bzaf بزّاف
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“bzaf” (بزّاف) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning very (before an adjective).
Meanings
- very (before an adjective)
- a lot, in large quantity
- too much, excessive
Usage
One of the most frequent words in darija. It comes after the adjective or verb: "zwin bzzaf" (very beautiful), "kla bzzaf" (he ate a lot). Before a noun, you say "bzzaf dyal": "bzzaf dyal nnas" (a lot of people). With "3la", it expresses excess: "bzzaf 3lik" (that's too much for you, you're exaggerating). Pitfall for an English speaker: it never goes before the adjective like "very". Context tells you whether to understand it as "very", "a lot" or "too much". Used in all registers, in speech as in informal writing.
Example
هو دكي بزّاف
howwa dki bezzaf
“He is very intelligent.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bzaf” but also “bzzaf”, “bezzaf”, “bezaf” and “bzaaf”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bzaf” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “a lot, much”; “very”: bezzaf in Algerian.