qra قرا
Algerian Darja · verb
“qra” (قرا) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to study, go to school.
Meanings
- to study, go to school
- to read
- to recite (the Quran)
Usage
Qra (often pronounced gra in the East and inland) means above all "to study" or "to be in school": yaqra f lycée ("he's in high school"), wach taqra? ("what are you studying?"). It also means "to read", and "to recite" in a religious context. The present is formed as follows: naqra, taqra, yaqra. Be careful with the sense "to teach": the form qarri or qarra is used then, not qra. In qra 3and flen, the preposition indicates the person who teaches.
Example
خويا يقرا فالجامعة تاع وهران
khouya yaqra f ljami3a ta3 wahran
“My brother studies at the University of Oran.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “qra” but also “gra”, “kra” and “9ra”. 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 “qra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “study, go to school”; “read”: 9ra in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to read”; “to study, attend school”: 9ra in Tunisian.