zar زار
Moroccan Darija · verb
“zar” (زار) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to visit someone.
Meanings
- to visit someone
- to visit a place, shrine
Usage
Zar takes a direct object, without a preposition: zar jeddo, "he visited his grandfather". The present is kayzour and the imperative zour. The word applies to family visits, visits to the sick and visits to holy places, hence the noun zyara. A very well-known proverb, lah yr7em man zar w khaffef, means "God bless whoever visits and keeps it short": it is quoted to politely remind people not to impose on someone for too long.
Example
مشا زار جدّو و جدّاتو
mcha zar jddou o jddatou
“He went to visit his grandfather and grandmother.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanzour | zrt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katzour | zrti | zour |
| nti (you, f.) | katzouri | zrti | zouri |
| howa (he) | kayzour | zar | |
| hiya (she) | katzour | zart | |
| 7na (we) | kanzouro | zrna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katzouro | zrto | zouro |
| homa (they) | kayzouro | zaro |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zar” but also “zaar” and “zour”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to visit someone”; “to visit a saint's shrine”: zar in Tunisian.