rob3 ربع
Algerian Darja · noun
“rob3” (ربع) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning quarter, fourth part.
Meanings
- quarter, fourth part
- quarter of an hour (in telling time)
Usage
The word rob3 means a quarter of a quantity: rob3 kilo, "a quarter kilo", rob3 sa3a, "a quarter of an hour". To tell the time, one says l'wa7da w rob3, "quarter past one", and l'wa7da ghir rob3, "quarter to one". It is also heard in amounts of money, for example rob3 mlayen. Note that mlayen are often counted in centimes rather than dinars. Do not confuse it with rab3a, "four", which sounds similar in speech and can be written the same way in Arabic.
Example
عطيني ربع كيلو طماطم.
3tini rob3 kilo tomatich.
“Give me a quarter kilo of tomatoes.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rob3” but also “rbe3”, “roba3”, “rbo3” and “rob3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “rob3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “quarter (fraction)”; “quarter of an hour, quarter past”: rbe3 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “quarter, fourth part”; “quarter of an hour”: rbo3 in Tunisian.