kayn كاين
Moroccan Darija · verb
“kayn” (كاين) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning there is, to exist.
Meanings
- there is, to exist
- to be there, be present
Usage
Kayn is a participle that works like the French "il y a" ("there is"). It agrees: kayna in the feminine, kaynin in the plural. The negation is ma…ch: makaynch "there isn't". It is heard in many fixed phrases: ma kayn mouchkil "no problem", kayn chi jdid ? "what's new?". Applied to a person, it means "to be there": kayn f ddar "he is at home". In the past, kan is used (kan chi wa7ed "there was someone"). Do not confuse it with an ordinary conjugated verb.
Example
كاين شي خدمة
kayn xi khdma
“Is there any work?”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Perfective (past) | |
|---|---|
| ana (I) | kayn |
| nta (you, m.) | kayn |
| nti (you, f.) | kayna |
| howa (he) | kayn |
| hiya (she) | kayna |
| 7na (we) | kaynin |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kaynin |
| homa (they) | kaynin |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kayn” but also “kayen”, “kayna”, “kain” and “kaine”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kayn” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “there is, there exists”; “available, present”: kayen in Algerian.