Hello all, I have started an Arabic journal of mine in Moroccan and I was just wondering if you could help me with my mistakes. I just found this website so I already have quite a number of entries in my Moroccan journal. What I do is simply write a sentence or two everyday to keep Moroccan on my mind. That’s all. It’s just a hobby of mine. I just need help with grammar and any advice that anyone wants to offer to help me learn Moroccan. I guess I’ll just post all of my journal entries so far. Hope it isn’t too bad. 
Now, I want to start writing my Arabic journal. I saw what Meera wrote about her learning Arabic in her journal. It makes me want to make my own journal. I will write in this journal everyday if I can. Let’s practice writing Arabic together.
Now, I’ll write the above in Moroccan:
??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???:
?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???. ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ???
1\30\2010
The sentences below are just some random sentences that I made for practice:
I just finished studying Arabic after studying it all day. I want to study something else (lit. ‘another thing’) but I know there are a lot of things that I have to do. I’m only writing this for practice. I have to practice speaking and writing Arabic or I might forget everything that I learned.
???
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???.
1/31/2010
Today I went to work, picked up my girlfriend from work, came home and ate a bit and now I’m sitting in front of my computer typing this.
??? ??? ???, ??? ??? ??? ?? ???, ??? ???, ??? ???, ? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??.
2/1/2010
Writing in my journal everyday is very hard. I can only write a little now because I’m tired. I will try to write more tomorrow if I can.
??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/2/2010
I have been listening to Anita Baker all day today and yesterday. What a voice she has! I love her music very much!
???
??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ? ???. ??? ?? ??? ???. ??? ??? ???.
2/3/2010
Today I have to work for about 6 hours. I don’t look forward to it but working is always a good thing to do.
???
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ???
2/4/2010
I had soccer and volleyball practice today so I didn’t have much time to write in my journal. Sorry.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???. ???.
2/5/2010
What did I do today? hmm… today was Friday. I went to look for new apartments for my baby and I. I looked at four different places. Two were good and the others were bad.
???
?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???. ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ???.
2/6/2010
There is never enough time in a day. My leg cramped up pretty bad today at soccer practice. Hopefully, it will be ready for practice tomorrow. At least I hope so.
??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??, ??? ??? ??? ??? ??. ???, ??? ???.
2/7/2010
Did anyone watch the great football match yesterday? I know I did. I’m very glad my team won. I just wish I was there to see it in person.
?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/8/2010
I’m going to have to make these sentences shorter. They are taking up too much time to write them everyday. Like right now for instance.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???. ??? ?? ???.
2/9/2010
I went to look for a potential apartment to move into but the ad posted on the website online was incorrect. It had the wrong price posted. That kind of thing makes me upset since wastes my valuable time!
??? ??? ?? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??.
2/10/2010
I took some pictures with my niece and now I’m going to work.
??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ? ?? ??? ???.
2/11/2010
I finished work already and haven’t slept yet but I’m writing this now early Thursday morning.
??? ??? ??? ? ??? ?? ? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???.
2/12/2010
I finally found an excellent place for my baby and me! I’m so excited I don’t know what to do!
??? ? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/13/2010
The apartment that I wrote about above is much better than I thought originally. Hopefully I’ll move in soon.
??? ? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ? ???. ???, ??? ??? ??? ???
I have more entries in my journal up until today’s date actually but I don’t feel like typing them in right now. I’ll add them later.
Welcome to the forum, kman1. This is an interesting idea, and you’re doing a great job. I assume that you speak MSA, right?
I won’t be able to correct everything at once. I’ll do a few now, and I will continue later, or someone else will do. I will also add transcriptions for others who can’t read Arabic letters to follow your journal.
[quote=kman1]Now, I’ll write the above in Moroccan:
??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???:[/quote]
Correction: [large]??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???:[/large]
Transcription: Al2an sawfa aktobo ma warada a3lah billoghati almaghribia.
Note: This is MSA, not Moroccan Arabic.
Remarks:
- Al2an takes hamzat madd, not hamzat qat3.
- You have a typo in sawfa, a missing waw.
- I added “ma warada” (the stated) to "a3lah (above) to have a more clear sentence in Arabic. Saying “aktobo a3lah” alone actually means “I’ll write above” or “I’ll write above this”.
- A funny typo at last, instead of almgharibia, and because of leaving out the b, you wrote instead “almoghriya”, “allogha almoghriya”, meaning the attractive, tempting, seductive, alluring, … language. Good one!
[quote=kman1]Now, I want to start writing my Arabic journal. I saw what Meera wrote about her learning Arabic in her journal. It makes me want to make my own journal. I will write in this journal everyday if I can. Let’s practice writing Arabic together.
?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???. ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ???[/quote]
Correction: [large]??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???[/large]
Transcription: Daba bghit nebda nekteb lmodkkirat diali bel3erbia. Sheft dakshi elli ketbat Meera 3la tta3allom dialha lel3erbia f lmodakkarat dialha, w bghit ndir b7alha w nekteb 7tta ana lmodakkarat diali. Ghadi nktb hna kolla nhar ila qdert. Ajiw netmerrno 3la lektaba bel3erbia m3a be3diyatna.
