kima كيما
Tunisian Derja · conjunction
“kima” (كيما) is a conjunction in Tunisian Derja meaning like, in the same way as.
Meanings
- like, in the same way as
- such as, for example
- when, as soon as
Usage
Kima is used to compare, like "like" in English. It comes before a noun (kima khouh, "like his brother"), a pronoun (kimak, kimou, "like you", "like him") or a clause (kima t7eb, "as you wish"). Kima hakka means "like this, in this way". It can also introduce an example, in the sense of "such as". In some uses it takes a temporal value, "as soon as": kima yji, "as soon as he arrives". With a pronoun, the form kif is also common: kifi, kifek. The word is used in all registers.
Example
و تفورم كيما تحبّ
w tfourem kima theb
“And you shape it however you like.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kima” but also “kime”, “kimma” and “kiima”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kima” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “like, similar to”; “the same way as”: kima in Algerian.