Skip to main content
DarijaGo
All lessons

Module 9 · Grammar and communication

Lesson 85 · Lower intermediate · 4 min

Possession: dyali, dyalek…

Saying who something belongs to with “dyal” and its forms.

  • Unreviewed: this lesson’s Darija and translations have not yet been checked by a native speaker.

In this lesson

  • Ask “whose is…?”
  • Use the seven forms of “dyal”
  • Recognise attached suffixes (khti, smiti)

“Dyal” (of) + ending: dyali (mine), dyalek (yours), dyalo (his)… For family and a few words, the ending attaches to the noun: khti (my sister).

No audio for this lesson yet

This lesson hasn’t been recorded yet, and we won’t fake it with a made-up voice. Read the dialogue out loud with the help of the transliteration key.

Dialogue

  1. HanaeDyal chkoun had ssak?Whose bag is this?
  2. KarimHada dyali. W hadak dyalek, s7i7?This one’s mine. And that one’s yours, isn’t it?
  3. HanaeLa, machi dyali, dyal khti.No, it’s not mine, it’s my sister’s.
  4. KarimW had ttilifoun? Dyalha 7ta howa?And this phone? Is it hers too?
  5. HanaeLa, hada dyal Yassine. Nsah hna lbare7.No, it’s Yassine’s. He forgot it here yesterday.
  6. KarimW ssarout? Dyalna wla dyalhom?And the key? Ours or theirs?
  7. HanaeDyalna! Ssarout dyal ddar dyalna.Ours! It’s the key to our house.
  8. KarimMzyan, 7it ma l9itch ssarout dyali!Good, because I couldn’t find my key!
How to read the transliteration

Darija is written here in Latin letters, the way many Moroccans text. A few symbols stand for sounds English, French and Swedish don't have:

3
a tight sound from the throat (Arabic ع)
7
a breathy h, stronger than English h (ح)
9
a k made deep in the throat (ق)
gh
like a French r (غ)
kh
like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach (خ)
ch
like English sh (ش)

Vocabulary

dyal chkoun?ديال شكون؟
whose?
dyaliديالي
mine, my
dyalekديالك
yours, your
dyaloديالو
his
dyalhaديالها
hers, her
dyalnaديالنا
ours, our
dyalkomديالكم
yours (plural)
dyalhomديالهم
theirs, their
khti / khtekختي / ختك
my sister / your sisterWith family words, the ending attaches to the noun.
nsa / nsahنسا / نساه
he forgot / he forgot it
ma l9itchما لقيتش
I didn’t find

Repeat after me

Read each phrase out loud, then cover it and say it from memory.

  • Dyal chkoun had ssak?

    ديال شكون هاد الساك؟

    Whose bag is this?

  • Hada dyali. W hadak dyalek, s7i7?

    هادا ديالي. وهاداك ديالك، صحيح؟

    This one’s mine. And that one’s yours, isn’t it?

  • La, machi dyali, dyal khti.

    لا، ماشي ديالي، ديال ختي.

    No, it’s not mine, it’s my sister’s.

  • W ssarout? Dyalna wla dyalhom?

    والساروت؟ ديالنا ولا ديالهم؟

    And the key? Ours or theirs?

Quiz

  1. Question 1 of 7Whose is the phone?
  2. Question 2 of 7Fill in the blankDyal had ssak?Whose bag is this?
  3. Question 3 of 7How do you say “their key”?
  4. Question 4 of 7Match each expression with its meaning.
  5. Question 5 of 7What does “dyali” mean?
  6. Question 6 of 7How do you say “ours, our” in Darija?
  7. Question 7 of 7 · Review from lesson 13Review (lesson 13): what does “nqqa” mean?

Your turn

Point at three things and say whose they are: yours, your sister’s, your friends’.

Show an example answer

Had lktab dyali. Had ssak dyal khti. W had lkoura dyal s7abi.

هاد الكتاب ديالي. هاد الساك ديال ختي. وهاد الكورة ديال صحابي.

This book is mine. This bag is my sister’s. And this ball is my friends’.

Summary

Dyal chkoun? → dyali, dyalek, dyalo, dyalha, dyalna, dyalkom, dyalhom. And for family: khti, khouya, bba…

Finished?

Your progress is saved in this browser, on this device only. It is not synced to your other devices.

Review these lessons