tfadal تفضل
Algerian Darja · interjection
“tfadal” (تفضل) is an interjection in Algerian Darja meaning please, come in, help yourself.
Meanings
- please, come in, help yourself
- to prefer (conjugated form of feddel)
Usage
Tfeddel is the polite formula used to invite someone to come in, sit down, help themselves or go first. The feminine is tfeddli, the plural tfeddlou. You hear it at the door, at the table or at a counter, often accompanied by a hand gesture. The register is polite and everyday, never slangy. The same verb, feddel, also means "to prefer": "wach tfeddel?" means "what do you prefer?". Context tells the two meanings apart. In English it can be rendered as "please", "go ahead" or "come in".
Example
تفضل اقعد، راك في دارك.
tfeddel ag3ed, rak f darek.
“Please, sit down, make yourself at home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tfadal” but also “tfeddel”, “tfaddal”, “tfadel” and “tfedel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tfadal” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “please, come in”; “help yourself, here you are”: tfeddel in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “here you are (handing something)”; “come in, help yourself”: tfadhel in Tunisian.