qbel قبل
Algerian Darja · preposition
“qbel” (قبل) is a preposition in Algerian Darja meaning before (in time).
Meanings
- before (in time)
- to accept, agree
Usage
Qbel first means "before". It precedes a noun (qbel l'ftour, "before the meal") or introduces a clause with qbel ma followed by a conjugated verb (qbel ma nemchi, "before I leave"). On its own, it means "previously, formerly" (qbel kanet mlih, "before, it was good"). The same word is also a verb, qbel / yeqbel, "to accept": ma qbelch, "he did not accept". Context tells the two apart. Depending on the region, the q is pronounced q or g, hence the spellings qbel and gbel.
Example
كول قبل ما تروح
koul qbel ma trouh
“Eat before you go.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “qbel” but also “gbel”, “9bel”, “kbel” and “qbal”. 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 “qbel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “before (time)”; “previously, before that”: 9bel in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “before”; “previously, before (adverb)”: 9bal in Tunisian.