chare3 شارع
Algerian Darja · noun
“chare3” (شارع) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning street, avenue.
Meanings
- street, avenue
- the street (social milieu)
Usage
Chare3 means a street, especially a main street or an avenue with a name ("chare3 Didouche"). For a small street or an alley, people usually say zenqa or triq. The word also has the figurative sense of "the street" as a social milieu: "wled chare3" (street kids, hooligans). Note that "bnat chare3" is a derogatory expression aimed at girls considered to have a bad reputation. The plural is chawari3.
Example
ساكن في الشارع الكبير قدام البوسطة
saken fi chare3 lekbir qeddam la poste
“I live on the main avenue, across from the post office.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chare3” but also “chari3”, “char3” and “shari3”. 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 “chare3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “street, avenue”; “the street, outside”: chari3 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “street, avenue”; “the street, public space”: chera3 in Tunisian.