tenfa3 تنفع
Algerian Darja · verb
“tenfa3” (تنفع) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to be useful, to serve.
Meanings
- to be useful, to serve
- to suit, to do the job
Usage
Tenfa3 is a conjugated form of the verb nfe3 ("to be useful, to benefit"): second person singular or third person feminine ("it is useful"). The most frequent construction is negative: "ma tenfa3ch", "it is useless" or "you are useless", depending on the subject. It is used for a piece of advice, an object or a person. To say that something does the job, one says "tenfa3" or "tenfa3ni" ("it will be useful to me"). The word is common and neutral. It also belongs to standard Arabic, hence its presence in religious quotations.
Example
هاد الدوا ما تنفعش، روح للطبيب.
had dwa ma tenfa3ch, rouh l tbib.
“This medicine is no use, go see the doctor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tenfa3” but also “tanfa3”, “tenfaa” and “tanfaa”. 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 “tenfa3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to be useful, to serve”; “to suit, to do”: tnfe3 in Moroccan.