fouqach فوقاش
Algerian Darja · adverb
“fouqach” (فوقاش) is an adverb in Algerian Darja meaning when? at what time?.
Meanings
- when? at what time?
- since when (with men)
Usage
Fouqach is an interrogative meaning "when?". It goes at the start of a question: "fouqach tji?", "when are you coming?". With the preposition men, "men fouqach" means "since when". This construction often expresses surprise or irony, in the sense of "since when is that done?". Depending on the region, you also hear waqtach or wektach, which mean the same thing. The word is only used for questions. For "when" in the sense of "whenever/once", ki is used: "ki nji", "when I come".
Example
فوقاش راك راجع للدار؟
fouqach rak raje3 l dar?
“When are you coming back home?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fouqach” but also “fougach”, “fo9ach”, “fokach”, “fwqach” and “fouqâch”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “fouqach” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “when? (question)”; “when (indirect question)”: fo9ach in Moroccan.