Lesson 52 · B1

Don't say “beans” till they're in the measure

“I waited until he came” and “wait until I come”: English uses a past and a present. Darija uses a past and the form without ka-. And Moroccan proverbs will sound familiar: many have an English twin.

Say “until” about the past and the future.
Say “don't… until” and “not… before”.
Understand six Moroccan proverbs.
Find the matching proverb in your language.

Twenty-two words

Patience, and the words of the proverbs: honey, bees, beans, beetles.

Until

حْتَّى 7tta until; till
With a verb after it.
حْتَّى لْ 7tta l until (with a noun)
7tta l j-jem3a, until Friday.
مَا ... حْتَّى ma ... 7tta not... until
عَادْ 3ad only then
Lesson 38's word.

Waiting

تْسَنَّى tsenna to wait
Form V.
صْبَرْ sber to be patient; put up with
With l-: put up with something.
الصّْبَرْ s-sber patience
زْرَبْ zreb to hurry
zerban, in a hurry.
فَاتْ fat to pass; get ahead of
fatek, has got ahead of you.

Proverb words

الْمْثَلْ l-mthel proverb
Plural mthal.
الْعْسَلْ l-3sel honey
النّْحَلْ n-n7el bees
الْقْرِيصْ l-qris sting
الْفُولْ l-ful broad beans
الْمْكْيَالْ l-mkyal measure (for grain)
The vessel grain was measured in at the souk.
الْخُنْفُوسْ l-khenfus beetle
الْغْزَالْ l-ghzal gazelle
The image of beauty.
الْحِيلَة l-7ila trick; cunning

And more

الْفْرَجْ l-feraj relief; way out
الْمْفْتَاحْ l-mefta7 key
More formal than sarut.
الْجَّارْ j-jar neighbour
قْبَلْ qbel before

7tta + verb

Four sentences with “until”. Two are about something that has happened; two about something that hasn't yet.

تْسَنِّيتْ حْتَّى وْصَلْ الطُّوبِيسْtsennit 7tta wsel t-tobis
مَا تَاكْلُوشْ حْتَّى تْغْسْلُو يْدِّيكُمْma taklush 7tta tghselu yeddikum
غَادِي نْبْقَى هْنَا حْتَّى تْرْجَعْghadi nbqa hna 7tta trje3
خْدَمْ حْتَّى لْلّْيلْkhdem 7tta l l-lil

What tense follows 7tta when it already happened? And when it hasn't?

The rule

7tta + past: until, for something that happened. tsennitu 7tta ja, I waited for him until he came.

7tta + verb without ka-: until, for something that hasn't happened yet, in orders and the future. ma tkhrujsh 7tta nji, don't go out until I come.

With a negative first, ma... 7tta is “not... until”, “not... before”: ma taklush 7tta tghselu yeddikum, don't eat before you've washed your hands.

With a noun, 7tta l-: 7tta l j-jem3a, until Friday. And you already know 7tta “even” (lesson 39).

Until

Sentence	Say it	Means
تْسَنِّيتُو حْتَّى جَا	tsennitu 7tta ja	I waited for him until he came
بْقِينَا حْتَّى سَالَى الْمَاتْشْ	bqina 7tta sala l-match	we stayed until the match ended
مَا تْخْرُجْشْ حْتَّى نْجِي	ma tkhrujsh 7tta nji	don't go out until I come
غَادِي نْتْسَنَّى حْتَّى تْسَالِي	ghadi ntsenna 7tta tsali	I'll wait until you finish
مَا تْقُولْ فُولْ حْتَّى يْكُونْ فْالْمْكْيَالْ	ma tqul ful 7tta ykun f l-mkyal	don't say “beans” till they're in the measure
حْتَّى لْلْجُّمْعَة	7tta l j-jem3a	until Friday
حْتَّى هُوَ جَا	7tta huwa ja	even he came
عَادْ فْهَمْتْ	3ad fhemt	only then did I understand

Rows 3–5: English present (“until I come”), Darija without ka-. Not the ka- present.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the idea. English already uses a different tense after “until” for the future (“until I come”, not “will come”).

Free: the proverbs. “No pain, no gain”, “don't count your chickens before they hatch”: same wisdom, different animals.

Costly: the form. English present after “until” tempts you towards ka-. It's the form without ka-.

Your mistake, not someone else's

“Until I come” is present in English, so you use the Darija present with ka-, or slip into the past because it feels settled. Neither: the bare form.

×مَا تْخْرُجْشْ حْتَّى جِيتْ“Don't go out until I came”.

✓مَا تْخْرُجْشْ حْتَّى نْجِي“Don't go out until I come”.

And 7tta + noun without l-: 7tta j-jem3a means “even Friday”, not “until Friday”.

Six proverbs

Proverbs you hear in any Moroccan home. No author: public domain by nature. Some have regional variants; this is a common form.

مْثَالْ مْغْرِبِيَّة

١. اللِّي بْغَا الْعْسَلْ يْصْبَرْ لْقْرِيصْ النّْحَلْ.

٢. مَا تْقُولْ فُولْ حْتَّى يْكُونْ فْالْمْكْيَالْ.

٣. كُلّْ خُنْفُوسْ عَنْدْ مّْهْ غْزَالْ.

٤. اللِّي فَاتْكْ بْلِيلَة، فَاتْكْ بْحِيلَة.

٥. الصّْبَرْ مْفْتَاحْ الْفْرَجْ.

٦. شُوفْ الْجَّارْ قْبَلْ الدَّارْ.

Moroccan proverbs

Refranes de tradición oral marroquí, sin autor. Selección y transcripción de Learning Darija · dominio público

Did you follow?

Which English proverb is like the first?
Show answers
“No pain, no gain”: whoever wants honey puts up with bee stings.
And the second?
Show answers
“Don't count your chickens before they hatch”.
What does the third say?
Show answers
To its mother, every beetle is a gazelle: a child is always beautiful.
What does the sixth advise?
Show answers
Look at the neighbour before the house.

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.

1Fill in

Past if it happened, no ka- if not yet. No vowels.

جانجيسالاتتسالي

تسنيتو حتى ___
ما تخرجش حتى ___
بقات تقرا حتى ___ الكتاب
غادي نتسناك حتى ___

2Match

Join the two halves of each proverb.

1	اللِّي بْغَا الْعْسَلْ	a	عَنْدْ مّْهْ غْزَالْ
2	مَا تْقُولْ فُولْ	b	يْصْبَرْ لْقْرِيصْ النّْحَلْ
3	كُلّْ خُنْفُوسْ	c	مْفْتَاحْ الْفْرَجْ
4	الصّْبَرْ	d	حْتَّى يْكُونْ فْالْمْكْيَالْ