khdem خدم
Moroccan Darija · verb
“khdem” (خدم) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to work.
Meanings
- to work
- to employ, hire (khddem)
- to operate, switch on (khddem)
Usage
"khdem" (imperfect "kaykhdem") means to work, to have a job: "fin kaykhdem?" (where does he work?). It is built with "m3a" (to work with, or for, someone) or "f" (in a place). The form with the doubled consonant "khddem" has a causative sense: to employ someone, or to make a device run ("khddem lmotor", start the engine). The two forms are often written the same way, hence the confusion. Words of the same family: "khdma" (work, job) and "khddam" (worker, employee). Saying that a thing "kaykhdem" also means that it works, that it is functioning.
Example
خويا كيخدم ف الدار البيضا
khouya kaykhdem f dar lbida
“My brother works in Casablanca.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kankhdm | khdmt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katkhdm | khdmti | khdm |
| nti (you, f.) | katkhdmi | khdmti | khdmi |
| howa (he) | kaykhdm | khdm | |
| hiya (she) | katkhdm | khdmat | |
| 7na (we) | kankhdmo | khdmna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katkhdmo | khdmto | khdmo |
| homa (they) | kaykhdmo | khdmo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khdem” but also “khdm”, “5dem”, “khdam”, “khedem” and “5dam”. 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.
Type “khdem” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to work”; “to function, run (device)”: khdem in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to work”; “to function, to run (device)”: 5dem in Tunisian.