jra جرا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“jra” (جرا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to run.
Meanings
- to run
- to chase away, kick out
- to chase after
Usage
A very common verb meaning "to run". Imperfect: yjri; imperative: jri. The verbal noun jri means "running, the act of running": 3ya mn jri, "he's tired of running". Constructed with the preposition 3la, jra 3la means "to chase away, throw out" someone: jra 3lih bbah, "his father kicked him out". With mor, it means "to run after", both literally and figuratively (jra mor lflous, "to chase after money"). Pitfall: the same form appears in ach jra?, "what happened?". Context tells the two meanings apart.
Example
جرا ف الماراتون
jra f l maraTon
“He ran a marathon.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanjri | jrit | |
| nta (you, m.) | katjri | jriti | jri |
| nti (you, f.) | katjri | jriti | jri |
| howa (he) | kayjri | jra | |
| hiya (she) | katjri | jrat | |
| 7na (we) | kanjriw | jrina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katjriw | jrito | jriw |
| homa (they) | kayjriw | jraw |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jra” but also “jrra”, “jera”, “jerra”, “jarra” and “jraa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find جرا and جرى, all the same word.
Type “jra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written جرى, where it means “to run”; “to happen, take place”: jra in Tunisian.