7lou حلو
Algerian Darja · adjective
“7lou” (حلو) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning sweet to the taste.
Meanings
- sweet to the taste
- pleasant, kind
Usage
Hlou first describes a sweet taste: el-qahwa hlouwa bezzaf (the coffee is too sweet). The feminine is hlouwa and the plural is hlouwin. It is also used for a pleasant person or thing: rajel hlou (a kind man), klamou hlou (he speaks gently). To say a person is good-looking, one rather uses chbab or zine. The related noun hlouwa means pastries and sweets. The opposite in the taste sense is marr (bitter) or msous (bland, not salty enough).
Example
الشاي هذا حلو بزاف، ما نقدرش نشربو
chay hada hlou bezzaf, ma nqderch nechrbou
“This tea is too sweet, I can't drink it.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7lou” but also “hlou”, “7lo”, “hlo” and “7elou”. 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 “7lou” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “sweet, sugary”; “pleasant, sweet (words)”: 7lou in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “sweet, sugary”; “nice, pretty, cute”: 7lou in Tunisian.