Moroccan Arabic Lesson: What Moroccan Women Like in Men

In this news report by the Moroccan Internet TV station Chouf TV, Moroccan women talk about what they look for in men. This post introduces us to a lot of useful phrases related to personal qualities and description. Click here to watch its companion video, in which Moroccan men talk about what they look for in women.

في الجزء الأول شفنا و تعرفنا على شنو تيتي الرجل في المرأة، و وعدناكم فينا باش تكتشفوا آش كتشوف فيكم المرأة. 

Intro: fi ljuz alawwl shufna w ta3rrafna 3la shnu tayti lrajl fi lmra, w wa3dnakom fina bash tktashfo ash katshouf fikom lmra

In the first part, we saw and got to know what it is that a man likes in a woman. And we promised you all [that we'd show you] what women look for in men. 

إيوة سمعوا مزيان

iwa sma3o mzian

Ok, so listen up!

للي كيعجبني في الرجل المغربي أنه كيفرض شخصيته، كرامته، إحترام المجتمع، إحترام المرأة

Speaker 1: lli kay3jbni fi lrajl lmaghribi annaho kayfred shakhsiatho, karamtho, i7tiram lmujtama3, li7tiram lmra

What I like in a Moroccan man is that he has a strong personality, as well as his generosity, his respect for society and his respect for women

الدرّي ماشي للي كيجدبني حتى نعرفه راه معقول و ولد الناس و ماشي شي واحد باغي تفلّى

Speaker 2: ldrri… masshi lli kayjdbni 7ta na3rfho rah ma3qoul w wuld lnas w mashi shi wa7id baghi tfella … 

Young men... that's not what I'm attracted to until I know that he's a good guy and respectable and not someone who just wants to fool around.

و الشخصية هي أهم حاجة

w lshakhsia, hiya aham 7aja

And personality is the most important thing.

الشهامة و إحترام المرأة و قضّر شعورها و قضّر مساواة معها

Speaker 3: shahama w i7tiram lmra w qadder shu3urha w qadder musawat ma3ha

[I like a man's] generosity and respect for women, and that he appreciate her feelings and value equality with her.

كتعجبني الطولة، كتعجبني واحد يكون فارض شخصيته

 Speaker 4: kat3jbni ltoula, kat3jbni wa7id ykon fard shakhsiatho 

I like a tall man, and I like someone who has a strong personality

و يكون كرجل ماشي ك ... بحال دبا رجال كنشوفهم دبا في الزنقة الأكترية مابقاوش رجال بزاف كيف كان شحال هادي

w ykon ka rajl mashi ka… b7al dba rijal kanshoufhom dba f lzanqa laktariyya mabqawsh rijal bzf kif kan sh7al hadi

[and I like] him to be masculine, not like ... like the men I see nowadays in the street, most of them are not very manly like how it used to be

أول حاجة بعدة le taille خص يكون طويل حيت أنا طويلة 

Speaker 5: awwal 7aja, ba3da, la taille, khass ykon tawil 7it ana tawila 

The first thing [I look for] height. He's got to be tall because I'm tall.

  و خص تكون شخصيته زعمة قوية و يكون ... وكون كيضحك ماشي واحد معقّد

w… khass tkon shakhsiatho za3ma qawiyya, w ykon … ykon kayd7ak, mashi wa7id m3aqqad

And his personality should be strong, and he should laugh and not be too uptight

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Vocabulary Review

wa3dnakom - وعدناكم - "we promised you (plural)"

ash katshouf fikom - آش كتشوف فيكم - "what [she] sees in you all" or "what [she] looks for in you all"

iwa - إيوة - "so!" or "alright!"

kayfred shakhsiatho - كيفرض - "he has a strong personality". The verb frd means to "force" or "asset". In this context, the woman is talking about a man with a strong personality who makes his presence felt.

7ta - حتى - "until". In a previous video we saw 7ta used to mean "also". Here it is used differently, to mean "until".

rah ma3qoul -  راه معقول - "he's reasonable". rah means "he" and ma3qoul means "reasonable" or, more literally, "rational".

wuld lnas - ولد الناس - "respectable" or "well-raised". wuld al-nas specifically refers to someone's upbringing and describes someone who was raised well by a good family.

baghi - باغي - "[he] wants". baghi is the active participle of the verb bgha which, when used in the past tense, means "to want". Baghi can be used on its own like we see her, but most frequently appears in conjunction with kan to mean "[he] wanted":

كان باغي يمشي ل السوق

kan baghi ymshi li lsouq

He wanted to go to the market

كنت باغية نهضر معك البارح

kunt baghi nhdr ma3k lbari7

I wanted (female) to talk to you yesterday

tfella - تفلّى - "to joke around" or "to fool around"

shahama - الشهامة - "generosity" or "magnanimity". 

qadder - قضّر - "to appreciate" or "to value". qadder is related to the Standard Arabic verb taqdir which means "to appreciate". It should not be confused with qdr قدر, which means "to be able to".

musawat - مساواة - "equality"

al-toula - الطولة - "height". Note how this is the Arabic word for height, and is used by this woman whereas the next speaker uses the French taille. 

fard shakhsiatho - فارض شخصيته - "someone who asserts himself". fard is the active participle of frd which means "to assert" or "to force", as we see above. This is a great example of how the active participle is used to express actions just like a present tense verb would be used.

b7al - بحال - "like" or "just as"

al-zanqa - الزنقة - "the street". zanqa means literally means "small street", but has a negative connotation. Things that are from or in the zanqa are usually rough and unsophisticated. wuld al-zanqa, "street boy", is the opposite of wuld al-nas: a street kid who is rude and irreputable. zanqawiyya is the kind of Arabic used by street kids and is not lughat al-dar, or "house language", which is polite and respectable.

mabqawsh - مابقاوش - "they are no longer". This is the past tense form of the verb bqa which, as we saw in a previous video, is used in the negative to express "no longer".

kif - كيف - "like". This is a synonym of b7al. 

sh7al hadi - شحال هادي - "how long ago" or "for a long time". sh7al hadi is a quintessential Moroccan phrase. sh7al means "how much" and hadi means "this". Together they express something having happened a long time ago:

شحال هادي و أنا كنسكن هناية

sh7al hadi w ana kanskun hinaya

I've been living here a long time, OR How long have I lived here?

شحال هادي و أنا ماحضرتش معك

sh7al hadi w ana mahadartsh ma3k

It's been so long since I talked to you!

ba3da - بعدة - "first" or "after all". ba3da is a filler word that takes on different meanings depending on how it's used. Here, because the speaker is listing off certain things, it conveys "this is the first thing".

m3aqqad - معقّد - "complicated" or "uptight". m3aqqa literally means to be tied in a knot. With reference to a person, it means "uptight". We especially see that here, in the speakers comparison between someone who "laughs" and someone who is m3aqqad, or "uptight".

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Want to learn more? Check out all of our Moroccan Arabic lessons here.