ki كي
Tunisian Derja · conjunction
“ki” (كي) is a conjunction in Tunisian Derja meaning when, whenever.
Meanings
- when, whenever
- like, as
Usage
"Ki" is very frequent. Before a verb, it means "when": "ki nousel nkalmek" ("when I arrive, I'll call you"). The tense of the verb shows whether it refers to a past or a future event. Before a noun or a pronoun, it is used to compare and means "like": "ki bouh" ("like his father"). In this sense, it alternates with "kif". Context always distinguishes the two uses, since one introduces a verbal clause and the other a noun. The word belongs to the ordinary colloquial register.
Example
كي نوصل نكلمك
ki nousel nkalmek
“When I arrive, I'll call you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ki” but also “ky”, “kii” and “kee”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find كي and كى, all the same word.
Type “ki” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “when, at the time that”; “like, as”: ki in Algerian.