Moroccan Arabic Lesson: What Moroccan Men Like in Women (VIDEO)

In this news report by the Moroccan Internet TV channel Chouf TV, Moroccan men talk about what they look for in Moroccan women. This clip gives us an interesting look into Moroccan male's differing standards of beauty, as well as introducing us to various personal qualities and descriptions.

This video also features many useful phrases like and includes many examples of how to say "I like" in Moroccan Arabic.

The background music in this clip is Egyptian singer Tamer Hosni's hit song, A7san 7aga, or "The Best Thing about you".

إلا قلنا الجمال نسبي، غادي تقولو ليّ هادي باينة.

Voiceover: ila gulna jamal nisbi, ghadi tgolo liyya hadi baina.

If we said that beauty is relative, you'd tell me that that's obvious. 

 و إلا سوّلتكم أ شنو تيعجب الرجل في المرأة غادي نتفكّروا فيها شويا علالحقاش فيها بزاف ما يتقال. إيوة اجيوا يسمعيو من هاد البزاف

w ila suwwultkom a shnu tay3jb lrajl f lmra ghadi tfakkaro fiha shwiya 3lalhaqqash fiha bzf ma ytgal. iwa ajiow ysm3iaw mn had lbzf.

And if we asked you what do men like in women, you'd have to think about it a bit, because there is a lot to be said. Alright, come and listen to some of [these thoughts]. 

كيعجبو في المرأة المغربية المحتجبات.

Speaker 1: kay3jbo f lmra lmaghribiyya lmu7tajibat.

[The Moroccan man] likes Moroccan women who wear hijab. 

أول ما توقّف على المرأة كتشوفها في عينيها من لونة بعدا كيدايرين

awwal ma twaqqaf 3la lmra katshoufha fi 3inayha mn lowna ba3da kidayrin

The first thing that gets you about a woman is her eyes; you look at them and see what color they are.

لا، لا الإبتسامة، الإبتسامة هي كل شي.

Speaker 2: la, la l-ibtisama, ibtisama hiya kull shi

No, no, the smile, the smile is everything

واش العنين للي غادي يفتحو لك قلبك، لا مايمكنش، الإبتسامة للي كيفتح قلبي

wash l3ainain lli ghadi yfta7o lik qalbik, la mayemkinsh, l-ibtisama lli kayfta7 qalbi

Are the eyes what will open up your heart for you? No, that's impossible. The smile is what opens up my heart.

أول حاجة، واش لابسة مزيان، واش داخلة سوق رأسها

Speaker 3: awwal 7aja, wash labsa mzian, wash dakhla souq rasha

The first thing: is she well dressed? Also, does she mind her own business?

كيعجبني le taille ديالها.

Speaker 4: kay3jbni le taille dialha.

I like a woman's height. 

إلا كان زوينة كندوي معها، ماعجباتنيش و ماعجبتهاش، أنا ماكاندويش معها

ila kan zwina kandwi ma3ha, ma3jbatnish o ma3jbathash, ana makandwish ma3ha.

If she's beautiful, then I'll talk to her, [but if] I don't like her or she doesn't like me, then I don't talk with her.

ماكنهتمش بالمظهر ديال المرأة المغربية قد ما كنهتم بالعقلية ديالها. المظهر خداعها.

Speaker 5: makanhtmmsh b lmadhhar dial lmra lmaghribiyya qd ma kanhtmm b l3qliyya dialha. lmadhhar khda3ha.

I don't care about how Moroccan woman looks as much as I care about her personality. How she looks is a trick.

أول حاجة كنشوفها، taille، تيكون زوين. هادي أول حاجة. 

Speaker 6: awwal 7aja kanshoufha, taille, taykon zwin. hadi awwal 7aja.

The first thing I look for is [her] height, [if it's] alright. That's the first thing. 

إلا عجباتك راها كتشد دوي معها، ماعجباتكش كتقول سيري في حالك

ila 3jbatik raha katshdd dwi ma3ha, ma 3jbatiksh katgol siri f 7alik.

If you like her, then go and talk to her, and if you don't like her then tell her to leave. 

أول حاجة كتجدبني عينها، عينيها، عينيها

Speaker 7: awwal 7aja katjdbni 3ainha, 3ainaiha, 3ainaiha, 

The first thing that gets me [in a woman] are her eyes, her eyes, her eyes

و من بعد نقدر نتعرف عليها، نقدر نشوف العقلية ديالها من بعد. و لكن أول حاجة كتجدبني العينين ديالها.

w mn ba3d nqdr nta3raf 3laiha nqdr nshouf l3qliyya dialha mn ba3d. w lakin awwal 7aja katjdbni l3ainain dialha.

And later on I can get to know her, I can see what she's all about. But the first thing that gets me are her eyes.

