tfa طفا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“tfa” (طفا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to go out (device, fire).
Meanings
- to go out (device, fire)
- to turn off (light, device)
- to float
Usage
Tfa first means "to go out", said of a fire, a lamp or a dead phone: tfa liya ttilifoun (my phone has switched off). It is also used transitively: tfi dow (turn off the light), with the imperative tfi and the present kaytfi. It should be distinguished from tfa in the sense of "cut off" for electricity, where people often say mcha dow or tqta3 dow. The meaning "to float on the surface" also exists, but it is rarer. In speech, the passive ttfa is common: ttfat lbougie (the candle went out).
Example
تيليفوني طفا تاهوا
tilifoni Tfa ta8owa
“My phone has switched off too.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanTfa | Tfit | |
| nta (you, m.) | katTfa | Tfiti | Tfi |
| nti (you, f.) | katTfay | Tfiti | Tfi |
| howa (he) | kayTfa | Tfaa | |
| hiya (she) | katTfa | Tfaaat | |
| 7na (we) | kanTfaw | Tfina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katTfaw | Tfito | Tfiw |
| homa (they) | kayTfaw | Tfaao |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tfa” but also “tfaa”, “tfi”, “tefa”, “tfat” and “tfe”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find طفا and طفى, all the same word.
Type “tfa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written طفى, where it means “to turn off, put out (light, fire, device)”; “to turn off the heat under cooking”: tfi in Tunisian.