m3a مع
Algerian Darja · preposition
“m3a” (مع) is a preposition in Algerian Darja meaning with, in company of.
Meanings
- with, in company of
- around, about (time)
- given, because of
Usage
M3a is the basic preposition for expressing accompaniment: rani m3ak, "I am with you". With suffix pronouns, it gives m3aya (with me), m3ak (with you), m3ah (with him), m3aha (with her), m3ana (with us), m3akom (with you, plural) and m3ahom (with them). Before a time or a part of the day, it means "around": m3a l'3asr, "around the afternoon". It can also introduce a circumstance that hinders or explains, like English "with": m3a lekhedma, "with work". It is used in all registers.
Example
رايح للسوق مع خويا.
rayah lsouq m3a khouya.
“I'm going to the market with my brother.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m3a” but also “ma3a”, “mea”, “m3e”, “maa” and “m3aa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find مع and معا, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “m3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written معا, where it means “with, in the company of”; “around, at (a time)”: m3a in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “with, in company of”; “around (a time)”: m3a in Tunisian.