Lesson 34 · Elementary · 4 min
Colours
Choosing a scarf by colour, and the feminine forms of colours.
- Unreviewed: this lesson’s Darija and translations have not yet been checked by a native speaker.
In this lesson
- Name the main colours
- Ask for another colour
- Use the feminine form of a colour
Chefchaouen blue, Marrakech red… Colours have a masculine form (7mer) and a feminine form (7amra).
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
- CustomerBghit chi chal. Wach kayn b lwan khrin?I’d like a scarf. Do you have other colours?
- StallholderKayn l7mer, lkhder, zre9 w lbyed.There’s red, green, blue and white.
- CustomerWach kayn lk7el?Do you have black?
- StallholderLk7el sala, walakin kayn rrmadi.Black has sold out, but there’s grey.
- CustomerMa kay3jebnich rrmadi. Werrini zre9.I don’t like grey. Show me the blue one.
- StallholderHak. Had zre9 dyal Chefchaouen!Here. This is Chefchaouen blue!
- CustomerZwin! W 3ndkom chi wa7d sfer?Lovely! Do you have a yellow one?
- StallholderIyyeh, hak sfer. Jouj b mitayn?Yes, here’s the yellow. Both for two hundred?
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
- lwanلوان
- colours
- 7mer / 7amraحمر / حمرا
- red (m. / f.)
- khder / khadraخضر / خضرا
- green (m. / f.)
- zre9 / zar9aزرق / زرقا
- blue (m. / f.)
- byed / baydaبيض / بيضا
- white (m. / f.)
- k7el / k7laكحل / كحلا
- black (m. / f.)
- sfer / safraصفر / صفرا
- yellow (m. / f.)
- rmadiرمادي
- grey
- chalشال
- a shawl, scarf
- salaسالا
- it’s run out
- werriniوريني
- show me
Repeat after me
Read each phrase out loud, then cover it and say it from memory.
Bghit chi chal. Wach kayn b lwan khrin?
بغيت شي شال. واش كاين بلوان خرين؟
I’d like a scarf. Do you have other colours?
Wach kayn lk7el?
واش كاين الكحل؟
Do you have black?
Ma kay3jebnich rrmadi. Werrini zre9.
ما كيعجبنيش الرمادي. وريني الزرق.
I don’t like grey. Show me the blue one.
Zwin! W 3ndkom chi wa7d sfer?
زوين! وعندكم شي واحد صفر؟
Lovely! Do you have a yellow one?
Quiz
Your turn
Ask for an item in another colour, then say which colour you prefer.
Show an example answer
Wach kayn had chal b lkhder? … Kanfeddel zre9.
واش كاين هاد الشال بالخضر؟ … كنفضل الزرق.
Do you have this scarf in green? … I prefer the blue one.
Summary
7mer, khder, zre9, byed, k7el, sfer, rmadi — feminine 7amra, khadra, zar9a… “Werrini…” to see an item.
Finished?
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