Darija lesson 9: family words and to have

1

Eighteen words

The family first, then the three phrases that get a family talked about. Family is the first thing a Moroccan asks about after your name, so these come up fast.

Parents and grandparents

الْعَائِلَة l-3a2ila the family
The mark in the middle is a hamza, a catch in the throat. Many people simply say l-familya, from French.
الْوَالِدِينْ l-walidin the parents
Respectful. Used with the article: l-walidin dyali, my parents.
بَّا bba my father, dad
Already means “my”. You do not add an ending to it. His father is bbah; learn that later.
مِّي mmi my mother, mum
Same as bba: the “my” is built in.
جَدّْ jedd grandfather
My grandfather: jeddi.
جَدَّة jedda grandmother
Feminine -a, as in lesson 3. My grandmother: jeddti, with a t that appears before the ending.

Brothers, sisters, children

خُويَا khuya my brother
Irregular. After a vowel, “my” is -ya, not -i. Your brother: khuk.
خْتْ khet sister
The model for this lesson's table: khti, khtek, khtu, khtha.
خُوتْ khut brothers; brothers and sisters
English needs “siblings”, a word nobody uses at the dinner table. Darija uses khut for the lot.
وْلْدْ weld son; boy
My son: weldi.
بْنْتْ bent daughter; girl
My daughter: benti.
وْلَادْ wlad children; sons; boys
The plural of weld, and it means children of either sex. My children: wladi.

Husband and wife

رَاجْلْ rajel husband; man
My husband: rajli. The vowel drops when the ending comes.
مْرَا mra wife; woman
My wife: mrati. A t appears before the ending, as with jedda.
مْزَوّْجْ mzewwej married
It agrees like any adjective: mzewwja for a woman.

Having

عَنْدِي 3endi I have
Literally “at me”. No verb, as in lesson 1.
وَاشْ عَنْدَكْ…؟ wash 3endek…? do you have …?
wash from lesson 6 plus 3endek. The same for a man or a woman.
شْحَالْ عَنْدَكْ دْ…؟ sh7al 3endek d-…? how many … do you have?
sh7al + 3endek + d- + the plural, the counting pattern from lesson 8: sh7al 3endek d-l-wlad?

2

“At me”, not “I have”

Four sentences about who has what. Look at the word that means “has” and at how it ends.

عَنْدِي جُوجْ دْ الْخُوتْ3endi juj d-l-khut
خْتِي عَنْدْهَا بْنْتْ وَحْدَةkhti 3endha bent wa7da
وَاشْ عَنْدَكْ الْوْلَادْ؟wash 3endek l-wlad?
خُويَا عَنْدُو تْلَاتَة دْ الْوْلَادْkhuya 3endu tlata d-l-wlad

Which part of 3endi, 3endha, 3endu tells you who has?

The rule

3end is not a verb. It means “at, in the keeping of”. You add an ending that says whose keeping: 3endi, “at me”, is “I have”. 3endha, “at her”, is “she has”.

Those endings are the same ones that mean my, your, his, her on a noun. khti is “my sister” and 3endi is “I have”: the same -i. Learn the endings once and you have both.

After a vowel, “my” is -ya: khuya, my brother.

One ending, two jobs

Form	Say	Means
عَنْدِي، خْتِي	3endi, khti	I have, my sister
عَنْدَكْ، خْتَكْ	3endek, khtek	you have, your sister
عَنْدُو، خْتُو	3endu, khtu	he has, his sister
عَنْدْهَا، خْتْهَا	3endha, khtha	she has, her sister
عَنْدْنَا، خْتْنَا	3endna, khtna	we have, our sister
عَنْدْكُمْ، خْتْكُمْ	3endkum, khtkum	you (plural) have, your sister
عَنْدْهُمْ، خْتْهُمْ	3endhum, khthum	they have, their sister

Row two is the same sound for a man and a woman. Following lesson 1, for a woman it is written with a kasra at the end, عَنْدْكِ. And look at rows three and four: -u is his, -ha is her, just as English splits his from her.

