chi haja شي حاجة
Moroccan Darija · pronoun
“chi haja” (شي حاجة) is a pronoun in Moroccan Darija meaning something.
Meanings
- something
- anything, any old thing
Usage
Chi haja is the usual way to say "something". Chi is an indefinite meaning "a, some" and haja means "thing". It is used in all registers, in affirmative and interrogative sentences: wach bghiti chi haja? ("do you want something?"). In the negative, walou or ma… hta haja ("nothing") is used rather than chi haja. It can be completed with an adjective: chi haja zwina ("something beautiful"). In online writing, chi is often attached to the following noun.
Example
بغيت نشري شي حاجة للدار
bghit nchri chi haja l dar
“I want to buy something for the house.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chi haja” but also “chi 7aja” and “shi haja”. 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.