hakda هكدا
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“hakda” (هكدا) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning like this, like that.
Meanings
- like this, like that
- in this way
Usage
Hakda means "like this" or "like that". It describes a manner, a state or a situation, often accompanied by a gesture: dir hakda (do it like this). It is very often used with bhal, in the form bhal hakda, and with dima: dima hakda (always like this). On its own, hakda can serve as an answer meaning "that's how it is" or express resignation. There is also the variant hakdak (like that, in that way).
Example
عادي هو ديما هكدا
3adi howa dima hakda
“It's normal, he's always like that.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hakda” but also “8akda” and “hekda”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “hakda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “like this, like that”; “in this way”: hakda in Algerian.