What English hands you, and what it charges you

Free: his and her. English already keeps them apart, and so does Darija: khtu, his sister; khtha, her sister. A Spanish speaker's “su” covers both and has to be split.

Charged: “have” is a verb in English, with its “has”, “had”, “do you have”. Your hand reaches for a verb, finds 3end, and treats it like one. It is a preposition wearing an ending.

Charged: “my” comes first in English and stands alone. In Darija it comes last and is glued on: khti, not “my khet”.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You translate “I have” one word at a time: ana for I, 3end for have. The ending that carries the “I” goes missing.

أَنَا عَنْدْ جُوجْ دْ الْخُوتْ“I at two brothers.” Nobody is holding the brothers.

عَنْدِي جُوجْ دْ الْخُوتْ“I have two brothers.” The -i is the “I”. Add ana in front only for emphasis: ana 3endi, “I have”.

One more: “brothers” in juj d-l-khut may include sisters. Ask sh7al 3endek d-l-khut? and you get the whole count.

3

A form and the talk that fills it

A registration card for a neighbourhood association, already filled in, and the four lines at the desk that produced it. Salma and the association are invented. iyeh is “yes”, from lesson 6.

التَّسْجِيلْ

السّْمِيَّة: سَلْمَى بَنَّانِي

مْزَوّْجَة: إِيهْ

الْوْلَادْ: جُوجْ، وْلْدْ وْ بْنْتْ

الْخُوتْ: تْلَاتَة

Registration card

وَاشْ عَنْدَكْ الْوْلَادْ؟

إِيهْ، عَنْدِي جُوجْ.

وْ الْخُوتْ؟

عَنْدِي تْلَاتَة دْ الْخُوتْ.

At the desk

Did you follow it?

Is Salma married?
Show answers
Yes: mzewwja: iyeh. The feminine -a tells you the card is for a woman.
How many children does she have, and what are they?
Show answers
Two: weld w bent, a son and a daughter.
How would Salma say “I have three brothers and sisters”?
Show answers
3endi tlata d-l-khut. It is the last line of the dialogue.
How would you tell someone about her? “She has two children.”
Show answers
3endha juj d-l-wlad. Only the ending changes: -i to -ha.

4

Check

The rule is on the page above. These show whether you can use it without looking.

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

Put each word under its owner.

خْتِيخْتْهَاخْتْنَاوْلْدِيبْنْتْهَاوْلَادْنَاعَنْدِيعَنْدْهَاعَنْدْنَا

mine

hers

ours

2Supply the ending

Fill in with عَنْدِي, عَنْدْهَا, عَنْدْنَا or عَنْدْهُمْ. Each is used once.

عَنْدِيعَنْدْهَاعَنْدْنَاعَنْدْهُمْ

أَنَا ___ جُوجْ دْ الْخُوتْ
خْتِي ___ بْنْتْ وَحْدَة
حْنَا ___ تْلَاتَة دْ الْوْلَادْ
هُومَا ___ خَمْسَة دْ الْوْلَادْ

3Match

Pair each man with the woman in the same place in the family.

1	جَدّْ	a	مْرَا

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book (PDF)

4Put it in order

Tap the pieces in the right order to make the sentence.

جُوجْخْتِيدْ الْوْلَادْعَنْدْهَا

The rest is in the A1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book (PDF)

5Add the vowels

Write the vowel marks on each word.

عندها

The rest is in the A1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The A1 book (PDF)

Show answers

1. Sort	mine: خْتِي, وْلْدِي, عَنْدِي / hers: خْتْهَا, بْنْتْهَا, عَنْدْهَا / ours: خْتْنَا, وْلَادْنَا, عَنْدْنَا
2. Supply the ending	عَنْدِي; عَنْدْهَا; عَنْدْنَا; عَنْدْهُمْ

The A1 book (PDF): Lessons 1 to 18

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I can now

Name my parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and children.
Say what I have with 3endi, and nothing that looks like a verb.
Ask “do you have children?” and “how many?”.
Say “my”, “his”, “her” and “our” with an ending.