w9tach وقتاش
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“w9tach” (وقتاش) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning when? (interrogative).
Meanings
- when? (interrogative)
Usage
W9tach is the usual interrogative adverb for asking "when". It goes at the start of the sentence: "w9tach jiti ?" (when did you come?). It is also used in indirect questions: "ma 3reftch w9tach" (I don't know when). Watch out for a pitfall: it is not the conjunction "when" of a statement. To say "when he came, …", use "mnin" or "melli". You also hear "fo9ach" with the same meaning, depending on the region.
Example
وقتاش غادي تسالي للخدمة؟
w9tach ghadi tsali lkhedma?
“When are you finishing work?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “w9tach” but also “wa9tach”, “we9tach”, “waqtach” and “w9tash”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “w9tach” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “when? (interrogative)”; “at what time (indirect question)”: wa9tach in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “when? (interrogative)”; “when, at the time that”: wa9tech in Tunisian.