3am عام
Algerian Darja · noun
“3am” (عام) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning year.
Meanings
- year
- he swam (verb 3am)
Usage
3am means "year". It is a very common word. It appears in the greetings "koul 3am w enta b khir" (happy holidays, literally "may every year find you well") and "3am jdid" (new year). The plural is 3wam or snin. One says l'3am li fat (last year) and l'3am djay (next year). Age is usually expressed with snin: "3andou 3cherin 3am". Note that the same spelling also writes the verb 3am, "he swam", whose present is y3oum. The meaning "general" belongs to standard Arabic.
Example
كل عام وانتوما بخير
koul 3am w entouma b khir
“Happy holidays to you all (may every year find you well).”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3am” but also “aam”, “3ame” and “am”. 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 “3am” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “year”; “to swim (verb 3am, y3oum)”: 3am in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “year”; “general, public”: 3am in Tunisian.