ra را
Algerian Darja · particle
“ra” (را) is a particle in Algerian Darja meaning presentative particle: here is, look.
Meanings
- presentative particle: here is, look
- marks a present state ("to be")
Usage
Ra is a very common particle that introduces a present observation or draws attention, roughly like "here is" or "the fact is". It most often takes a suffixed pronoun: rani (I am), rak / raki (you are), rah / rahou (he is), rahi / raha (she is), rana, rakoum, rahoum. Used alone, it announces a new fact. It often replaces a present-tense verb "to be", which Arabic does not otherwise mark. In the negative, one says marach, maranich, marahch. The pitfall: it is not a verb, and it is not conjugated in the past.
Example
را جا خوك
ra ja khouk
“Your brother has arrived.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ra” but also “raa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “presentative particle, "it's that"”; “emphasis, "mind you"”: ra in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to see, to notice”; “(trah) come on, please”: ra in Tunisian.