العينين، الإبتسامة، و موصفات كتيرة، ما فيها بأس، من حقكم التعبر على رأيكم

l3ainin, libtissama, w muwasafat katira, ma fiha bas, mn 7aqqkom ta3abbar 3la ra'ikom

The eyes, the smile, and many other qualities. There's nothing wrong with him, it's your right to express your opinion. 

و لكن، وقيلا تبغوا تعرفوا أ سنو رأي النساء فيكم، إيوة هادا ما غادي تكتشفوا في الجزء التاني. تسنونا

w lakin, waqila tbghou ta3rifo a shnu ra'i al-nisa fikom, iwa hada ma ghadi tktashfo fi ljuz al-tani. tsennawna

But perhaps you'd like to know what women's opinion of you is. Alright, that's what we're going to find out in the second part. Wait for it!

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Vocabulary Review

baina - باينة - "is apparent" or "is obvious". In a previous video we saw the phrase bain 3liyya باين عليّ "it seems to me". Here bain(a) is used on its own as an adjective.

a shnu tay3jb lrajl - أ شنو تيعجب الرجل - "what is it that a man likes". In Moroccan Arabic, the verb 3jb is used as "to like". This is a reflexive verb, so its subject is the object that is liked, and the object is the person that likes said object. This phrase literally means, "what is it that pleases a man". Here shnu, "what", is the subject and al-rajl, "man", is the object. 

tafakkaro fiha - تفكّروا فيها - "you'll all think about it". In a previous video, we saw the verb fakkar used to mean "to remind" someone of something. Here we see it used normally to mean "to think about something".

3lal7aqqash - علالحقاش - "because". This is another way to say "because" in Moroccan Arabic. This is actually a contraction between the preposition 3la, and the words al-7aqq, "reason", and ash, "what" or "whatever". It literally translates to: "for this reason". 

bzf ma ytgal - بزاف ما يتقال - "there's a lot to be said" about something. In a previous video, we saw bzf used as an adverb to mean "very". Here it it means "a lot" and is both an adjective and a pronoun, as we see in the next sentence. ma ytgal means "something to be said". Notice the speaker pronounces this, the ma and ytgal blend together and end up sounding like maytgal.

iwa - إيوة - "alright". iwa is the Moroccan version of aywah, which means "ok" in other Middle Eastern dialects. In Morocco, iwa is less common and has a different meaning, closer to "well!", "alright!" or "hey!" as in: iwa skuti إيوة سكوتي, "hey! be quiet!"

kidayrin - كيدايرين - "how they're doing". 

yfta7o lik qalbik - يفتحوا لك قلبك - "they open your heart for you".

mayemkinsh - مايمكنش - "impossible". mayemkinsh is used in Moroccan Arabic much like musta7il or ma biseer is used in other Arabic dialects.

labsa mzian - لابسة مزيان - "she dresses well". labsa is the active participle of the verb labasa, which means "to wear cothes". 

dakhla souq rasha - داخلة سوق رأسها - "she minds her business". souq literally means "market", but is used figuratively to mean someone's "business". This phrase literally means, "that she's inside of her head's market", meaning that she minds her own business. The command dkhul(i) souq ras'k دخلي سوق رأسك means "mind your business!" and the phrase mashi souqik ماشي سوقك means "it's none of your business!"

zwin(a) - زوين - "beautiful". zwin is used very frequently in Moroccan Arabic and its meaning changes depending on context. Generally, it means "beautiful" or "good" or "nice".

kandwi ma3ha - كندوي معها - "I talk with her". dwa دوى is another verb for "to talk" in Moroccan Arabic. It is used most in Casablanca and the surrounding area. Outside of Casablanca, the verb hdr حضر is used more frequently for "to talk".

al-madhhar - المظهر - "appearance"

kanhtmm b - كنهتم ب - "I care about". 

l3qliyya - العقلية - "personality" or "mentality"

khda3ha - خداعها - "her trick"

raha - راها - "she" or "her"

katshdd dwi ma3ha - كتشدّ دوي معها - "go talk with her". shdd شدّ has many meanings. In a previous video, we saw it used literally to mean "to take" or "to hold". This meaning is extended figuratively, and as we see here shdd can be used as a helping verb.

sir(i) f 7alik - سير في حالك - "get away!" or "scram!" This is an impolite way of telling someone to leave you alone.

katjdbni - كتجدبني - "attracts me". 

nta3raf 3laiha - نتعرف عليها - "I get to know her"

ma fiha bas - ما فيها بأس - "there's nothing wrong with them". bas is a Standard Arabic word that means "harm" or "evil". It is used frequently in Moroccan Arabic, and is almost always negated, as we see here. The phrase labas لا باس؟ is the typical Moroccan greeting for "How are you?" and literally means, "you don't have any problems, right?"

waqila - وقيلا - "maybe"

tktashfo - تكتشفوا - "you will find out" or "you will see".

tsennawna - تسنونا - "wait for us!" This is the plural command of the verb tsenna تسنّى which means "to wait".

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