sab3 سابع
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“sab3” (سابع) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning seventh (ordinal).
Meanings
- seventh (ordinal)
Usage
Sab3 is the ordinal of seb3a (seven). It generally comes after the noun, often with the article: ssou2al ssab3 (the seventh question), ttabe9 ssab3 (the seventh floor). The feminine is sab3a: lmerra ssab3a (the seventh time). In online writing, the article is often omitted or attached to the word. In everyday speech, for higher ranks, the cardinal is sometimes used instead ("nemra seb3a"). Do not confuse with sbou3, the celebration on the seventh day after a birth.
Example
واش عارف الجواب ديال السؤال سابع؟
wach 3arf ljawab dyal sou2al sab3?
“Do you know the answer to the seventh question?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sab3” but also “saba3”, “sabe3” and “sabi3”. 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 “sab3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “seventh”: sabe3 in Tunisian.