s3ib صعيب
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“s3ib” (صعيب) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning difficult, hard.
Meanings
- difficult, hard
- tough, harsh (situation, period)
- strict, demanding (person)
Usage
S3ib is the usual adjective for saying that something is difficult: an exam, a job, a language, a period of life. The feminine is s3iba and the plural is s3ab. It is very often used to talk about the present time or life in general, as in zman s3ib ("times are hard"). Applied to a person, it means that they are strict, demanding or hard to live with. For the opposite, one says sahel ("easy"). With the preposition 3la, it indicates for whom it is difficult: s3ib 3liya ("it's hard for me").
Example
كان نهار صعيب
kan n8ar S3ib
“It was a hard day.”
Forms
| feminine | S3iba |
|---|---|
| plural | S3ab |
| feminine plural | S3ibat |
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “s3ib” but also “sa3ib”, “s3eeb” and “s3ibe”. 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 “s3ib” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “difficult”; “hard, harsh (times, situation)”: s3ib in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “difficult, not easy”; “hard, painful to bear”: s3ib in Tunisian.