toufa توفا
Tunisian Derja · verb
“toufa” (توفا) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to finish, to end.
Meanings
- to finish, to end
- to run out, be used up
Usage
In Derja, toufa is a conjugated form of the verb wfa, "to finish" (present youfa). It corresponds to "she finishes" or "you finish": waqtech toufa l-9raya? (when do classes finish?). The past is wfa, or wfet in the feminine: el flous wfet (the money has run out). The English gloss "die" is misleading. "To die", in the polite sense, is twaffa, with a doubled consonant, or more commonly mat. In everyday Tunisian usage, toufa almost always means "to end".
Example
وقتاش توفا القراية اليوم؟
wa9tech toufa l9raya lyoum?
“When do classes finish today?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “toufa” but also “tofa”, “tufa”, “toufe” and “twfa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “toufa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to pass away, die (respectful)”: tweffa in Moroccan.