stahel استاهل

Moroccan Darija · verb

“stahel” (استاهل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to deserve (reward or punishment).

Meanings

1. to deserve (reward or punishment)
2. to be worth it

Usage

Stahel is the common verb for "to deserve". It is conjugated like an ordinary verb: kaystahel (he deserves), stahlit (I deserved), ghadi tstahel (you will deserve). It is used for the positive (a reward, a success) as well as the negative: "stahel dakchi" means "he brought it on himself". With a thing as the subject, it means "to be worth it": "had chi kaystahel?", "is it worth it?". The participle mstahel ("deserving, worthy") is frequent. The register is neutral and it is used everywhere, in speech and in writing.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “stahel” but also “stahl”, “staahel”, “istahel”, “stahal” and “sta8el”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find استاهل and ستاهل, all the same word.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.

Type “stahel” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written ستاهل, where it means “to deserve”; “to be worthy of”: stahel in Tunisian.