hakda هكدا
Algerian Darja · adverb
“hakda” (هكدا) is an adverb in Algerian Darja meaning like this, like that.
Meanings
- like this, like that
- in this way
- as is, nothing more
Usage
Hakda is the very common adverb for "like this" or "thus". It is used to show a way of doing something, to approve (kemmel hakda, "keep it up") or to note a state (rah hakda, "he's like that"). The word also serves as a resigned reply: hakda hiya, "that's how it is". Depending on the region, you also hear hakdak or kima hakda. The Arabic spelling varies a lot online: هكدا or هكذا. In arabizi, the d is sometimes written dh.
Example
ماشي هكدا يدار
machi hakda ydar
“That's not how it's done.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hakda” but also “hakdha”, “hekda” and “hakada”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find هكدا and هاكدا, all the same word.
Type “hakda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “like this, like that”; “in this way”: hakda in Moroccan.