tbenna تبنّا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“tbenna” (تبنّا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to adopt (a child).
Meanings
- to adopt (a child)
- to adopt, embrace (an idea)
Usage
Tbenna means to adopt. It is used mainly for a child one takes in and raises as one's own. More rarely, and in a more formal register, it applies to an idea, a project or a cause. The verb is directly transitive: "tbenna wlid". In the present, you say "kayetbenna". In the Moroccan context, taking in a child does not go through full adoption as understood in French law, but through kafala, a separate legal framework. The common word tbenna is still used in conversation.
Example
إمتا غادي ت تبنّا شي ولييد
imta ghadi t tbnna chi wliyed
“When are you going to adopt a little child?”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kantbnna | tbnnit | |
| nta (you, m.) | kattbnna | tbnniti | tbnna |
| nti (you, f.) | kattbnnay | tbnniti | tbnnay |
| howa (he) | kaytbnna | tbnna | |
| hiya (she) | kattbnna | tbnnat | |
| 7na (we) | kantbnnaw | tbnnina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kattbnnaw | tbnnito | tbnnaw |
| homa (they) | kaytbnnaw | tbnnaw |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tbenna” but also “tbanna”, “tbnna” and “tabanna”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.