machi ماشي
Algerian Darja · particle
“machi” (ماشي) is a particle in Algerian Darja meaning not (before noun, adjective).
Meanings
- not (before noun, adjective)
- isn't it?
Usage
Machi negates a noun, an adjective, a pronoun or a complement: machi ana ("it's not me"), machi mlih ("not good"), machi kima hadak ("not like that one"). With conjugated verbs, the ma…ch negation is used instead: ma klitch ("I didn't eat"). In a question, machi? means "isn't it?": machi hakda? ("isn't it like this?"). Note: unlike some similar uses elsewhere, machi does not mean "OK" in Algeria.
Example
هذا ماشي تاعي
hada machi ta3i
“This is not mine.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “machi” but also “mashi”, “mechi” and “machy”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “machi” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “not (before noun, adjective)”; “right? isn't it? (sentence-final)”: machi in Moroccan.