ssab3 السابع
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“ssab3” (السابع) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning seventh.
Meanings
- seventh
Usage
Ssab3 is the ordinal for "seven". It is used for a rank, a floor, a school year or a day of the month. It generally comes after the noun, with the article: "t-tbe9a s-sab3a", that is, the seventh floor. The feminine is ssab3a. In daily life, though, many Moroccans prefer "raqm sb3a" or a cardinal number, for example "f sb3a d ch-chhar". Be careful not to confuse this word with sbe3 (lion) or with sbu3, the celebration on the seventh day after a birth.
Example
ساكن ف الطبقة السابعة
saken f tteb9a ssab3a
“I live on the seventh floor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ssab3” but also “ssabe3”, “sab3”, “sabe3” and “ssab3a”. 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.