3ddel عدّل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“3ddel” (عدّل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to arrange, adjust, put right.
Meanings
- to arrange, adjust, put right
- to modify, correct
- to be fair toward (3del bin)
Usage
The doubled form 3ddel means "to arrange, to put right". It is used for an object, a setting, an outfit or a situation: 3ddel l7wayej, 3ddel l2awda3. It can also mean to "modify" a text or a decision. The simple form 3del, followed by bin, has a different meaning: to be fair between several people. For example, 3del bin wladek, "be fair to your children". Beware of the gemination: it distinguishes the two meanings, even though online writing rarely marks it.
Example
كون غير قدرت ن عدّل ل أوضاع
koun ghir 9dert n 3ddel l awda3
“If only I had been able to fix the situation.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kan3ddel | 3ddelt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kat3ddel | 3ddelti | 3ddel |
| nti (you, f.) | kat3ddli | 3ddelti | 3ddli |
| howa (he) | kay3ddel | 3ddel | |
| hiya (she) | kat3ddel | 3ddlat | |
| 7na (we) | kan3ddlo | 3ddlna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kat3ddlo | 3ddelto | 3ddlo |
| homa (they) | kay3ddlo | 3ddlo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3ddel” but also “3eddel”, “3del”, “3adel” and “3dl”. 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 “3ddel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to be fair, treat equally”; “to adjust, set, correct”: 3dal in Tunisian.