nos sa3a نص ساعة

Algerian Darja · expression

“nos sa3a” (نص ساعة) is an expression in Algerian Darja meaning half an hour.

Meanings

1. half an hour

Usage

Nos sa3a means "half an hour". Nos (half) is the dialectal form of Standard Arabic nisf. It is used without an article for a duration: "stennani nos sa3a" (wait for me for half an hour). For clock time, one says rather "wa7da w nos" (half past one), with nos alone. One also hears "rob3 sa3a" (a quarter of an hour). In conversation, "nos sa3a" is often approximate and can mean "quite a while". It should not be confused with nos in the sense of "middle": "f nos ennhar" means "in broad daylight, at midday".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “nos sa3a” but also “nas sa3a”, “nss sa3a”, “nos saa” and “nouss sa3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

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 “nos sa3a” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “half an hour”: ness sa3a in Moroccan.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “half an hour”: nos se3a in Tunisian.

How to say “half an hour” in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian