kab كب
Algerian Darja · verb
“kab” (كب) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to pour (a liquid, pasta).
Meanings
- to pour (a liquid, pasta)
- to spill, empty out
- to throw oneself into
Usage
Kebb is the usual verb for "to pour" in cooking and daily life. It is used for water, oil or coffee, but also for food thrown into a pot: kebb lma, kebb lma9arouna. It can also mean "to spill" or "to empty" a container. In a familiar register, it is used figuratively for someone who throws themselves headlong into an action. The imperative is kebb (masculine) and kebbi (feminine), and the imperfect is ykebb. Note: for "serving a drink" with a polite nuance, other verbs are also heard, but kebb remains neutral and understood everywhere.
Example
كب الما فالكاس
kebb lma fel kas
“Pour the water into the glass.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kab” but also “kebb”, “keb” and “kabb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to pour (a liquid)”; “to spill, to tip out”: kebb in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to pour a liquid”; “to spill, knock over”: kebb in Tunisian.