imta إمتا
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“imta” (إمتا) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning when? (question).
Meanings
- when? (question)
- since when, from when
- when (in questions)
Usage
Imta is the usual interrogative adverb for asking about a time: imta ghadi tji? (when are you coming?). It goes at the start of the sentence and needs no particle. It combines with prepositions: mn imta (since when), 3la imta (by when, around when), 7tta l imta (until when). Note for an English speaker: imta is used only to ask a question, direct or indirect. It is not a temporal conjunction. To say "when he arrived, ...", use mlli: mlli ja, ... (when he came, ...).
Example
إمتا وقع هادشي
imta w93 hadchi
“When did this happen?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “imta” but also “emta”, “imtaa”, “imata” and “2imta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find إمتا and امتى and ايمتى, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.