Exact translation: Now, I want to start writing my journal in Arabic. I saw what Meera wrote about her Arabic learning in her journal, and I wanted to do like her, and write my own journal too. I will write here every day if I can. Let’s practice writing in Arabic together.
Remarks:
- Daba takes an alif in Arabic writing, otherwise we would read it dobb, a bear.
- I want should be bghit in Moroccan Arabic, not kanbghi. It’s an accomplished verb.
- A journal, or diary, should be modakkarat, taken from the MSA word that has a dh instead of d. Jarida doesn’t mean but journal, a press journal.
- You made the same typo for ???. In my correction, I sticked to the word “Arabic” instead of “Moroccan Arabic”, because that’s how you used it in your English sentences. You can replace it with ??? ??? - ddarija lmghribia.
- Dakshi is literally “that thing”. Shno and ash are more appropriate for interrogative purposes. Dakshi elli…= that thing that…
- My “ktebat” has a madd, a long a, yours doesn’t.
- I didn’t understand why you had to insert ?? in your sentence before Meera, as if you were talking to her. ??? is also used to address someone, “you’re learning”. It wasn’t appropriate in the context.
- If you want to keep your ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? it should be ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? or ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???
I hope that the rest is clear. Else, you can just ask questions, and then we can move to the next entry, and so on.
Other native speakers in the forum are most welcome to step in and take on some corrections.
That’s quite a task unless you have software to do it for you. I would recommend all students here to learn to read the Arabic script immediately from the outset. It won’t take long and the sooner you learn it the better.
You can just proceed as you like. I will be reviewing the corrections as you post them. I’ll most likely post any questions that I have in regards to your corrections as I encounter them. I’m excited to be getting some corrections on my writing.
I’ll finish writing the rest of the journal entries that I have so far now. Please bear with me regarding my mistakes. Because I have written all of my journal entries already, you will likely encounter a lot of the same errors in my writing. However, as I read and understand your corrections, gradually my writing should improve as I implement the corrections you point out. Thanks!
2/14/2010
Today is Valentine’s Day and my baby is mad at me because I don’t celebrate that stupid holiday. I choose or create my own holidays to celebrate to benefit me.
??? ?? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/15/2010
My nieces eat so much sweet foods and candy. Their teeth are going to rot one day.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ???.
2/16/2010
I ran today for the first time since hurting my leg playing soccer last Sunday. It felt great to run again.
??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??.
2/16/2010 (pt. 2)
I didn’t notice any funds missing from my account so I need to call my insurance company to make sure my most recent transaction went through.
?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/17/2010
I didn’t get a chance to write what I wanted to write in my journal today.
?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ? ??? ???.
2/18/2010
My wife left to return to her home country for a vacation today. I feel so lonely without her.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??.
2/19/2010
I was 30 minutes late for work today because I overslept. Well, at least I went anyway.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?? ??? ???. ???, ???, ??? ?? ??? ??.
2/20/2010
I have the house all to my myself today. I’ll do the right thing and study all day like I’m supposed to instead of partying.
??? ??? ?? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ?? ??? ???.
2/21/2010
Today’s a special day for me but it’s a secret. I can’t say why. You’ll have to try and guess why.
??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ? ??? ???.
That’s everything in my journal up until today.
1a1a. this actually is -> ?? (what) + ??? (to be mentioned/referred) which means ‘what is mentioned above’ Is that all correct?
1a1b. your correction, is ??? conjugated in the passive or active voice?
2a1a. So, it is written with an alif but the alif is silent and not pronounced right? that’s strange, pronouncing a written long a (alif) as a short a (masra).
2b. but in your transcription, you wrote ‘lmodkkirat’. Why?
2c. I noticed that you put the possessive word ??? between the noun ??? and the adjective ??? ???. Is that simply the word order in Moroccan?
3a1a. so ??? ??? is basically a set expression that should be memorized and not broken down??
3a1b. so, I should simply use ??? ??? in other situations I encounter daily like you have used it above, correct?
4a1a. ok, I don’t understand this sentence. Can you break it down for me?
4a1b. I will write what I understand:
??? ??? = ‘and I want to do’ , ??? = ‘in his condition’ , ??? = ‘and I write’ , ??? = ‘until’ , ??? ??? ??? = ‘I my journal’ is that all correct?? it doesn’t make sense to me.
4a1c. I want to specifically say ‘it made me want to…’. (causatives & causative passive grammar structures, etc.) I emphasize this point because I need to understand Moroccan grammar well. I do not want to only relay my meaning.
5a1a. so, ??? conjugates like ??? ?? I ask this because in the present tense ??? means ‘to like’ but in the past tense it means ‘to want’. So, what about ??? ??
5a1b. If the above is true, then what does ??? mean in the present tense?
