bda بدا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“bda” (بدا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to begin, to start.
Meanings
- to begin, to start
- to start (doing)
- to launch, to initiate
Usage
Bda means "to begin". In the perfect you say bdit, bditi, bdat, bdina; in the imperfect, kanbda, kaybda, and for the future, ghadi nbda. The verb takes a direct object (bda lkhdma, "to begin the work") or is constructed with mn, "from". Followed by a conjugated verb, it means "to start (doing)": bda kaybki, "he started crying". The same form bda serves as the imperative: bda!, "start!". The corresponding noun is bidaya, "beginning".
Example
بدا من زيرو
bda mn ziro
“He started from zero.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanbda | bdit | |
| nta (you, m.) | katbda | bditi | bda |
| nti (you, f.) | katbday | bditi | bday |
| howa (he) | kaybda | bda | |
| hiya (she) | katbda | bdat | |
| 7na (we) | kanbdaw | bdina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katbdaw | bdito | bdaw |
| homa (they) | kaybdaw | bdaw |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bda” but also “bdit” and “ybda”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to begin, to start”; “to start up, to launch”: bda in Tunisian.