seb3a سبعة
Algerian Darja · numeral
“seb3a” (سبعة) is a numeral in Algerian Darja meaning seven.
Meanings
- seven
Usage
Seb3a is the number "seven" used on its own, for counting, for the time ("f seb3a", "at seven o'clock") or for a date ("seb3a mars"). Before a counted plural noun, the short form seb3 is used: "seb3 snin", "seven years". The number seven often recurs in tales, formulas and proverbs, such as the "seven brothers" of nursery rhymes. Be careful not to confuse it with sbe3, "lion". In arabizi, the digit 3 stands for the ‘ayn sound, hence the spelling seb3a.
Example
عندي سبعة خاوة
3andi seb3a khawa
“I have seven brothers and sisters.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “seb3a” but also “sab3a” and “sebaa”. 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 “seb3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “seven”: seb3a in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “seven”: sab3a in Tunisian.