khmes خمس
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“khmes” (خمس) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning five (before a noun).
Meanings
- five (before a noun)
- one fifth
Usage
Khmes is the form of "five" used directly before a plural noun. You say khmes snin, "five years", or khmes eyyem, "five days". Used on its own, for counting or answering, the number is khamsa. For an English speaker, the alternation khamsa / khmes is the main pitfall. It occurs with all numbers from three to ten. Read khoms, the same word means "one fifth", as in khoms el-flous, "one fifth of the money". To say "five o'clock", you use khamsa: el-khamsa.
Example
قعدت في تونس خمس سنين
9a3dt fi Tounes khmes snin
“I stayed five years in Tunis.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khmes” but also “5mes”, “khmess”, “5mess” and “khmis”. 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 “khmes” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “five (before a noun)”; “fifth, one fifth”: khams in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “five”: khams in Algerian.