9addech قدش
Tunisian Derja · adverb
“9addech” (قدش) is an adverb in Tunisian Derja meaning how much, how many (quantity, price).
Meanings
- how much, how many (quantity, price)
- how (exclamative)
Usage
9addech is the common interrogative for a quantity or a price. One says 9addech essoum? ("how much is it?") or 9addech men wa7ed? ("how many are there?"). To ask the time, one says 9addech fel wa9t?. In exclamations, it marks intensity: 9addech mezyena! ("how beautiful she is!"). It comes at the start of the sentence and follows the noun directly, without a preposition. To ask about elapsed time, one says 9addech 3andek… ("how long have you…").
Example
قدّاش الحساب؟
9addech el 7seb?
“How much is the bill?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9addech” but also “9adech”, “qadech”, “gaddech” and “kadech”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.