3cher snin عشر سنين
Moroccan Darija · expression
“3cher snin” (عشر سنين) is an expression in Moroccan Darija meaning ten years, a decade.
Meanings
- ten years, a decade
Usage
3cher snin means "ten years". It is the usual way to express a decade in darija, more common than the learned word 3aqd. The number takes the short form 3cher before the noun, and snin is the plural of 3am. It is used for a duration (hadi 3cher snin, ten years ago) or for age (3ndo 3cher snin, he is ten years old). With a number greater than ten, the singular is used again: 3chrin 3am.
Example
هادي عشر سنين ما شفتو
hadi 3cher snin ma cheftou
“It's been ten years since I last saw him.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3cher snin” but also “3chr snin”, “3achr snin” and “3echr snin”. 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 “3cher snin” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “ten years”; “a decade”: 3achr snin in Algerian.