
-
الْكَانْيُو
l-kanyu
pipe
From French or Spanish, both possible.
-
الْبُومْبْيَة
l-bumbya
fire brigade
French pompier.
-
الْأَضْرَارْ
l-adrar
damage
Newspaper word.
No one to blame
-
بْلَا مَا
bla ma
without (doing)
bla ma y3ref 7tta wa7ed, without anyone knowing.
-
بُوحْدُو
bu7du
by itself
“On its own”. bu7dha, by herself.
-
مَا عْرَفْنَاشْ
ma 3refnash
we don't know
Past form with present meaning, like bghit.
- شِي وَاحْدْ shi wa7ed someone
-
الْحَمْدُ لِلّْه
l-7amdu lillah
thank God
After a scare with no one hurt.
How it ended up
-
رْجَعْ
rje3
to come back
Water, power: d-daw rje3.
-
تّْصْلَحْ
ttsle7
to get fixed
tt- form of sle7.
-
مْقْطُوعْ
mqtu3
cut off
Passive participle, lesson 47.
- مْحْرُوقْ m7ruq burnt
- مْسْدُودْ msdud closed; blocked
tt-: when nobody did it
Four sentences where something happens and nobody does it. In the first, someone gets blamed and pushes it back.
- كْسَرْتْ الْكَاسْ. — لَا، الْكَاسْ تّْكْسْرَاتْ بُوحْدْهَا!kesert l-kas. — la, l-kas ttkesrat bu7dha!
- الْبَابْ تّْفْتَحْ وْ مَا دْخَلْ حْتَّى وَاحْدْl-bab ttfte7 w ma dkhel 7tta wa7ed
- الطُّومُوبِيلْ دْيَالُو تّْسَرْقَاتْ الْبَارَحْt-tomobil dyalu ttserqat l-bare7
- الْمَا تّْقْطَعْ فْالْحُومَة كُلّْهَاl-ma ttqte3 f l-7uma kullha
What's the difference between kesert l-kas and l-kas ttkesrat? What does the verb agree with?
The rule
To say something happens without saying who does it, put tt- in front of the plain verb: kser → ttkser; fte7 → ttfte7.
The thing is the subject, and the verb agrees with it: l-bab ttfte7 (masculine), l-kas ttkesrat (feminine), l-flus ttserqu (plural).
In the present, with ka-: l-bab kayttfte7 bu7du, the door opens by itself.
In the north you'll hear n- instead: nkser. Both are understood everywhere.
To say who it happened to, l- with a pronoun: ttsreq liya, it got stolen on me.
From doing to happening
| Form | Say it | Means |
|---|---|---|
| كْسَرْ ← تّْكْسَرْ | kser → ttkser | break → get broken |
| فْتَحْ ← تّْفْتَحْ | fte7 → ttfte7 | open → come open |
| سْرَقْ ← تّْسْرَقْ | sreq → ttsreq | steal → get stolen |
| الْكَاسْ تّْكْسْرَاتْ | l-kas ttkesrat | the glass broke |
| الْبَابْ تّْفْتَحْ | l-bab ttfte7 | the door opened |
| الْفْلُوسْ تّْسَرْقُو | l-flus ttserqu | the money got stolen |
| الْبَابْ كَيْتّْفْتَحْ بُوحْدُو | l-bab kayttfte7 bu7du | the door opens by itself |
| نْكْسَرْ (فْالشّْمَالْ) | nkser (f sh-shmal) | it broke (northern) |
Row 6: “money” is plural in Darija (l-flus), so the verb is plural.
What English gives you, and what it costs
Free: “get” + participle. “Got stolen”, “got broken”: English already has an event-without-agent form. tt- is that “get”.
Costly: ergative verbs. “The glass broke”, “the door opened”: in English the plain verb does it. In Darija the plain verb needs an agent; without one, you need tt-.
Costly: “money” as plural.
Your mistake, not someone else's
English “the glass broke” uses the same verb as “I broke the glass”. You copy that, and the Darija glass “broke” something.
الْكَاسْ كْسْرَاتْ“The glass broke (something)”.
