80 Moroccan Arabic

Bargaining

Objective: By the end of the chapter, you will be able to:

bargain for basic items, such as clothing
describe the colors of items
use masculine, feminine, and plural adjectives correctly
describe differences between objects using the comparative and superlative
Bargaining

General Bargaining Information

In Morocco, bargaining is a part of life. It can sometimes be tiring for people not used to it, but with
some cultural and language skills, it can become much easier. Some information about bargaining can
also make the process simpler.
First of all, you need to know what items should be bargained for, and what items normally have fixed
prices, even for Moroccans. This is not always easy to determine, since the place where you buy some
things may determine whether the price is fixed or not. For example, some items that are sold at fixed
prices in a anut (e.g. laundry soap, vegetables, eggs) may be bargained for in the souk or from a street
vendor. Ask your host family or watch other Moroccans in order to find out. Here are some general
guidelines for whether prices are fixed or not:

Usually Bargained For

Seldom Bargained For

The Buyers Tactics

The Sellers Tactics

any article of clothing

things which are literally bought every day:
mint, parsley, bread, coriander
any household or kitchen utensil, appliance,
refill on a butagas
or furniture
rent for a house or apartment
cigarettes and alcohol
taxi fares on unscheduled runs
meals or beverages in restaurants
anything bought in a souk (e.g. grains in
bus fares between scheduled stops
bulk, animals, rugs, etc.)
taxi fares on regular runs
anything bought from a street vendor who
price-controlled staple foods: sugar, oil, tea,
has no regular shop
flour, milk, butter, etc.
petit taxi fares if the meter does not work anything bought in a pharmacy
anything used or second-hand
meat and vegetables, if the price per kilo is
posted
domestic help and services (maid, plumber,
electrician, etc. Determine the price before
school supplies
the work is done.)
It is also good to be aware of some of the standard tactics that are used between the buyer and the seller
in Morocco. If you watch Moroccans, you will see many of these.

not showing too much enthusiasm for buying

walking away when the seller has named the
lowest price
pointing out defects in the merchandise
quoting a lower price for an identical item in
another shop
claiming not to have enough money to meet
the seller's lowest price
complimenting or flattering the seller (on his
shop, merchandise, children, friendliness)

not showing too much enthusiasm for selling

turning away when the buyer has named the
highest price
noting the superior quality in the merchandise
insisting that goods in other shops are not of
the same quality
claiming that in selling at the buyers highest
price he would be taking a loss
complimenting or flattering the buyer (on his
or her language ability, friendliness, expertise

Peace Corps / Morocco 81

in bargaining)
The Buyers Tactics

The Sellers Tactics

acting insulted by the sellers price

acting insulted by the buyers offer
arguing that the difference between the
arguing that the difference between the
sellers price and the price offered is
buyers price and his price is insignificant and
insignificant; i.e. the seller should come
the buyer should come up
down to the offered price
pulling out one's money as if the offered price wrapping up the purchase as if the asking
has been agreed upon
price has been agreed upon
When you are looking to buy an item that you know you will have to bargain for, there are a few things
that you should probably try to avoid. These include:
showing too much interest in, or too great a need for, a particular item
carrying large sums of money, carrying expensive, previously-bought items, looking like a tourist
having no idea what an item is really worth, or what is a fair price for that type of item
being in a hurry
buying with a guide (he gets a percentage of what you pay)
Always be prepared to pay a price you have named. Do not get too far into bargaining for something if
you do not intend to buy it. If you are not clear on the currency in which you are bargaining (i.e. ryals),
proceed slowly. In the end, dont let a bargaining scenario ruin your day. Most of us go unbothered by
the sometimes huge markups on big-ticket items in America, yet we can be easily frustrated by a
Moroccan merchant who makes an extra dollar or two off of us. Remember that ones peace of mind is
worth something, too.

Bargaining Expressions

Its too expensive!

ali bzzaf!

Lower the price.

nqs wiya.

Give a good price.

sawb maya f t-taman.

I wont add even a ryal.

ma-n-zid

Ill add nothing.

ma-n-zid walu.

Its too much for me.

bzzaf

A good price.

i taman mzyan.

A reasonable price.

i taman mnasb.

Whats the last price?

axir taman, al?

How much will I get it for?

bal t-xllih (ha)?

Thats what I have (money)!

had -i l-li

Thats my last price!

hada huwa axir taman

dyali!

tta ryal.

