khibra خبرة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khibra” (خبرة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning experience, know-how.
Meanings
- experience, know-how
Usage
Khibra denotes experience acquired in a field, or know-how. The word is used mainly in the world of work: 3ndo khibra f lmikanik (he has experience in mechanics), a job ad bla khibra (no experience required). It is of a slightly more formal register than the rest of everyday vocabulary, but everyone uses it. It should not be confused with ghebra, "dust", which arabizi sometimes transcribes in a similar way. It is not used for an experience in the sense of something one lived through, an event: for that, one says tajriba.
Example
ماعنديش خبرة ف الطياب بزّاف
ma3ndich khibra f TTyab bzzaf
“I don't have much experience in cooking.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khibra” but also “5ibra”, “khebra” and “khibraa”. 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 “khibra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “experience (professional), know-how”; “expert assessment (technical, judicial)”: khebra in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “experience, acquired know-how”; “life experience, maturity”: 5ebra in Tunisian.