mares مارس
Moroccan Darija · verb
“mares” (مارس) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to practise (a sport, activity).
Meanings
- to practise (a sport, activity)
- March (month)
Usage
As a verb, mares means to "practise" an activity regularly, especially a sport: "kaymares riyada" (he does sport). The register is somewhat formal, inherited from standard Arabic. In everyday conversation, people more often say "kaydir sport". The same spelling also writes the name of the month of March, pronounced mars as in French. This is the usual way of naming that month in Morocco, where the French month names are used. Context easily tells the two apart.
Example
كيمارس الرياضة كل نهار
kaymares riyada kol nhar
“He does sport every day.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanmaars | maarst | |
| nta (you, m.) | katmaars | maarsti | maars |
| nti (you, f.) | katmaarsi | maarsti | maarsi |
| howa (he) | kaymaars | maars | |
| hiya (she) | katmaars | maarsat | |
| 7na (we) | kanmaarso | maarsna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katmaarso | maarsto | maarso |
| homa (they) | kaymaarso | maarso |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mares” but also “mars”, “maares” and “maars”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mares” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “March (month of the year)”: mars in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “March (month)”: mars in Tunisian.