yessayi يسيي
Algerian Darja · verb
“yessayi” (يسيي) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to try, attempt.
Meanings
- to try, attempt
- to try on, test
Usage
Ysseyi (past seya) is an adapted loanword from French "essayer", conjugated as Arabic: seyit, nseyi, seyi (imperative). It is used followed by a verb in the imperfect, without a preposition: ysseyi yefhem (he tries to understand), or with a noun: seyi had la veste. It is extremely common in speech throughout the country, often more so than the Arabic 7awel or jerreb, which are still understood. The register is neutral and colloquial. Pitfall: there is no "to" between ysseyi and the verb that follows, unlike in English.
Example
سيي تلبسها قبل ما تشريها.
Seyi telbesha 9bel ma tachriha.
“Try it on before you buy it.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, it is written “yessayi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.