wsef وصف
Moroccan Darija · verb
“wsef” (وصف) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to describe.
Meanings
- to describe
- to give directions
- description
Usage
Wsef means "to describe" a person, an object or a place. In everyday life, it is used a lot to ask for or give directions. Wsef liya triq, "explain the way to me", is built with l, "to", to indicate whom you are describing it to. In the present, you say kanwsef; in the imperative, wsef. The noun lwasf (description) belongs more to a formal or school register. In speech, a verbal construction is preferred. Pitfall: the s is emphatic, and it should not be confused with wsel (to arrive), whose Latin spelling is close.
Example
وصف ليّا الطريق ديال الدار
wsef liya triq dyal dar
“Describe to me the way to the house.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanwSf | wSft | |
| nta (you, m.) | katwSf | wSfti | wSf |
| nti (you, f.) | katwSfi | wSfti | wSfi |
| howa (he) | kaywSf | wSf | |
| hiya (she) | katwSf | wSfat | |
| 7na (we) | kanwSfo | wSfna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katwSfo | wSfto | wSfo |
| homa (they) | kaywSfo | wSfo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wsef” but also “wsf”, “wsaf”, “wasf” and “ousf”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “wsef” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to describe, depict”; “to give directions (a way, a place)”: wsef in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to describe, depict”; “description (noun wasf)”: wsef in Tunisian.