ntouma نتوما

Algerian Darja · pronoun

“ntouma” (نتوما) is a pronoun in Algerian Darja meaning you (plural).

Meanings

1. you (plural)

Usage

Ntouma is the second-person plural personal pronoun. It is used for men and women alike, and whatever their number, because Darja has no dual and no separate feminine plural. It is not a polite form of address: to speak to a single person, even respectfully, use nta (masculine) or nti (feminine). It is mostly used for emphasis or contrast, since the verb already indicates the person: "ntouma rouhou, hna nqaâdou", "you, go; we, we stay". The variants ntoumen or ntoum are also found depending on the region.

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ntouma” but also “ntoma”, “entouma”, “ntouman”, “antouma” and “ntomaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find نتوما and انتوما, all the same word.

Type “ntouma” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “you (plural)”: ntouma in Moroccan.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “you (plural)”: ntouma in Tunisian.

How to say “you (plural)” in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian