daa3ef ضاعف
Moroccan Darija · verb
“daa3ef” (ضاعف) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to double, multiply an amount.
Meanings
- to double, multiply an amount
- to redouble (effort, caution)
Usage
Ḍa3ef means to increase an amount by doubling or multiplying it: a price, a salary, an effort. It is used mostly in a formal or semi-formal register, on radio, on television, or in discussions about money and work. For example, ḍa3ef l-jehd, "to redouble one's efforts". In casual conversation, many Moroccans say dobbel instead, borrowed from French, or zad, "to add, to increase". It is conjugated like an ordinary verb: ḍa3eft, kayḍa3ef, ḍa3fu. It does not refer to the arithmetic operation learned at school, which is usually expressed with ḍreb, "to multiply".
Example
مول الدار ضاعف علينا الكرا.
mol ddar Daa3ef 3lina lkra.
“The landlord doubled our rent.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanDaa3ef | Daa3eft | |
| nta (you, m.) | katDaa3ef | Daa3efti | Daa3ef |
| nti (you, f.) | katDaa3fi | Daa3efti | Daa3fi |
| howa (he) | kayDaa3ef | Daa3ef | |
| hiya (she) | katDaa3ef | Daa3efat | |
| 7na (we) | kanDaa3fo | Daa3efna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katDaa3fo | Daa3efto | Daa3fo |
| homa (they) | kayDaa3fo | Daa3efo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “daa3ef” but also “da3ef”, “daaef” and “dha3ef”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.