Lesson 32 · Elementary · 4 min
Numbers from 11 to 1000
Understanding bigger prices, and the famous “ryal”.
- Unreviewed: this lesson’s Darija and translations have not yet been checked by a native speaker.
In this lesson
- Understand numbers from 11 to 100
- Form hundreds and a thousand
- Understand dirham / ryal conversion
Sellers sometimes count in “ryal”, an old unit: 1 dirham = 20 ryal. Don’t panic, you always pay in dirhams.
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
- CustomerBchhal had lkisan?How much are these glasses?
- StallholderLwa7d b khmstach dirham.Fifteen dirhams each.
- CustomerW ila khdit stta?And if I take six?
- StallholderStta b tmanin dirham.Six for eighty dirhams.
- CustomerW lbrrad?And the teapot?
- StallholderLbrrad b mya w khamsin… ya3ni tlat alaf ryal.The teapot is a hundred and fifty… that is, three thousand ryal.
- CustomerRyal? Ma fhemtch!Ryal? I don’t get it!
- StallholderDerhem fih 3echrin ryal. Ma tkhafich, nti tkhelsi b ddrahm.One dirham is twenty ryal. Don’t worry, you pay in dirhams.
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
- 7dachحداش
- eleven
- tnachطناش
- twelve
- khmstachخمستاش
- fifteen
- 3echrinعشرين
- twenty
- tlatinتلاتين
- thirty
- khamsinخمسين
- fifty
- tmaninتمانين
- eighty
- myaمية
- a hundred
- alfألف
- a thousand
- ryalريال
- ryal (1 dirham = 20 ryal)A traditional counting unit, especially in souks.
- ya3niيعني
- that is, I mean
- ilaإلا
- if
Repeat after me
Read each phrase out loud, then cover it and say it from memory.
Bchhal had lkisan?
بشحال هاد الكيسان؟
How much are these glasses?
Lwa7d b khmstach dirham.
الواحد بخمستاش درهم.
Fifteen dirhams each.
W ila khdit stta?
وإلا خديت ستة؟
And if I take six?
Ryal? Ma fhemtch!
ريال؟ ما فهمتش!
Ryal? I don’t get it!
Quiz
Your turn
Read these prices out loud in Darija: 12, 20, 50, 100, 150.
Show an example answer
tnach, 3echrin, khamsin, mya, mya w khamsin
طناش، عشرين، خمسين، مية، مية وخمسين
12, 20, 50, 100, 150
Summary
7dach, tnach… 3echrin, tlatin, khamsin, mya, alf. And “ryal”: 1 dirham = 20 ryal.
Finished?
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