tes3in تسعين
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“tes3in” (تسعين) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning ninety.
Meanings
- ninety
Usage
Tes3in is the number ninety. It is invariable. Like the other tens, it combines with units placed before it and linked by w: tes3a w tes3in (ninety-nine), khamsa w tes3in (ninety-five). The counted noun stays singular: tes3in dinar, tes3in 3am. Tunisian forms this number on tes3a (nine), like Belgian or Swiss French "nonante". For prices, ages and years, numbers are also often heard in French.
Example
جدّي عمرو تسعين عام
jeddi 3omrou tes3in 3am
“My grandfather is ninety years old.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tes3in” but also “tis3in”, “tes3ine” and “tis3ine”. 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 “tes3in” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “ninety”; “last minute (of a match)”: tes3in in Moroccan.