wde3 وضع
Moroccan Darija · verb
“wde3” (وضع) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to file (complaint, case, request).
Meanings
- to file (complaint, case, request)
- to put, to place
Usage
WDe3 sounds more formal than the everyday verb "7eTT" (to put, to place). It is used mainly for administrative procedures: "wDe3 chikaya" (to file a complaint), "wDe3 lmelf" (to file a case), "wDe3 Talab" (to submit a request). For physically putting an object down, "7eTT" is almost always preferred. Using wDe3 in that sense sounds elevated, or slightly modelled on Standard Arabic. The noun "lwaD3" (the situation) is very frequent: "lwaD3 ma mzyanch" (the situation is not good).
Example
مشيت للكوميسارية ووضعت شكاية
mchit l lkomisariya w wDe3t chikaya
“I went to the police station and filed a complaint.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanwDe3 | wDe3t | |
| nta (you, m.) | katwDe3 | wDe3ti | wDe3 |
| nti (you, f.) | katwD3i | wDe3ti | wD3i |
| howa (he) | kaywDe3 | wDe3 | |
| hiya (she) | katwDe3 | wD3at | |
| 7na (we) | kanwD3o | wD3na | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katwD3o | wDe3to | wD3o |
| homa (they) | kaywD3o | wD3o |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wde3” but also “wada3”, “wd3” and “wade3”. 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.
Type “wde3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “situation, state of affairs”; “position, posture”: wadh3 in Tunisian.