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Learning Darijaالدارجة

Lesson 5 · A1

This glass, that table

Eighteen words for the café table and the five words you point with. The catch: in Darija, “this” does not replace “the”. Both stay.

  • Name what is on a café table.
  • Point at things near and far: this glass, that table.
  • Tell “this glass” from “this is a glass”.
  • Order a drink and ask for the bill.
1

One new sound

Three words at this table start or end with it. You met its partner ص in lesson 1.

ط
New

A t with a hollow mouth

t · طْبْسِيلْ tbsil

ط is to ت what ص is to س: the same t, said with the tongue flat and the back of the mouth opened. Two things to drop. Your English t comes with a puff of air — hold a hand in front of your mouth for “top” and you feel it. ط has no puff. And it darkens the vowel beside it: tabla sounds closer to “tobla”.

2

Eighteen words

What sits on the table, what you drink, and three words to get served. Learn the gender with the noun: the pointing words below depend on it.

On the table

  • طَبْلَة tabla table

    Feminine, and the final -a says so. That is why it is hadik t-tabla, never hadak.

  • كُرْسِي kursi chair
  • طْبْسِيلْ tbsil plate

    Three consonants before the first vowel: t-b-s. Do not slip an e in front of it.

  • كَاسْ kas glass

    Also the measure for tea. Tea in Morocco comes in a glass, not a cup: kas d atay, a glass of tea.

  • مْعَلْقَة m3elqa spoon

    ع in the middle. Do not skip it: m-3-elqa, with the squeeze.

  • فَرْشِيطَة fershita fork

    Feminine, by the -a. English gives you no clue to gender, so let the ending do the work.

  • مُوسْ mus knife
  • بْرَّادْ berrad teapot

    The metal pot mint tea is poured from, held high so the tea foams.

Drinks and the rest

  • أَتَايْ atay tea

    Tea means mint tea unless you say otherwise: green tea, fresh mint, a lot of sugar.

  • قْهْوَة qhwa coffee; café

    Also the place. “Let's go to the qhwa” is to the café. Feminine, by the -a.

  • حْلِيبْ 7lib milk

    The ح of lesson 1, not your h.

  • مَا ma water

    Nearly always with the article: l-ma. Two sounds, easy to miss in a noisy café.

  • سُكَّرْ sukkar sugar

    English “sugar” comes from this word, by way of Italian and French.

  • خُبْزْ khubz bread

    The round loaf on every table. It does the fork's job: you scoop with it.

  • مَلْحَة mel7a salt

    Feminine in Darija. Nothing in English “salt” tells you, so it is hadik l-mel7a.

Getting served

  • بْغِيتْ bghit I'd like

    Literally “I wanted”, and the ordinary polite way to order. Learn it as one block for now: bghit atay.

  • الْحْسَابْ l-7sab the bill

    Say it with the article, and it can stand alone as the request.

  • خَاوِي khawi empty; free (a seat)

    Feminine khawya, which is what you need for a table.

3

Pointing

Four correct sentences. Look at what comes straight after the first word.

  1. هَادْ الْكَاسْ خَاوِيhad l-kas khawi
  2. هَادْ الْقْهْوَة سْخُونَةhad l-qhwa skhuna
  3. هَادِي فَرْشِيطَةhadi fershita
  4. هَادِيكْ الطَّبْلَة خَاوْيَةhadik t-tabla khawya

Three have l- after the pointing word. One does not. What does that one mean?

The rule

had + a noun with its article means “this…”. The article stays: had l-kas, word for word “this the glass”. had does not change: had l-kas, had l-qhwa.

hada / hadi + a noun without the article is a whole sentence: “this is a…”. No verb, as in lesson 1. hadi fershita, “this is a fork”. hada for masculine, hadi for feminine.

For “that” there is one word per gender, and the article stays there too: hadak l-kas, hadik t-tabla.

Five pointing words

WordSayUse
هَادْhadthis — before a noun with l-, either gender
هَادَاhadathis one; “this is a” (masculine)
هَادِيhadithis one; “this is a” (feminine)
هَادَاكْhadakthat, that one (masculine)
هَادِيكْhadikthat, that one (feminine)

In speech the long forms shrink to dak and dik: dik t-tabla. You will hear them more than you say them.

