Module 7 · Family and relationships
Lesson 62 · Lower intermediate · 4 min
Friends
Talking about friends, how long you’ve known each other, and saying you miss someone.
- Unreviewed: this lesson’s Darija and translations have not yet been checked by a native speaker.
In this lesson
- Introduce a friend and say how you met
- Say how long you’ve known someone
- Say you miss someone
“Twe7chtek” (I miss you) is one of the warmest words in Darija. You hear it between friends as well as in families.
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
- InèsChkoun hadak lli kan m3ak lbare7?Who was that with you yesterday?
- MehdiHada Hamza, sa7bi mn lmadrasa.That’s Hamza, my friend from school.
- InèsChhal hadi w ntouma kat3erfo ba3diyatkom?How long have you known each other?
- MehdiHadi 3echrin 3am! Howa sa7bi l3ziz.Twenty years! He’s my closest friend.
- InèsZwin. Ana sa7bti l3ziza sakna f Fransa.That’s lovely. My closest friend lives in France.
- MehdiKattwasslo bzzaf?Do you keep in touch a lot?
- InèsKol nhar f WhatsApp. Walakin twe7chtha.Every day on WhatsApp. But I miss her.
- MehdiLah yjme3kom 3la khir!May God bring you together again soon!
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
- sa7bi / sa7btiصاحبي / صاحبتي
- my friend (m. / f.)
- sa7bi l3zizصاحبي العزيز
- my closest friend
- lmadrasaالمدرسة
- school
- kat3erfo ba3diyatkomكتعرفو بعضياتكم
- you know each other
- hadi …هادي …
- it’s been … (time)
- kattwassloكتواصلو
- you keep in touch
- kol nharكل نهار
- every day
- twe7cht…توحشت…
- I miss…twe7chtek (I miss you), twe7chtou (I miss him), twe7chtha (I miss her).
- lah yjme3kom 3la khirالله يجمعكم على خير
- may God bring you together
- lliاللي
- who, that (relative)
Repeat after me
Read each phrase out loud, then cover it and say it from memory.
Hada Hamza, sa7bi mn lmadrasa.
هادا حمزة، صاحبي من المدرسة.
That’s Hamza, my friend from school.
Chhal hadi w ntouma kat3erfo ba3diyatkom?
شحال هادي وانتوما كتعرفو بعضياتكم؟
How long have you known each other?
Hadi 3echrin 3am! Howa sa7bi l3ziz.
هادي عشرين عام! هو صاحبي العزيز.
Twenty years! He’s my closest friend.
Kol nhar f WhatsApp. Walakin twe7chtha.
كل نهار فالواتساب. ولكن توحشتها.
Every day on WhatsApp. But I miss her.
Quiz
Your turn
Talk about a friend: how you met, how long ago, and whether you miss them.
Show an example answer
Sa7bti Lea mn lkhedma. Kan3refha hadi 3achr snin. Twe7chtha bzzaf.
صاحبتي ليا من الخدمة. كنعرفها هادي عشر سنين. توحشتها بزاف.
My friend Lea is from work. I’ve known her for ten years. I miss her a lot.
Summary
“Sa7bi / sa7bti mn…”, “hadi … w ntouma kat3erfo”, “twe7chtek / twe7chtha” and “lah yjme3kom 3la khir”.
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