Possessive Pronouns

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn how to show that something belongs to someone.

Possession in Darija

In Darija, a short ending can be added to a word to show possession. This ending tells us whether the thing belongs to me, you, him, her, us, you all, or them.

Possessive endings

Choosing between the two forms

For my and his, there are two possible endings. The first ending is used after a word ending in a consonant. The second ending is used after a word ending in a vowel.

smiti — my name (the word takes the ending -i)

xuya — my brother (the word takes the ending -ya)

Possession with the word “book”

Possession with feminine nouns

Many feminine nouns end with an a sound. In Arabic script, this ending is a silent t that is pronounced in certain situations. Before adding a possessive ending: remove the final a sound, replace it with t, and add the possessive ending.

Example with “watch”

The final a in magana changes to t, and then -i is added to make maganti.

Exercise: add the correct possessive ending

Using these words — ḍar (house), blaṣa (place), ktab (book), wrqa (sheet of paper or ticket) — try writing the correct Darija form for:

1. your house — speaking to several people
2. my place
3. his book
4. our place
5. your ticket — speaking to one person
6. their place
7. her house
8. his ticket
9. your book — speaking to one person
10. their house