zowwel زوّل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“zowwel” (زوّل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning remove, take away.
Meanings
- remove, take away
- take off (clothing)
- get rid of, eliminate
Usage
Zowwel is a very common everyday verb meaning "remove" or "take away" an object, a stain or an obstacle: zowwel hadchi mn hna ("get that out of here"). It is also used for clothes: zowwel sbbat ("take off your shoes"). Figuratively, zowwel mn rassek means "forget it, get it out of your head". Its conjugation follows the pattern of verbs with a doubled consonant: zowwelt ("I removed"), kanzowwel ("I remove"). The imperative zowwel is frequent, often softened by 3afak ("please").
Example
زوّل هادشي را كيعيف
zowwel hadchi ra ki3iyef
“Take that away, it's disgusting.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanzowwel | zowwelt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katzowwel | zowwelti | zowwel |
| nti (you, f.) | katzowwli | zowwelti | zowwli |
| howa (he) | kayzowwel | zowwel | |
| hiya (she) | katzowwel | zowwlat | |
| 7na (we) | kanzowwlo | zowwlna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katzowwlo | zowwlto | zowwlo |
| homa (they) | kayzowwlo | zowwlo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zowwel” but also “zwwel”, “zawel”, “zuwwel” and “zowel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zowwel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to remove, take off”; “to eliminate, get rid of”: zawwel in Tunisian.