khass خص
Algerian Darja · verb
“khass” (خص) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning must, have to, need.
Meanings
- must, have to, need
- to be lacking, to need
Usage
Khass is mostly used impersonally with a suffixed pronoun: khassni, khassek, khassou ("I need, you need, he needs"). Followed by a verb, it expresses obligation (khassek tqra, "you must study"). Followed by a noun, it expresses lack (khassni dra3em, "I'm short of money"). It is particularly frequent in the West, alongside lazem. The meaning "lettuce" given by some sources is not the common usage in Algeria, where people say salade or chlata instead.
Example
خصك تجي بكري غدوة
khassek tji bekri ghodwa
“You have to come early tomorrow.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khass” but also “khas”, “5as” and “5ass”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khass” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “must, have to”; “to lack, need”: khass in Moroccan.