o rb3 و ربع
Moroccan Darija · expression
“o rb3” (و ربع) is an expression in Moroccan Darija meaning quarter past (time).
Meanings
- quarter past (time)
Usage
Expression used for telling the time: it is placed after the number of hours, like "quarter past" in English. Examples: "l-wa7da o rb3," "a quarter past one," or "f tlata o rb3," "at a quarter past three." The word rb3 means "quarter." Its opposite is "lla rb3," "quarter to." Everyday Moroccan time-telling also counts in five-minute blocks, the qsam: "o qsem" for "five past," "o qsmayn" for "ten past," then "o rb3," "o tulut" for "twenty past" and "o noss" for "half past."
Example
جا فالتلاتة و ربع
ja f tlata o rb3
“He came at a quarter past three.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “o rb3” but also “orb3” and “orba3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “o rb3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “and a quarter (time)”: w rbo3 in Tunisian.