khass خاسّ
Moroccan Darija · verb
“khass” (خاسّ) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning must, have to.
Meanings
- must, have to
- to need
Usage
Khass is one of the most frequent words in darija for expressing obligation or need. It is invariable before a conjugated verb: khass nmchi (I must leave), khass tklli (you must eat). To indicate who needs something, a suffix pronoun is added: khassni (I need), khassek (you need), khasso (he needs), followed by a noun: khassni flous (I need money). The negation is ma khassch. The spelling with s (خاسّ) is a variant of خاصّ and is the same word.
Example
خاسّ ناكلو لخضرا كولا نهار
khass naklou lkhodra koula nhar
“We have to eat vegetables every day.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khass” but also “5ass”, “khas”, “5as” and “khess”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.