khayef خايف
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“khayef” (خايف) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning afraid, scared.
Meanings
- afraid, scared
- worried about someone
Usage
Khayef is the common adjective for "being afraid". It agrees in gender and number: khayfa in the feminine, khayfin in the plural. It is often placed after "rani" or "raw": "rani khayef" means "I'm afraid". The object of the fear is introduced by "men": "khayef men el kalb", "he is afraid of the dog". With "3la", the meaning becomes "to worry about": "khayfa 3lik", "she is worried about you". No verb "to have" is used: the adjective is enough. The word belongs to the neutral register and is used in all contexts.
Example
كي نفهمها باللي راني خايف هههه
Ki nfhmha bLi Rani khayef hhhh
“When I make her understand that I'm scared, haha.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khayef” but also “5ayef”, “5ayfa”, “khayfa” and “5ayfe”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khayef” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “afraid, scared”; “worried (about someone)”: khayf in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “afraid, scared”; “worried, fearing that”: khayef in Algerian.