nqoulou نقولوا
Algerian Darja · verb
“nqoulou” (نقولوا) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning we say.
Meanings
- we say
- let's say, shall we say
Usage
Nqoulou is the first person plural of the verb gal / ygoul (to say) in the imperfect: "we say", "people say". The prefix n- marks "I" and the ending -ou the plural. The pitfall is to take it for a singular: the singular is nqoul. It is also used to open a line of reasoning, meaning "let's say" or "shall we say" (nqoulou belli…), and with 3la to talk about someone: nqoulou 3lih, "they say of him". The word belongs to the ordinary, casual register, in speech and in writing on social media.
Example
حنا هكا نقولوا في دزاير.
hna haka nqoulou f dzayer.
“We say it like that in Algiers.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “nqoulou” but also “n9oulou” and “ngoulou”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “nqoulou” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “we say, (that) we say”: ngoulou in Moroccan.