tab طاب

Tunisian Derja · verb

“tab” (طاب) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to be cooked, done.

Meanings

1. to be cooked, done
2. to ripen (fruit)

Usage

The verb tab is used mainly in cooking: you ask whether a dish is ready ("tab el makla?") or note that it has overcooked. It is also said of fruit that has reached ripeness. The subject is the food, never the person cooking: to "cook something", the transitive form tayyeb is used. Note that the "tab" of Egyptian or Levantine dialects, meaning "good, so", is not part of Tunisian usage. The word is common, neutral and informal.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tab” but also “teb”, “tèb” and “taab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “tab” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to be cooked, be ready (dish)”; “to ripen (fruit)”: tab in Moroccan.