In Morocco, nobody gets straight to the point. Before asking for a price, directions or a favour, people greet each other, ask how things are going and say thank you. Knowing a handful of these phrases in Darija changes everything: faces light up, and the conversation starts off on a much better footing.
Here are the essential greetings, with the Arabic script, the pronunciation and the meaning.
Reading the pronunciation
Darija is often written in Latin letters, with two numbers standing for sounds that don't exist in English: 3 for the letter ع (a guttural sound from deep in the throat) and 7 for the letter ح (a strongly breathed "h"). Always listen to a word's audio before saying it.
Saying hello
- السلام عليكم (as-salamu 3alaykum) — peace be upon you, the most common greeting;
- وعليكم السلام (wa 3alaykum as-salam) — and upon you be peace, the expected reply;
- صباح الخير (sba7 lkhir) — good morning;
- مساء الخير (masa lkhir) — good evening;
- مرحبا (mer7ba) — welcome, hello.
Morning and evening greetings have their own reply: to صباح الخير (sba7 lkhir) you answer صباح النور (sba7 nnur), and to مساء الخير (masa lkhir) you answer مساء النور (masa nnur).
Asking how someone is
Asking after someone is part of being polite, even with a person you have just met.
- لاباس (labas) — how are you? / all good;
- كيداير (kidayr) — how are you doing?;
- واش راك (wash rak) — how are you? (to a man);
- واش راكي (wash raki) — how are you? (to a woman);
- كيف دايرة (kif dayra) — how are you doing? (to a woman).
To answer:
- بخير (bkhir) — fine;
- كلشي بخير (kulshi bkhir) — everything is fine;
- تمام (tamam) — perfect, very good;
- مزيان (mzyan) — good.
Watch out for gender: Darija often distinguishes between "you" for a man and "you" for a woman, as in wash rak and wash raki.
Polite words
- شكرا (shukran) — thank you; and to insist, shukran bzaf — thank you very much;
- عفاك (3fak) — please;
- سمح ليا (sme7 liya) — excuse me, sorry;
- لا شكر على واجب (la shukr 3la wajib) — you're welcome.
3fak is probably the most useful word on this list: it softens any request, at the café as well as at the market.
Welcoming and getting acquainted
- أهلا وسهلا (ahlan wa sahlan) — welcome;
- مرحبا بيك (mer7ba bik) — you're welcome here;
- تشرفنا (tshrefna) — nice to meet you;
- فرحان بيك (fer7an bik) — glad to see you.
If you are invited to someone's home, you will hear mer7ba bik very quickly: Moroccan hospitality in two words.
Saying goodbye
- بسلامة (bslama) — goodbye (literally "go in peace");
- إلى اللقاء (ila llqa) — see you soon;
- نهارك سعيد (nharak s3id) — have a nice day;
- ليلة سعيدة (lila s3ida) — have a nice evening;
- تصبح على خير (tsbe7 3la khir) — good night.
Congratulating and encouraging
- مبروك (mabrouk) — congratulations;
- بالتوفيق (bttawfiq) — good luck;
- لا تدير في البال (la tdir f bbal) — don't worry.
How to remember them
Don't try to learn everything at once. Start with five phrases (labas, bkhir, shukran, 3fak, bslama) and use them whenever you can. Then add a few words every day and review them regularly: that is the principle of spaced repetition.
All 50 words of the category, with audio, are on the Greetings in Moroccan Darija page. Next, the 10 essential expressions for travelling in Morocco round out this list nicely, and the 30-day plan helps you organise your learning.