khebba خبّا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“khebba” (خبّا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to hide, conceal an object.
Meanings
- to hide, conceal an object
- to keep something secret
- to keep, set aside
Usage
Khebba means to hide an object, a person or a piece of information. You hide something "from" someone with 3la: khebba 3liha lflous (he hid the money from her). The reflexive form, "to hide oneself", is tkhebba: tkhebba mor lbab (he hid behind the door). The present tense is kaykhebbi. It is a neutral, everyday word, used equally for a children's game or a family secret. The doubled b is often neglected when writing in arabizi.
Example
خبا عليه الحقيقة من شحال هادي
khba 3lih lhakika mn chhal hadi
“He has been hiding the truth from him for a long time.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kankhbbi | khbbit | |
| nta (you, m.) | katkhbbi | khbbiti | khbbi |
| nti (you, f.) | katkhbbi | khbbiti | khbbi |
| howa (he) | kaykhbbi | khbba | |
| hiya (she) | katkhbbi | khbbat | |
| 7na (we) | kankhbbiw | khbbina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katkhbbiw | khbbito | khbbiw |
| homa (they) | kaykhbbiw | khbbaw |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khebba” but also “khbba”, “khabba”, “5ebba”, “khba” and “khebbi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find خبّا and خبى, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khebba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to hide, to conceal”; “to put aside, to keep”: khabba in Tunisian.