3amali عملي
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“3amali” (عملي) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning practical, handy.
Meanings
- practical, handy
- pragmatic (of a person)
- efficient
Usage
3amali describes an object, solution or organization that is handy and easy to use. Applied to a person, it means they are pragmatic and get straight to the point. The feminine is 3amaliya. This feminine has the same form as the noun meaning "operation", and only context tells them apart. The word comes from Standard Arabic but is well integrated into everyday conversation. It is often used with machi for negation: machi 3amali, "not practical".
Example
هاد الصاك عملي بزاف للسفر
had sak 3amali bzzaf l safar
“This bag is very practical for travelling.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3amali” but also “3amaly”, “amali” and “3amalii”. 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 “3amali” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “practical, handy”; “pragmatic (person)”: 3amali in Tunisian.