rbe3 ربع
Moroccan Darija · noun
“rbe3” (ربع) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning quarter (fraction).
Meanings
- quarter (fraction)
- quarter of an hour, quarter past
Usage
Rbe3, also pronounced rob3, means a quarter. It is used a lot for telling time: l3echra w rbe3, "a quarter past ten", and lkhamsa ghir rbe3, "a quarter to five". Rbe3 sa3a means "a quarter of an hour". It is also used for quantities: rbe3 kilo, "a quarter of a kilo". The pitfall is confusing it with rab3, "fourth", from the same root as rb3a, "four". The plural rba3 means quarters or shares, and tlata rba3 means "three quarters".
Example
هادي الربعة و ربع
hadi rrb3a o rb3
“It's a quarter past four.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rbe3” but also “rob3”, “rb3”, “rba3” and “rbo3”. 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 “rbe3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “quarter, fourth part”; “quarter of an hour (in telling time)”: rob3 in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “quarter, fourth part”; “quarter of an hour”: rbo3 in Tunisian.