kchef كشف
Moroccan Darija · verb
“kchef” (كشف) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning reveal, disclose.
Meanings
- reveal, disclose
- uncover, expose
- examine (medical)
Usage
Kchef (imperfect ykchef) means to bring to light what was hidden: a secret, an affair, someone's intentions. The construction kchef 3la ("to reveal something") is common, for example kchef 3la sser. The passive tkchef is used for someone who is exposed or whose game is discovered. The noun lkechf also refers to a medical examination, as in dar lkechf. The register is fairly neutral, a little more formal than colloquial verbs like bayyen. For "to discover" in the sense of finding by chance, people say lqa instead.
Example
إمتا غادي ت كشف لينا علا ديك سيرّ
imta ghadi t kchef lina 3la dik sirr
“When are you going to reveal that secret to us?”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kankchef | kcheft | |
| nta (you, m.) | katkchef | kchefti | kchef |
| nti (you, f.) | katkchfi | kchefti | kchfi |
| howa (he) | kaykchef | kchef | |
| hiya (she) | katkchef | kchfat | |
| 7na (we) | kankchfo | kchfna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katkchfo | kchfto | kchfo |
| homa (they) | kaykchfo | kchfo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kchef” but also “kchf”, “kshef” and “kechf”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kchef” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to reveal, to expose”; “to discover, to detect”: kchef in Algerian.