tsawar تصور
Algerian Darja · verb
“tsawar” (تصور) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning imagine, picture.
Meanings
- imagine, picture
- photograph, film (you photograph)
- have one's picture taken
Usage
The spelling tsawwar covers several forms. In the imperative, tsawwar! means "imagine!" and often introduces a surprising story: tsawwar wach sralli, "imagine what happened to me". The same written word can also be the second person of sawwar, "to photograph, to film": nta tsawwar, "you film". This is a very frequent meaning in the age of online videos. Finally, tsawwar can mean "to have one's picture taken": tsawwart m3ah, "I had my picture taken with him". Only context can decide. The main pitfall is mistaking "film" for "imagine".
Example
تصوّر واش صرالي البارح!
tsawwar wach sralli lbareh!
“Imagine what happened to me yesterday!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tsawar” but also “tsawwar”, “tsawer”, “tsawwer” and “tsawr”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tsawar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to imagine, picture”; “to have one's picture taken”: tsewwer in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to imagine, picture”; “to have one's picture taken”: tsawer in Tunisian.