khrreb خرّب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“khrreb” (خرّب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to damage, destroy, wreck.
Meanings
- to damage, destroy, wreck
- to sabotage, spoil (with 3la)
Usage
Khrreb means to damage or destroy a thing: an object, a building, a road. With the preposition 3la, it means to spoil something for someone, to harm them deliberately: khrreb 3lih khdmtou, "he made him lose his job". One also says khrreb lih dar, "he ruined his life". The participle mkhrreb describes something in poor condition or broken. The verb is in common use and neutral in register. It suits both material damage and a malicious act that makes a project fail.
Example
الشتا خرّبات الطريق
chta khrrbat triq
“The rain damaged the road.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kankhrreb | khrrebt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katkhrreb | khrrebti | khrreb |
| nti (you, f.) | katkhrrbi | khrrebti | khrrbi |
| howa (he) | kaykhrreb | khrreb | |
| hiya (she) | katkhrreb | khrrbat | |
| 7na (we) | kankhrrbo | khrrbna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katkhrrbo | khrrebto | khrrbo |
| homa (they) | kaykhrrbo | khrrbo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khrreb” but also “5erreb”, “kherreb”, “khreb” and “5rreb”. 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 “khrreb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to ruin, destroy, wreck”; “to spoil (a situation, a matter)”: khrab in Tunisian.