This lesson is about counting from 0 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic.

Counting is one of the key skills that students of any language need to acquire from the very beginning of their learning journey.

On this page, you will first learn numbers from 0 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic.

Next, you will learn the two major rules to apply when counting things up to 10 in Moroccan Darija.

To conclude, you will find below an exercise to practice numbers in Darija, as well as the solutions to make sure you got everything right and/or correct any mistakes.

Counting from 0 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic

*Regional accent differences result in some Moroccans saying “jouj”: جوج, and others saying “zouj”: زوج.

Both ways to say “2” are correct and common.

To use numbers from 1 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic, remember the following two key rules.

Rule Number 1: Using the Number “One” in Moroccan Arabic

To use “one” (wa7ed: واحد) in Moroccan Arabic, we apply the following formula:

Wa7ed: واحد (one) + a definite singular noun

Go to the definite articles lesson in Moroccan Arabic here.

Examples:

• 1 banana: Wa7ed elbanana: واحد البنانة
• 1 man: Wa7ed errajel: واحد الراجل
• 1 school: Wa7ed elmedrasa: واحد المدرسة

Remember that you can also use indefinite singular nouns in Moroccan Arabic without the need to append the number “one” to them.

You can just say “banana”: بنانة, “rajel”: راجل, and “medrasa”: مدرسة.

Also, if you choose to use an indefinite singular noun, you can always have the number “one” follow it for emphasis.

In this case, just like an adjective, the number has to follow the gender of the noun.

So, 1 banana is “banana we7da”: بنانة وحدة, and 1 man is “rajel wa7ed”: راجل واحد.

Click here to go to the lesson on the feminine form in Moroccan Arabic.

Rule Number 2: Counting from 2 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic

To count 2 to 10 in Moroccan Darija, we use the following formula:

Number + “dial”: ديال (often shortened to “d”: د, and meaning “of”) + a definite plural noun.

So, “3 bananas” would literally translate in Moroccan Arabic into “three of the bananas”: telata dial elbananate: تلاتة ديال البنانات.

In Moroccan Arabic, this does not imply that there are more bananas, it’s just how we speak.

Examples:

• 4 cups: Reb3a d elkisan: ربعة د الكيسان
• 10 boys: 3eshra dial eddrari: عشرة ديال الدراري

The Number 2 as an Exception to Rule Number 2

An exception to the above rule number 2 is… number 2.

In Moroccan Arabic, the number “2” (jouj/zouj:جوج/زوج) can be used in two different ways.

It can be used with the same rule number 2 above:

Number “2” (jouj/zouj:جوج/زوج) + “dial”: ديال (often shortened to “d”: د, and meaning “of”) + a definite plural noun.

Or using this shortened formula:

Number “2” (jouj/zouj:جوج/زوج) + indefinite plural noun.

Example:

You can say “2 bananas” in the following two ways in Moroccan Arabic.

You can either say: jouj d elbananate: جوج د البنانات.

Or: jouj bananate: جوج بنانات.

Remember, for other numbers, such as 3, you can only say “3 bananas” as “Telata dial elbananate“: تلاتة ديال البنانات.

It’s incorrect to say: Telata bananante: تلاتة بنانات.

For those of you familiar with formal Arabic, please note that there is no dual form for nouns in Arabic, so there are no shorter alternatives to count 2 things.

Exercise – Counting from 0 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic

Write the following in Moroccan Darija:

• 1 girl
• 3 girls
• 9 girls
• 6 girls
• 1 boy
• 2 boys
• 4 boys
• 9 boys
• 2 cups
• 5 cups

Hints:

• Girl : Bent : بنت
• The girl : Elbent: البنت
• Girls: Benat: بنات
• The girls: Elbenat: البنات
• Boy: Derri: دري
• The boy: Edderri: الدري
• Boys: Derari: دراري
• The boys: Edderari: الدراري
• Cup: Kas: كاس
• The cup: Elkas: الكاس
• Cups: Kisan: كيسان
• The cups: Elkisan: الكيسان

Once done with the exercise, you can scroll down for the solutions.

Exercise Solutions – Counting from 0 to 10 in Moroccan Arabic

• 1 girl: Wa7ed elbent: واحد البنت / Bent: بنت / Bent we7da: بنت وحدة
• 3 girls: Telata dial elbenat: تلاتة ديال البنات / Telata d elbenat: تلاتة د البنات
• 9 girls: Tes3od dial elbenat: تسعود ديال البنات / Tes3od d elbenat: تسعود د البنات
• 6 girls: Setta dial elbenat: ستة ديال البنات / Setta d elbenat: ستة د البنات
• 1 boy: Derri: دري / Wa7ed edderri: واحد الدري / Derri wa7ed: دري واحد
• 2 boys: Jouj derari: جوج دراري / Jouj dial edderari: جوج ديال الدراري / Jouj d edderari: جوج د الدراري
• 4 boys: Reb3a dial edderari: ربعة ديال الدراري / Reb3a d edderari: ربعة د الدراري
• 9 boys: Tes3od dial edderari: تسعود ديال الدراري / Tes3od d edderari: تسعود د الدراري
• 2 cups: Jouj kisan: جوج كيسان / Jouj dial elkisan: جوج ديال الكيسان / Jouj d elkisan: جوج د الكيسان
• 5 cups: Khemsa dial elkisan: خمسة ديال الكيسان / Khemsa d elkisan: خمسة د الكيسان

You can carry on with other Speak Moroccan materials in “Moroccan Arabic – Unit 1”.

Or carry on to other Moroccan Arabic lessons.

Do you want to practice Moroccan Arabic and work on more Darija exercises? Head over to Speak Moroccan Forums.

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