.
.

liya.

.
.
.

( )

ndi!

!
!

82 Moroccan Arabic
Clothing
Clothing

l-wayj

clothes

Vocabulary

4
5

3
1

10

15
14

13
11

16

12

17

18
20
19

1. sifitma

11. fista

2. jean

12. jakita

3. srwal

13. pijama

4. qamija ns kmm

14. kbbut

5. qamija

15. smta

6. grafata

16. T-shirt

7. jili

17. ort

8. kustim

18. al

9. triko

19. slip

Peace Corps / Morocco 83

10. triko col v

20. saya

13

11
14

12
10

20
18
15

19

16

17

1. kswa
2. zif / fular

15. maya

17. alaqat

19. snsla

18. qiq

16. xatm

7. ligat

10. tqar

14. sndala

5. liba

9. tagiya

13. sbbat

4. gndura

8. kaskita

12. butyu

3. jllaba

6. sutyanat

11. sbrdila

20. mdl

Clothing Expressions
Is there anything else?

we kayna i aja xora?

Give me size ... please.

tini n-nmra ... afak.

Try this one on.

qiys hada / hadi.

Do you want another color?

we biti i lun axor?

I prefer this color.

kan-fdl had l-lun.

84 Moroccan Arabic
ja / jat mak.

It goes well with you.

Colors

colors

l-lwan

Masculine Singular

Feminine Singular

Plural

white

byd

bida

bidin

blue

zrq

zrqa

zrqin

black

kl

kla

klin

red

mr

mra

mrin

yellow

sfr

sfra

sfrin

green

xdr

xdra

xdrin

brown

qhwi

qhwiya

qhwiyin

orange

limuni

limuniya

limuniyin

pink

wrdi

wrdiya

wrdiyin

jri

jriya

jriyin

mdadi

mdadiya

mdadiyin

grey

rmadi

rmadiya

rmadiyin

golden

dhbi

dhbiya

dhbiyin

dark

mluq

mluqa

mluqin

light

mftu

mftua

mftuin

bright

nas

nasa

nasin

faded

baht

bahta

bahtin

purple

As you can see in the table above, feminine forms of colors are made by adding an a sound to the
masculine form, and plurals are made by adding in to the masculine form.
Dialogue

Michael: s-salamu
mul l-wayj: wa

alaykum.

alaykum s-salam.

Michael: bit jllaba

afak!

mul l-wayj: mujud a sidi, amn nmra?

Michael: ma-n-rf.

:
.

Peace Corps / Morocco 85

mul l-wayj: qiys hadi. Ah jat mak!

Michael: kayna

ir f had l-lun?

mul l-wayj: kayna f l-byd, s-sfr u

l-kl.
Michael: ara n-uf l-byd
mul l-wayj: hak a sidi.

:
.

afak.

:
.

Michael: bal had -i?

aliya bzzaf, adi

n-tik ir 3000 ryal.

mul l-wayj: aji, aji,

ryal.

Michael:

.6000

:
:

.
.

mul l-wayj: ara a sidi 3500 ryal. i

bas ma-kayn.

3500

lla y-shl.

Exercise:

5000

adi n-tik 3500 ryal.

biti mzyan ma-biti-

:
:

bslama.

tini ir 5000

8000

3000

mul l-wayj: lla, nqsti bzzaf. xudha

b 6000.
Michael: lla bzzaf.

:
:

mul l-wayj: hadi a sidi b 8000 ryal.

Michael:

3500

Read the text and answer the questions.

Saida ndha bzzaf d t-tsbin l-yum:

s-srwal r-rmadi u l-qamija l-bida
dyal rajlha. jean u T-shirt dyal
wldha. l-kswa l-mra u j-jakita
z-zrqa dyal bntha. s-saya l-xdra u
z-zif l-byd dyal Saida. welakin,
dyal mn t-tqar l-kl?

:
.

.
.
.

1. dyal mn s-srwal r-rmadi?

2. dyal mn T-shirt? nu l-lun dyalu?

3. we l-kswa l-mra dyal Saida?

4. we s-saya dyal Saida zrqa?

5. nu l-lun dyal t-tqar?

2
3
4
5

86 Moroccan Arabic
Exercise:

Write a dialogue for the following pictures. Try to write it

without looking at the previous pages.

