stow3eb ستوعب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“stow3eb” (ستوعب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to grasp, fully understand.
Meanings
- to grasp, fully understand
- to hold, have capacity for
Usage
Stow3eb is a verb borrowed from Standard Arabic. It first means "to take in", that is, to fully understand an idea, a situation or news that is hard to accept: ma qdertch nstow3eb dakchi ("I can't take it in"). It is stronger than fhem, which simply means "to understand". More rarely, it is used for the capacity of a place, such as a hall or stadium that can hold a certain number of people. The register is rather educated, but the verb is common in speech. Latin spellings render the 3 inconsistently.
Example
كانتسنّا فيك ت ستوعب هادشي لي كانڭول ليك
kantsenna fik t stow3eb hadchi li kangoul lik
“I'm waiting for you to take in what I'm telling you.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanstow3eb | stow3ebt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katstow3eb | stow3ebti | stow3eb |
| nti (you, f.) | katstow3bi | stow3ebti | stow3bi |
| howa (he) | kaystow3eb | stow3eb | |
| hiya (she) | katstow3eb | stow3bat | |
| 7na (we) | kanstow3bo | stow3bna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katstow3bo | stow3bto | stow3bo |
| homa (they) | kaystow3bo | stow3bo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “stow3eb” but also “sto3eb”, “stou3eb”, “sto3b”, “stow3b” and “stou3b”. 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.