t9ouchi تقوشي
Algerian Darja · conjunction
“t9ouchi” (تقوشي) is a conjunction in Algerian Darja meaning it looks like, as if.
Meanings
- it looks like, as if
- similar to, like
Usage
T9ouchi introduces an impression or a comparison: "it looks like," "as if." It goes before a whole sentence, for example t9ouchi rani nchouf film, "it looks like I'm watching a film." It can also express irony toward a statement one finds absurd. In that case it is equivalent to "as if you were…" The register is informal and spoken, and the word is frequent in online comments. A pitfall for the learner: t9ouchi does not ask a question; it does not introduce one.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “t9ouchi” but also “t9oushi”, “tgouchi”, “t9ochi”, “tqouchi” and “t9ooshi”. 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.