zreb زرب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“zreb” (زرب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to hurry, rush.
Meanings
- to hurry, rush
- to rush someone (zreb 3la)
Usage
Zreb is the common verb for "to hurry". In the imperative, zreb! (fem. zerbi, pl. zerbu) is used to rush someone. With the preposition 3la, zreb 3lih means "be quick with him" or "hurry him up". The well-known proverb lli zreb t3ettel reminds us that those who rush too much end up late. The derived adverb bzzerba means "quickly, in a hurry". The verb is intransitive: it takes no direct object, and you must use 3la to refer to the person being rushed.
Example
إمتا غادي ت زرب شوييا
imta ghadi t zreb chwiya
“When are you going to hurry up a bit?”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanzreb | zrebt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katzreb | zrebti | zreb |
| nti (you, f.) | katzrbi | zrebti | zrbi |
| howa (he) | kayzreb | zreb | |
| hiya (she) | katzreb | zrbat | |
| 7na (we) | kanzrbo | zrbna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katzrbo | zrbto | zrbo |
| homa (they) | kayzrbo | zrbo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zreb” but also “zrb”, “zrab”, “zrreb”, “zerreb” and “zrrb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zreb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to hurry, rush”; “to do something quickly”: zreb in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to hurry up, to rush”; “to rush, to do quickly (a task)”: zarreb in Tunisian.