hreb هرب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“hreb” (هرب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to flee, run away.
Meanings
- to flee, run away
- to escape
- to avoid, stay away from
Usage
Hreb (imperfect yhreb) means to flee from a danger, a person or a place. It takes men: "hreb men d-dar" (he ran away from home). The imperative "hreb f halek" means "save yourself, get away". Figuratively, the verb is used to advise avoiding something: "hreb men had l-mjal" (stay away from this field). In youth slang, it can also mean "to go all out, hustle to succeed". This sense is colloquial and depends on context. The derived noun is l-hroub (the flight, escape).
Example
هرب في هالك
hrab fhalak
“Save yourself!”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kan8rb | 8rbt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kat8rb | 8rbti | 8rb |
| nti (you, f.) | kat8rbi | 8rbti | 8rbi |
| howa (he) | kay8rb | 8rb | |
| hiya (she) | kat8rb | 8rbat | |
| 7na (we) | kan8rbo | 8rbna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kat8rbo | 8rbto | 8rbo |
| homa (they) | kay8rbo | 8rbo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hreb” but also “hrab”, “8reb”, “hrb”, “8rab” and “8rb”. 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 “hreb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to flee, run away”; “to escape”: hreb in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “flee, run away”; “escape (from prison)”: hrab in Tunisian.