kima كيما
Algerian Darja · conjunction
“kima” (كيما) is a conjunction in Algerian Darja meaning like, similar to.
Meanings
- like, similar to
- the same way as
Usage
Kima is the most common comparison word in Darja. It goes before a noun or pronoun: kima hadak ("like that one"), kimak ("like you"), kimah ("like him"). It also introduces a clause: kima qolt ("as I said"), kima yqoulou ("as they say"). It often takes the shortened form ki, but ki also means "when", so you have to rely on context. Kima is neutral and used in all registers. In the negative, one says machi kima ("not like").
Example
هو كيما باباه، ما يحبش يهدر بزاف
howa kima babah, ma y7ebch yahdar bezzaf
“He's like his father, he doesn't like to talk much.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, it is written “kima”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kima” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “like, in the same way as”; “such as, for example”: kima in Tunisian.