7ab حب
Algerian Darja · verb
“7ab” (حب) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to want.
Meanings
- to want
- to love, to like
- love (noun, hobb)
Usage
The verb 7abb, imperfect "y7ebb", means above all "to want" in Darja: "n7ebb nroh" (I want to leave), "wach t7ebb ?" (what do you want?). It also keeps the meaning "to love": "n7ebbek" (I love you), "n7ebb el kora" (I like football). Only context distinguishes the two meanings. When followed by a verb in the imperfect, it always expresses will. The noun "hobb" means "love" and belongs to a more literary or affectionate register. Forms with "rani" express a present desire. For an English speaker, the habit to adopt is to translate first as "to want".
Example
نحب نروح للدار
n7eb nrou7 l dar
“I want to go home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ab” but also “hab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7ab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “love”; “grains, seeds”: 7ob in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “love”; “seeds, grains (in compounds)”: 7ob in Tunisian.