ach أش
Moroccan Darija · pronoun
“ach” (أش) is a pronoun in Moroccan Darija meaning what (interrogative).
Meanings
- what (interrogative)
- which (before a noun)
Usage
Ach is the most common interrogative for "what". It goes at the start of the sentence: ach ka dir? ("what are you doing?"), ach ban lik? ("what do you think?"). It appears in many fixed expressions, such as ach mcha lik? ("what's got into you?") or ach khassek? ("what do you need?"). Chnou is also used, often alone or at the end of the sentence. Before a noun, ach means "which": ach men… ? ("which…?"). Be careful not to confuse it with 3lach ("why").
Example
آش كا دير
ash ka dir
“What are you doing?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ach” but also “ash”, “2ach”, “ache” and “ech”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “ach” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “what (interrogative)”; “what (in a subordinate clause)”: ach in Tunisian.