7lou حلو
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“7lou” (حلو) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning sweet, sugary.
Meanings
- sweet, sugary
- pleasant, sweet (words)
Usage
7lou first describes a sweet taste: atay 7lou, "sweet tea". Its forms are 7lwa (feminine) and 7lwin (plural). It can also describe, figuratively, pleasant words or a pleasant manner: klamo 7lou, "he has sweet words". It is the opposite of mer, "bitter", and of mal7, "salty". To say that a person or thing is beautiful, zwin is used instead. The comparative is 7la, "sweeter". The register is everyday.
Example
هاد الحليب حلو
8ad l7lib 7lo
“This milk is sweet.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7lou” but also “7lo”, “7low”, “hlou” and “7loua”. 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 “7lou” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “sweet to the taste”; “pleasant, kind”: 7lou in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “sweet, sugary”; “nice, pretty, cute”: 7lou in Tunisian.