88 Moroccan Arabic

Peace Corps / Morocco 89

Adjectives
Adjectives come after the nouns they modify and must agree in gender and number. For example, if a
noun is feminine and singular then the adjective that follows must be feminine and singular as well.
Feminine and plural forms of adjectives are derived from the masculine base form. The feminine form
is made by adding an a ( ) to the end of the masculine form. The plural form, like with nouns, is not
always predictable. The two most common patterns are: adding in ( ) to the masculine form, or
replacing the long vowel i ( ) in the middle of an adjective with the long vowel a ( ). An example of
each plural form:

Masculine
Singular
happy
big

Plural
we add in to form the plural

in

we change i to a to form the plural

Adjectives in this first group (forming the plural with in) also have a feminine plural form that is used
when all the members of a group are feminine. If their is a mixture of masculine and feminine people
or objects, the masculine plural (often just called plural) is used. The feminine plural is formed by
adding at to the masculine singular base form.

Common Adjectives
English
good

Masculine
Singular

pretty / handsome / good

Masculine
Plural

bad / ugly

Feminine
Singular

Feminine
Plural

happy

sad / angry

clean

dirty

harried

late

soft

harsh

fresh

90 Moroccan Arabic

English

Masculine
Singular

present

Feminine
Singular

Masculine
Plural

Feminine
Plural

absent

sweet

salty

bland / tasteless

spicy

open

closed

fried / grilled

hungry

thirsty

busy

lazy

tired

reasonable / serious

enough

expensive

wide / large

married

old (something)

big (something)
old (someone)

Peace Corps / Morocco 91

Masculine
Singular

English
small (something)
young (someone)

Feminine
Singular

Masculine
Plural

Feminine
Plural

new

far

near

tall / long

short

strong / correct

weak

simple / easy

cheap

poor

sick

Exercise: Describe the following pictures using adjectives.

1. hada kmm qsir.
5

6
4
3

11

2. hada kmm _______.

7
10
8

12

92 Moroccan Arabic

Comparative and Superlative

Sup erlative Adjectives
Comparative Adjectives
We use comparative adjectives when we are comparing two objects based upon some quality or
characteristic. For example, in English we can say: I am taller than John. Taller than is the
comparative form of the adjective tall. Here are the comparative forms for some Arabic adjectives:
Adjectives
good
nice

sweet

sweeter

more
expensive

cheaper

fewer

older (thing)

lighter

heavier

smaller /
younger

bigger / older

shorter

taller / longer

nicer

cheap
expensive

heavy

few

better

small / young

old (thing)

Comparatives

big / old

light

tall / long
short

As you can see above, for many adjectives (but not all) the comparative is formed by removing the long
vowel i from the word. Here are some examples:
Sadia is younger than Malika.

The train is better than the bus.

Comparing Like Objects

In order to express that two things/people/etc. are the same, we can use either of two expressions:
the same / alike

the same / alike

Some examples:
Which is better: a blue shirt or a
green one?
They are the same.

As the example shows, the word ama ( ) is used for comparisons when we mean which.

Peace Corps / Morocco 93

Superlative Adjectives
The superlative adjective in Moroccan Arabic can be formed in two ways.
First, by using the definite article with the adjective and inserting the personal pronoun:
Omar is bright.

Omar is the brightest student in

the class.

huwa l-

Susan is a pretty girl.

Susan is the prettiest.

hiya z-

Second, by prefixing a ( ) to the comparative adjective:

Casablanca is the largest city in

Morocco.
Toubkal is the highest mountain
in Morocco.

Exercise: Compare each pair using comparative adjectives.

t-tomobil dyal Mary

t-tomobil dyal Mike

Driss

Hassan
d-dar dyal Mohamed

-klat

d-dar dyal Judy

l-xubz

94 Moroccan Arabic

Exercise:
Exercise: Answer the following questions based upon the drawing.
d-dlla

l-banan

l-nb

1. ama la l-nb wlla l-banan?

.1

2. ama rxs d-dlla wlla l-nb?

.2

3. ama sn d-dlla wlla l-banan?

.3

4. ama la l-nb wlla d-dlla?

.4

5. we l-nb huwa ala fakiha?

.5

6. nu hiya l-fakiha r-rxisa?

.6

Moroccan Wisdom:

.
l-li ddu l-n, kay-xaf mn l-bl.
The one bitten by a snake is afraid of ropes.