mosta7il مستحيل
Algerian Darja · adjective
“mosta7il” (مستحيل) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning impossible, unfeasible.
Meanings
- impossible, unfeasible
- no way, out of the question
Usage
A word of Standard Arabic origin, but in completely common use in Algerian speech. It is used as an adjective ("hadi mosta7il", it's impossible) and above all as an adverb of categorical refusal before a verb: "mosta7il nroh" (I'll never go). Alone, as an answer, it is equivalent to "no way!" or "out of the question!". It is invariable in spoken usage and does not agree with the subject. It is also used to express disbelief: "mosta7il!" (that's not possible!). Neutral register, understood by everyone, in speech as well as in writing on social media.
Example
مستحيل نخرج في هاد البرد
mosta7il nokhroj f had lebred
“No way I'm going out in this cold.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mosta7il” but also “mousta7il”, “mostahil”, “moustahil” and “mosta7iil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “mosta7il” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “impossible”; “out of the question”: mosta7il in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “impossible”; “no way!, never!”: mosta7il in Tunisian.