الْكَاسْ تّْكْسْرَاتْ“The glass broke”. With tt-.
And “I forgot” versus “it slipped my mind”: nsit and ttnsat liya are both fine, like the English pair.
This week's incidents
A week of neighbourhood incidents, day by day, written for this lesson. Almost every verb has tt-: nobody knows who.
الْحَوَادْتْ دْيَالْ السِّيمَانَة
الِاتْنِينْ: الْكَانْيُو دْيَالْ الْمَا تّْكْسَرْ فْالزَّنْقَة الْكْبِيرَة، وْ الْمَا تّْقْطَعْ سِتّْ سْوَايْعْ.
الثّْلَاتْ: الْعَافْيَة شْعْلَاتْ فْحَانُوتْ دْيَالْ الثّْوْبْ. الْحَانُوتْ تّْحْرْقَاتْ، وَلَكِنْ مَا تّْجْرَحْ حْتَّى وَاحْدْ.
الْأَرْبَعْ: جُوجْ مُوطُورَاتْ تّْسَرْقُو قُدَّامْ الْمَحَطَّة. الْبُولِيسْ مَا عْرْفَاتْشْ شْكُونْ.
الْخْمِيسْ: الطّْرِيقْ دْيَالْ الْجْبَلْ تّْسَدَّاتْ عْلَى قْبَلْ الشّْتَا.
الْجُّمْعَة: صَاكْ فِيهْ الْوْرَاقْ دْيَالْ شِي وَاحْدْ تّْلْقَى فْالطُّوبِيسْ. رَاهْ عَنْدْ الْبُولِيسْ.
السَّبْتْ: الْمَا رْجَعْ، وْ الطّْرِيقْ تّْفْتْحَاتْ. الْحَمْدُ لِلّْه.
Did you follow?
What happened on Monday?
Show answers
A water pipe broke and the water was off for six hours.
Was anyone hurt in the fire?
Show answers
No: ma ttjre7 7tta wa7ed.
Why was the mountain road closed?
Show answers
Because of the rain.
What turned up on the bus?
Show answers
A bag with someone's papers.
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.
1No one to blame
Remove “someone”: the thing becomes the subject.
- شِي وَاحْدْ كْسَرْ الشَّرْجَمْ
- شِي وَاحْدْ سْرَقْ الطُّومُوبِيلْ
- شِي وَاحْدْ فْتَحْ الْبِيبَانْ
- شِي وَاحْدْ قْطَعْ الضَّوْ
2Fill in
With the verb from the box that agrees. No vowels.
تكسرتسرقاتتحرقاتتلقاوتسد
- البورطابل طاح و ___
- البشكليطة ديالي ___ من قدام الدار
- الماكلة ___، نسيتها فالعافية
- المفاتح ___ تحت الطبلة
- المحطة مسدودة، الباب ___
3True or false?
According to the incidents.
- The water was off for six hours.
4Pick the right one
The one that agrees with the thing.
- الْكَاسْ تّْكْسْرَاتْ
- الْكَاسْ كْسْرَاتْ
- الْكَاسْ تّْكْسَرْتْ
5A day of disasters
In five sentences, tell a day when everything went wrong and it was nobody's fault.
تّْكْسَرْتّْقْطَعْتّْسْرَقْمَا عْرَفْنَاشْ شْكُونْبُوحْدُو
The rest is in the B1 book
The B1 book (PDF)Show answers
| 1. No one to blame | الشَّرْجَمْ تّْكْسَرْ; الطُّومُوبِيلْ تّْسَرْقَاتْ; الْبِيبَانْ تّْفَتْحُو; الضَّوْ تّْقْطَعْ |
|---|---|
| 2. Fill in | تكسر; تسرقات; تحرقات; تلقاو; تسد |
The B1 book (PDF): Lessons 41 to 64
The web keeps the explanations free, for good. The book is what pays for them: all 24 lessons of B1 in one PDF, laid out to print or to work on screen.
I can now
- Say something broke, opened or was cut off without saying who.
- Make the verb agree with the thing.
- Say “it slipped my mind”, “it got stolen on me” with liya.
- Read an incidents column.