What English hands you, and what it charges you

Free: two distances, this and that. Darija has the same two. A Spanish speaker has three (este, ese, aquel) and has to fold two of them into hadak.

Charged: the line between “this glass” and “this is a glass”. English draws it with the verb: “this is a glass”. Darija has no verb to draw it with, so it uses the article. had l-kas is a phrase; hada kas is a sentence.

Charged: gender. English “that” is the same for everything. hadak and hadik are not.

Your mistake, not someone else's

In English “this” takes the place of “the”. You never say “this the glass”, so when you point in Darija the article drops off by itself.

×هَادْ كَاسْNot a phrase Darija has. It is neither “this glass” nor “this is a glass”.

✓هَادْ الْكَاسْ“This glass.” The article stays behind had.

And the second one: hadak l-qhwa. Coffee ends in -a, so it is feminine: hadik l-qhwa. English “that” has no gender and your ear gives you no warning. Check the ending of the noun before you point.

4

A café menu

The kind of menu chalked on a board or slid under the glass of any Moroccan café. This one is ours, not a real café's, and it has no prices: numbers come in lesson 8. Below it, the card left on a table.

مَقْهَى الزِّيتُونَة

أَتَايْ بْالنّْعْنَاعْ

قْهْوَة كْحْلَة

قْهْوَة نُصّْ نُصّْ

كَاسْ دْ الْحْلِيبْ

عْصِيرْ اللِّيمُونْ

مْسَمّْنْ بْالْعْسَلْ

Menu board

هَادْ الطَّبْلَة مْحْجُوزَة

Card on a table

Did you follow it?

  1. Which line is mint tea?

    Show answers

    أَتَايْ بْالنّْعْنَاعْ — atay b n-n3na3, “tea with mint”. b is “with”.

  2. What is in a qhwa nuss nuss?

    Show answers

    Half coffee, half milk. nuss is “half”. It is the order you will hear most.

  3. Can you sit at the table with the card?

    Show answers

    No. m7juza is “reserved”. And notice had t-tabla: the article stays behind had.

  4. Why kas d l-7lib and not just 7lib?

    Show answers

    Because you order the glass: “a glass of milk”. d means “of”.

5

Check

Gender and the article: the two places this lesson goes wrong.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the A1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Sort by gender

Which of these takes hadak and which takes hadik? Put each one in its column.

الْكَاسْالطَّبْلَةالطّْبْسِيلْالْمْعَلْقَةالْمُوسْالْفَرْشِيطَةالْبْرَّادْالْقْهْوَة

hadak …

hadik …

2Pick the right one

Only one of the three is correct Darija.

    1. هَادْ الْكَاسْ خَاوِي
    2. هَادْ كَاسْ خَاوِي
    3. الْكَاسْ هَادْ خَاوِي
    1. هَادَاكْ الطَّبْلَة
    2. هَادْ طَبْلَة
    3. هَادِيكْ الطَّبْلَة
    1. هَادَا فَرْشِيطَة
    2. هَادِي فَرْشِيطَة
    3. هَادْ فَرْشِيطَة

3Point

Fill in with هَادْ, هَادَا, هَادِي or هَادِيكْ. Each is used once.

هَادْهَادَاهَادِيهَادِيكْ

  1. ___ كَاسْ

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

4Put it in order

Build the sentence from the pieces. It reads right to left.

  1. دْكَاسْالْحْلِيبْبْغِيتْ

The rest is in the A1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book

5Write

Order at a café in four lines: greet, order, point at something on the table, ask for the bill.

السَّلَامُ عْلِيكُمْبْغِيتْهَادْالْحْسَابْبِسْلَامَة

The rest is in the A1 book

The A1 book
Show answers
1. Sort by genderhadak …: الْكَاسْ · الطّْبْسِيلْ · الْمُوسْ · الْبْرَّادْ / hadik …: الطَّبْلَة · الْمْعَلْقَة · الْفَرْشِيطَة · الْقْهْوَة
2. Pick the right one1-a, 2-c, 3-b

The A1 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

  • Name eighteen things on a café table.
  • Say “this glass” and “that table” with the article in place.
  • Tell had l-kas from hada kas.
  • Pick hadak or hadik from the ending of the noun.
  • Order and ask for the bill.