3achr snin عشر سنين
Algerian Darja · expression
“3achr snin” (عشر سنين) is an expression in Algerian Darja meaning ten years.
Meanings
- ten years
- a decade
Usage
A common numeral phrase: 3achr, "ten", followed by snin, plural of 3am, "year", used after the numbers three to ten. Beyond ten, the singular 3am is used again. It is used for a duration (3achr snin w ana nekhdem, "I've been working for ten years") or for an age. To speak of a decade as a historical period, el-3achriya is used instead, notably in el-3achriya es-sawda, the "Black Decade". Do not confuse 3achr, "ten", with 3chira, "company, association".
Example
عشر سنين وأنا ساكن في وهران
3achr snin w ana sakan f wahran
“I've been living in Oran for ten years.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3achr snin” but also “achr snin”, “3ashr snin”, “3cher snin” and “ochr snin”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3achr snin” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “ten years, a decade”: 3cher snin in Moroccan.