rb3a w 3chrin ربعة وعشرين
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“rb3a w 3chrin” (ربعة وعشرين) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning twenty-four.
Meanings
- twenty-four
Usage
rb3a w 3chrin means twenty-four. The unit comes before the tens, joined by w ("and"): literally "four and twenty". The counted noun stays singular: "rb3a w 3chrin sa3a" (twenty-four hours), a common expression meaning "all day long" or "in a single day". It is also used for age, prices and dates.
Example
خدام ربعة وعشرين ساعة
khddam rb3a w 3chrin sa3a
“He works twenty-four hours a day.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rb3a w 3chrin” but also “reb3a w 3chrin”, “rab3a w 3chrin”, “rb3a o 3chrin” and “rb3a w 3ichrin”. 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.