dima ديما
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“dima” (ديما) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning always, all the time.
Meanings
- always, all the time
- forever (support slogan)
Usage
A common adverb for expressing habit or permanence: "dima kayji m3ettel" (he always arrives late). It is generally placed before the verb or the predicate. Before the name of a club, city or country, it forms support slogans: "dima Maghrib", "dima Wydad". The form "dayman" or "daiman" is closer to Standard Arabic and a little more formal. It has a temporal sense, not a concessive one: "still" in the sense of "yet" is rather expressed with "mazal". The word is used in all registers.
Example
هي ديما تما
hia dima tma
“She is always there.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dima” but also “dayma”, “daima”, “dayman” and “daiman”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “dima” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “always”; “often, constantly”: dima in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “always, all the time”; “constantly, nonstop”: dima in Tunisian.