mnach مناش
Algerian Darja · pronoun
“mnach” (مناش) is a pronoun in Algerian Darja meaning we are not.
Meanings
- we are not
- we are not (somewhere)
Usage
Mnach is the negative form of the pronoun hna ("we"): the negation ma… ch wraps around the pronoun and replaces the verb "to be". Darja uses no verb at all here. It is often placed after hna for emphasis: hna mnach… It combines with a noun, an adjective or a place: mnach fel dar, "we are not at home". The series is regular: manich (I am not), mahouch (he is not), mahich (she is not). The word belongs to everyday colloquial speech. It should not be confused with a conjugated verb.
Example
حنا مناش فاضيين اليوم، نجيو غدوة.
hna mnach fadyin lyoum, njiw ghodwa.
“We're not free today, we'll come tomorrow.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mnach” but also “manach”, “mnache” and “mnech”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mnach” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “reason to, anything to”; “from what? (interrogative)”: mnach in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “we are not”; “of what, out of what (mnech)”: manech in Tunisian.