7jez حجز
Moroccan Darija · verb
“7jez” (حجز) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to book, reserve (seat, ticket, room).
Meanings
- to book, reserve (seat, ticket, room)
- to seize, confiscate
- to hold back, keep
Usage
7jez is used to reserve a seat, a room or a ticket, as in 7jezt blasa f lkar ("I booked a seat on the coach"). It also means to seize or confiscate, especially when the authorities are involved: l'bolis 7jzo lih tomobil ("the police seized his car"). The passive t7jez means "to be seized" or "to be held back". The noun l7ajz is used for both reservation and seizure. In colloquial speech, you also hear rizirva, borrowed from French, for "to reserve".
Example
حجزت بيت فالأوطيل
7jezt bit f lotil
“I booked a room at the hotel.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kan7jez | 7jezt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kat7jez | 7jezti | 7jez |
| nti (you, f.) | kat7jzi | 7jezti | 7jzi |
| howa (he) | kay7jez | 7jez | |
| hiya (she) | kat7jez | 7jzat | |
| 7na (we) | kan7jzo | 7jzna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kat7jzo | 7jezto | 7jzo |
| homa (they) | kay7jzo | 7jzo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7jez” but also “7jz”, “hjez”, “7jezt” and “7ajz”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7jez” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to book (seat, room, ticket)”; “to seize, confiscate”: 7jez in Tunisian.