fw9tach فوقتاش
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“fw9tach” (فوقتاش) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning when? (interrogative).
Meanings
- when? (interrogative)
- at what time
Usage
Fw9tach means "when?", "at what time?". It is the full form of fo9ach, which is more common and more contracted, and the two are used in the same way: at the start of a question or in an indirect question. Example: fw9tach bdat lmatch? "when did the match start?". Fw9tach may seem slightly more emphatic or more careful, but the difference is small and varies by speaker. As with fo9ach, it is not used for the "when" subordinate clause; for that, one says mlli or f w9t ma.
Example
فوقتاش غادي ترجع للدار؟
fw9tach ghadi trje3 ldar?
“When are you going back home?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fw9tach” but also “fwa9tach”, “fou9tach” and “fw9tash”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.