6a1a. I don’t understand this. Can you break it down for me? Please include the grammar pattern for “let’s…” for Moroccan.
6a1b. I think ??? is the present tense of the verb ‘to practice’ but I’m not sure what ‘to practice’ is in Moroccan since it’s not in my dictionary. I used the MSA word in my version. Anyway, I think it means ‘we practice’ but I’m not sure.
7a. Is this the masdar for ??? ? I thought that the concept of masdar (verbal noun) doesn’t exist in dialects. (Moroccan, Iraqi, etc.) I thought it was only in MSA. I say this because my Moroccan dictionary doesn’t have any masdars listed but maybe I need a better Moroccan dictionary. Can you clarify what’s going on please??
is this a set expression meaning ‘together’ that doesn’t change?
2/22/2010
Today I spent nearly 4 hours helping an online language friend of mine troubleshoot her computer.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???.
2/23/2010
Today I spoke with my girlfriend, who is still visiting her home country thousands of miles away from me, via webcam.
??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ? ??? ???.
2/24/2010
Some silly person was playing games with me on my cellphone but I took care of them.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/25/2010
I feel really tired and lonely because I sit in front of the computer too much.
??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ???.
2/26/2010
I got paid today and now I need to pay my bills.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
2/27/2010
I woke up this morning and found out that a tsunami is heading my way. Scary!
??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???. ??? ???.
2/26/2010
I got paid today and now I need to pay my bills.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
i changed ur 2nd sentence
2/27/2010
I woke up this morning and saw on the news that the tsunami is heading to the place where I live. i got real scared!
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ???
2/28/2010
Just like I thought, the tsunami that everyone was talking about turned out to be nothing.
?? ??? ???, ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??.
3/1/2010
I am so tired today. I think it is because I work around propane and it is making my head ache a lot now.
??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
3/2/2010
I cleaned up my apartment for about 4 hours today.
??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
3/3/2010
I am beginning to worry about my brother-in-law since I haven’t seen or heard anything from him in about four to five days.
??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ???.
3/4/2010
I need to figure out a way to not forget the grammar corrections that I have received while I continue to write my current journal entries.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
3/5/2010
My friend asked me to go swimming with sharks yesterday. I told him I don’t do things like that because things like that is crazy!
??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? !!!
Hmm, where did everyone go??
3/6/2010
My hands stink when I cleaned my apartment earlier today because of the gloves I used.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
3/7/2010
As long as I remember to think in each of the languages that I’m studying, I’ll be able to handle studying so many things at one time (at the same time) like I’m doing now.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???, ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ??? (? ??? ???) ??? ??? ???.
3/8/2010
I don’t know what I did to feel like this but I feel like I’m might throw up any minute now.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? ?? ???.
3/9/2010
According to my wife, since something happened to me and I’m sick again she said that I might not be able to use the computer for a while. What can I do? She’s the boss.
?? ??? ???, ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???, ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ?? ??? ??? ?? ???.
3/10/2010
Like I wrote yesterday, I was sick all day yesterday but I’m beginning to feel better now.
??? ??? ???, ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
Sorry, for the delay the last couple of days. I am recovering from being sick but I feel better now.
3/11/2010
I’m very happy that I have returned to good health today!
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???.
I finally got some time to look at some corrections that I received.
[color=#F4180A]???[/color]
- what verb is this? I have a Moroccan-Arabic-Moroccan dictionary but it is written in romanized English so I’m not sure how to use it when trying to find unknown Moroccan Arabic words…
*my guess with ??? is that you used the verb ??? and you turned it into the passive voice past tense which would mean ‘i was paid’… is that all correct?
**It looks like you did the same thing with ??? in the second sentence…
[color=#F60808]???[/color]
2a. this is from the verb ?? meaning ‘to need, to have to’, right?
2b. why did you put an alif in the verb? I thought ?? is not conjugated…
[color=#F1240D]???[/color]
3a. my guess is ??? is the plural of the word for ‘bill’. Correct?
3b. But what is the word for ‘bill’ in Darija?
[color=#F52F09]???[/color]
4. this word is:
??? = ? (on) + ? (the) + ??? (news) <- correct?
[color=#F71F07]???[/color]
5. this is a set expression meaning ‘that’, right?
[color=#EE2F10]mine -> ?? yours -> ???[/color]
6. so, I just conjugated the verb incorrectly in my version, right?
[color=#F62008]???[/color]
7. what does this mean and what is the dictionary form of the noun?
[color=#F31D0B]???[/color]
8. what does this mean and what is the dictionary form?
[color=#EE3011]???[/color]
9a. My guess is that ??? is the active participle of the verb ???.. correct?
9b. Since you used the active participle, is that the reason why you placed the independent pronoun ??? at the end of the sentence to indicate the subject of the active participle??
3/12/2010
Based on what happened at work today, unfortunately I better make myself stop trusting people so easily.
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???, ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???.
3/13/2010
Lying down while studying makes my elbow ache after a while.
??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???.
no more corrections?? 