rabe3 رابع
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“rabe3” (رابع) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning fourth (rank, order).
Meanings
- fourth (rank, order)
- the fourth one in a series
Usage
Rabe3 is the ordinal that corresponds to arb3a ("four"). It usually comes after the noun, like an adjective: el-bab er-rabe3 ("the fourth door"), and takes the feminine form rab3a: el-marra er-rab3a ("the fourth time"). It can also stand alone to mean the fourth one in a series: houwa er-rabe3 ("he's the fourth"). It is very common for floors, school years, ranks and sports standings. Be careful: in writing, the feminine rab3a looks the same as arb3a ("four"). Context and the article tell them apart.
Example
نسكن في الطابق الرابع.
nuskun fi et-tabe9 er-rabe3.
“I live on the fourth floor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rabe3” but also “rab3”, “rabi3” and “raba3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “rabe3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “fourth”: rabe3 in Algerian.