t3awen تعاون
Moroccan Darija · verb
“t3awen” (تعاون) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to cooperate, help each other.
Meanings
- to cooperate, help each other
- to help, lend a hand
- cooperation (noun ta3awon)
Usage
T3awen m3a means "to cooperate with, to help each other", and often simply "to help". It belongs to the everyday register. Reading pitfall: the same Arabic spelling can also be a conjugated form of 3awen, "to help", as in dawla t3awen, "may the State help". To help someone directly, without m3a, you say 3awen chi wa7d: 3awenni, "help me". The plural t3awno means "they helped each other". The noun form ta3awon, "cooperation", is more formal and appears in the media or in connection with projects.
Example
خسك تعاون معانا
khsek t3awen m3ana
“You have to cooperate with us.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kant3awn | t3awnt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katt3awn | t3awnti | t3awn |
| nti (you, f.) | katt3awni | t3awnti | t3awni |
| howa (he) | kayt3awn | t3awn | |
| hiya (she) | katt3awn | t3awnat | |
| 7na (we) | kant3awno | t3awnna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katt3awno | t3awnto | t3awno |
| homa (they) | kayt3awno | t3awno |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “t3awen” but also “t3awn”, “t3awan”, “t3aawan” and “ta3awon”. 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.