lqa لقى
Algerian Darja · verb
“lqa” (لقى) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to find, come across.
Meanings
- to find, come across
- to meet someone by chance
- to find oneself facing a situation
Usage
Lqa is the usual verb for "to find" in Algeria, both in the concrete sense (a lost object) and the figurative one (finding someone on your path, discovering a situation). It is conjugated lqit (I found), lqa (he found), lqat (she found). The imperfective is nelqa, yelqa. It is often used with a person as object: lqitou fi ttriq, "I ran into him in the street". With negation, ma lqitch means "I didn't find". The verb is also used for "to find" in the sense of "to notice": lqa ennas mrayḥin, "he found the people settled in". It is neutral and used in all registers.
Example
لقيت السوارت تاعي تحت الطابلة.
lqit swaret ta3i taht ttabla.
“I found my keys under the table.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lqa” but also “l9a”, “lka”, “lqit”, “l9it” and “lga”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find لقى and لقا, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “lqa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written لقا, where it means “to find”; “to meet, run into someone”: l9a in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to find”; “to meet, come across”: l9a in Tunisian.