3ref عرف
Algerian Darja · verb
“3ref” (عرف) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to know, be acquainted with.
Meanings
- to know, be acquainted with
- to recognize, identify
- to know how to
Usage
3ref is the usual verb for "to know" in both senses (knowing a fact and knowing a person or thing). Darja does not distinguish between the two: 3reftou means "I know him" and 3reft belli… means "I found out that…". It is conjugated 3reft, 3ref, ya3ref, ma na3refch ("I don't know"). Followed by a conjugated verb, it means "to know how to": ya3ref ytayeb ("he knows how to cook"). It can also mean "to realize": 3ref belli ghlet. The spelling 3orf corresponds rather to the noun "custom", from the same root. Context resolves the ambiguity.
Example
عرف بلي راهو غالط
3ref belli rahou ghalet
“He realized he was wrong.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3ref” but also “3raf”, “3erf”, “aaref” and “3orf”. 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 “3ref” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to introduce someone to someone”; “to define, make known”: 3erref in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to know (someone, a place)”; “to know (how to)”: 3ref in Tunisian.