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LESSON 71Irregular Present-Tense Verbs — “a” Changes to “u”
First category
This category contains three-letter verbs with a long a in the middle. In the present tense, the middle a changes to a long u, and the normal present-tense prefixes and suffixes are then added.
Example verb: “to say” (gal)
| English | Darija |
|---|---|
| I say | kan-gul |
| You say — masculine | kat-gul |
| You say — feminine | kat-guli |
| He says | kay-gul |
| She says | kat-gul |
| We say | kan-gulu |
| You say — plural | kat-gulu |
| They say | kay-gulu |
Verbs that follow the same pattern
- kan — to be
- lam — to blame
- mat — to die
- ṣag — to drive / ride
- ṣam — to fast
- dab — to melt
- daz — to pass
- fat — to pass
- šaf — to see
- 3am — to swim
- daq — to taste
- laн — to throw
- ḍar — to turn
- zar — to visit
Examples
l-mslmin kay-ṣumu rmḍan kul 3am. — Muslims fast during Ramadan every year.
Lisa kat-3um mzyan. — Lisa swims well.
had š-šifur ma-kay-ṣug-š mzyan. — This driver does not drive well.
The present tense of “kan”
When kan is used in the present tense, it describes a habitual action or situation — it does not normally describe a current condition.
fin kat-kun nhar s-sbt f l-3šiya? — Where are you every Saturday afternoon?
For a current condition, Darija uses an independent pronoun with a noun or adjective, or the forms kayn, kayna, or kaynin.
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