kteb كتب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“kteb” (كتب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to write.
Meanings
- to write
- to write to someone
- to write down, prescribe
Usage
Kteb is the common verb for "to write". In the past, you say ktebt (I wrote); in the present, kanekteb. In the imperative, the form is kteb for the masculine, ktbi for the feminine and ktbu for the plural. With l ("to"), it means to write to someone: kteb liya, "write to me". It is also used for a doctor who prescribes (kteb lih dwa) or for writing a name on a list. The participle mektub, "written", also refers to what is written by fate, in other words destiny.
Example
سير كتب سميتك
sir kteb smytek
“Go write your name.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanktb | ktbt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katktb | ktbti | ktb |
| nti (you, f.) | katktbi | ktbti | ktbi |
| howa (he) | kayktb | ktb | |
| hiya (she) | katktb | ktbat | |
| 7na (we) | kanktbo | ktbna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katktbo | ktbto | ktbo |
| homa (they) | kayktbo | ktbo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kteb” but also “ktb” and “ktab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kteb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to write”; “to register, write down (a name)”: kteb in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to write”; “to conclude the marriage contract”: kteb in Tunisian.