In this lesson, we will see the Definite Article in Darija. 

The definite article used in English is ” The ” and in the french language is ” La, Le, and Les “.

Definite Article in DARIJA with examples :

Definite words are divided into two categories: Sun and Moon Words:

Sun Letters:   L7orouf Ch-Chamsiya ( الحروف الشمسية )

Moon Letters : L7orouf L9amariya ( الحروف القمرية )

As we can see, these names refer to the words Sun and Moon in standard Arabic :

• Moon is (qamar قمر) and the moon is ( Lqamar لقمر ).
• Sun is ( Chms شمس), and the sun is ( Ch–Chms الشمس).

Definite Words starting with Sun Lettres :

The sun letters represent the letters that are pronounced with the teeth or the tongue: T, D, R, Z, S, CH, L, N, and for this category, you do not need to add the ” L ” in a definite form of the word.

To facilitate the memorization of the sun letters, we gathered them in two words (excluding vowels):

TENDRESSE CHANNELZ  (Without forgetting the letter “ J ” which is also considered as a solar letter in Darija and a Lunar letter in Standard Arabic).

Examples with Sun Letters :

Dar (House)  ⇒   Ddar  ( The House ) 

 

Tomobil ( Car )  ⇒  Ttomobil ( The Car ) 

 

Ndadr ( Glasses )  ⇒  Nndadr ( The Glasses ) 

 

Sbat ( Shoes ) ⇒  Ssbat ( The Shoes ) 

 

Tbla ( Table )  ⇒  Ttbla ( The table ) 

 

Zif ( Scarf ) ⇒   Zzif ( The scarf ) 

 

Drouj ( Stairs )  ⇒  Ddrouj ( The Stairs )

 

Tbsil ( Plate )    ⇒  Ttbsil ( The Plate ) 

 

Srwal ( Trousers )  ⇒   Ssrwal ( The Trousers )

Definite Words starting with Moon Lettres :

The Lunar letters are the rest of the alphabets excluding the Solar ones.

Examples With Moon Letters :

Airport ⇒ Matar   –   The Airport ⇒ Lmatar.

Hotel ⇒ Hotel   –  The Hotel ⇒ Lhotel.

City ⇒ Mdina   –  The City ⇒ Lmdina.

Countryside ⇒ Badia   –  The Countryside ⇒ Lbadia.

River  ⇒ Wad   –  The river ⇒ Lwad

School ⇒ Mdrasa   –  The School ⇒ Lmdrasa.

Indefinite Article in DARIJA with examples:

The indefinite article in English are ” a ” and ” an ” and are used before a noun or noun equivalents. The equivalent of the indefinite articles in Moroccan Arabic is ” Wa7d “:

Indefinite form = Wa7d + Definite form.

Examples :

A House ⇒ Wa7d ddar

A Police man ⇒ Wa7d Lbolisi

A teacher ( F ) ⇒  Wa7d Lostada

A teacher ( M ) ⇒  Wa7d Lostad

Exercise: Give the definite form of words

Find the definite form of the following words and write your answers in the comment section below:

Chrjm (window)

Bab (door)

Mdrasa (School)

B7r (Beach)

Ndader (glasses)

Ktab (book)

Mra (woman)

Rajl (man)

Mdina (City)

3a2ila (Family) 

---

Then, you may be also interested in the Course about the Feminine form in Moroccan Arabic and the full course on Standard Arabic Language containing 21hours of videos available on Udemy.