rob3 se3a ربع ساعة

Tunisian Derja · expression

“rob3 se3a” (ربع ساعة) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning quarter of an hour, fifteen minutes.

Meanings

1. quarter of an hour, fifteen minutes

Usage

Rob3 se3a literally means "quarter of an hour" and is used to talk about a duration of about fifteen minutes: nestanna rob3 se3a (I'm waiting a quarter of an hour). To tell the time, rob3 alone is used instead. So one says se3a w rob3 (a quarter past one) and se3a ghir rob3 (a quarter to one). The expression belongs to everyday speech. It is also used approximately, to mean "a little while". The pitfall is adding an article: one does not say "wa7ed rob3 se3a"; rob3 se3a is enough.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rob3 se3a” but also “rbo3 sa3a”, “rob3 sa3a”, “rob3 s3a” and “rbou3 se3a”. 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 “rob3 se3a” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “quarter of an hour, fifteen minutes”: rbe3 sa3a in Moroccan.