hata haja حتى حاجة
Algerian Darja · expression
“hata haja” (حتى حاجة) is an expression in Algerian Darja meaning nothing (with a negation).
Meanings
- nothing (with a negation)
- not a single thing
Usage
Hatta haja literally means "not even one thing". If there is a verb in the sentence, the expression goes with a negation: "ma chrit hatta haja", I didn't buy anything; "ma kayen hatta haja", there is nothing. Used alone, as an answer, it means "nothing": "wach bik? — hatta haja", what's wrong with you? — nothing. The expression is very common, neutral, and more emphatic than "walou". It never means "anything at all". The pitfall for an English speaker is forgetting the "ma … ch" around the verb.
Example
ما فهمت حتى حاجة.
ma fhamt hatta haja.
“I didn't understand anything.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hata haja” but also “hatta haja”, “7ata 7aja”, “hta haja” and “7atta 7aja”. 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 “hata haja” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “nothing (with negation)”; “anything at all”: 7ta 7aja in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “nothing (with negation)”; “not a single thing”: 7atta 7aja in Tunisian.