mat مات
Moroccan Darija · verb
“mat” (مات) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to die, pass away.
Meanings
- to die, pass away
- to die of (laughter, hunger…)
- to die out, break down
Usage
Mat is the base form, in the perfective: "he died". The imperfective is ymout, and the progressive is kaymout. With li and a pronoun, it marks the person affected: mat lih bah, "his father died". Figuratively, one says mat b d-d7k, "dying of laughter", or kanmout 3la, "I'm crazy about…". It is also used for a device or battery that no longer works. For a death, the polite register prefers t-twffa or allah y-r7mo.
Example
مات على غفلة
mat 3la ghefla
“He died suddenly.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanmout | met | |
| nta (you, m.) | katmout | metti | mout |
| nti (you, f.) | katmouti | metti | mouti |
| howa (he) | kaymout | mat | |
| hiya (she) | katmout | matet | |
| 7na (we) | kanmouto | mtna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katmouto | mtto | mouto |
| homa (they) | kaymouto | mato |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mat” but also “maat”, “mate” and “maatt”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mat” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to die, pass away”; “(hyperbole) to be dying (of laughter, hunger)”: mat in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to die, pass away”; “to die out, fade (figurative)”: mat in Tunisian.