kayen كاين
Algerian Darja · verb
“kayen” (كاين) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning there is, there exists.
Meanings
- there is, there exists
- available, present
Usage
Kayen, feminine kayna and plural kaynin, is equivalent to "there is". It is actually a participle that does not change with tense: kayen wahed ("there is someone"), kayen li ("there are those who"). Its negation is not "ma kayench" but makach ("there is not"), a frequent pitfall for learners. It is also used to ask whether something is available: kayen lkhobz? ("is there any bread?"). Kayen wela makach? asks whether something exists or not. The word belongs to the everyday register.
Example
كاين الخبز ولا ماكاش؟
kayen lkhobz wela makach?
“Is there any bread or not?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kayen” but also “kayn”, “kain”, “kayna” and “kaynin”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kayen” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “there is, to exist”; “to be there, be present”: kayn in Moroccan.