tsenna تسنّا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“tsenna” (تسنّا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to wait.
Meanings
- to wait
- to wait for someone or something
Usage
Tsenna is the everyday verb for "to wait". It is a very frequent word in all regions and registers. It takes its object directly, without a preposition: tsenna l-kar, "to wait for the coach", tsennani, "wait for me". In the imperative, you say tsenna to one person and tsennaw to several; to a woman, tsennay. It is often heard on its own to interrupt someone: tsenna, tsenna !, "wait, wait!". The imperfect gives kantsenna, "I'm waiting". In the corpus, it also appears in the phrase tsenna w chouf, "wait and see".
Example
تسنّا و شوف
tsenna o chouf
“Wait and see.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kantsnna | tsnnit | |
| nta (you, m.) | kattsnna | tsnniti | tsnna |
| nti (you, f.) | kattsnnay | tsnniti | tsnnay |
| howa (he) | kaytsnna | tsnna | |
| hiya (she) | kattsnna | tsnnat | |
| 7na (we) | kantsnnaw | tsnnina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kattsnnaw | tsnnito | tsnnaw |
| homa (they) | kaytsnnaw | tsnnaw |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tsenna” but also “tsnna”, “tsna”, “tsana”, “tsena” and “ttsenna”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find تسنّا and اتسنى, all the same word.