“Have You Ever…?” and “I Have Never…”

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn how to ask about someone’s past experience and how to say that something has never happened.

Asking “Have you ever…?”

Darija uses the word 3mmr, which changes form depending on the person.

English	Darija
Have I ever…?	weš 3mmri…? / weš 3mmrni…?
Have you ever…? — singular	weš 3mmrk…?
Has he ever…?	weš 3mmru…?
Has she ever…?	weš 3mmrha…?
Have we ever…?	weš 3mmrna…?
Have you ever…? — plural	weš 3mmrkum…?
Have they ever…?	weš 3mmrhum…?

The verb after 3mmr is often in the past tense.

Examples

weš 3mmrk mšiti l Fransa? — Have you ever gone to France?

weš 3mmrhum klau l-ksksu? — Have they ever eaten couscous?

weš 3mmrkum šrbtu atay b n-n3na3 f mirikan? — Have you ever drunk mint tea in America?

Saying “I have never…”

To say never, add ma- before 3mmr.

English	Darija
I have never…	ma-3mmri… / ma-3mmrni…
You have never… — singular	ma-3mmrk…
He has never…	ma-3mmru…
She has never…	ma-3mmrha…
We have never…	ma-3mmrna…
You have never… — plural	ma-3mmrkum…
They have never…	ma-3mmrhum…

Examples

ma-3mmrni klit l-hamborgr. — I have never eaten a hamburger.

ma-3mmrha safrat l l-xarij. — She has never travelled abroad.

ma-3mmru tkllm l-3rbiya. — He has never spoken Arabic.