3zel عزل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“3zel” (عزل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning choose, select.
Meanings
- choose, select
- sort out, set aside
- isolate, separate
Usage
In darija, 3zel first means "to choose": you take what you want from among several things. It is said, for example, at the market or in a shop (3zel li bghiti, "choose what you want"). It also means "to sort": 3zel l3des, "sort the lentils", that is, remove the impurities. The sense of "to isolate", close to Standard Arabic, also exists. The present is formed like this: kan3zel, "I choose". The verbal noun is l3zil.
Example
عزل شي حاجة مزيانة
3zel chi haja mzyana
“Choose something good.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kan3zel | 3zelt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kat3zel | 3zelti | 3zel |
| nti (you, f.) | kat3zli | 3zelti | 3zli |
| howa (he) | kay3zel | 3zel | |
| hiya (she) | kat3zel | 3zlat | |
| 7na (we) | kan3zlo | 3zlna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kat3zlo | 3zlto | 3zlo |
| homa (they) | kay3zlo | 3zlo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3zel” but also “3zl”, “3azel” and “3zal”. 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.