Clothes and what people wear in Algerian Darija

Clothes come up in two situations: what somebody is wearing, which is small talk and compliment, and buying, which is negotiation. Sixty one sentences here covering both, and the buying half doubles as a lesson in how bargaining actually sounds.

واش لابس, what are you wearing. راني لابس قميجة, I am wearing a shirt. غالي عليّا, too expensive for me. نقّص شويّة, come down a bit. آخر كلمة, your final word.

The negotiation is a script, not a fight

Too expensive, come down a bit, what is your final word. These are the expected moves and using them is not rudeness, it is participation. A buyer who accepts the first price without a word is the odd one, not the polite one. Learn the three lines and say them lightly, which is how they are said.

Saying you are wearing something is a free sentence pattern

راني لابس, I am wearing, plus any garment. This is one of those patterns where learning one opening and ten nouns gives you ten sentences immediately, and the same opening turns up all over the language for describing the state you are in.

Compliments are expected

Noticing and remarking on what somebody is wearing is normal and warm here, more so than in some places a learner may be coming from. Combine this page with the adjectives page and you have a small, easy, genuinely useful social skill that costs about ten words.

What to do with this page

Learn the three bargaining lines and one compliment. Then, when you are next in a market, use all four in one exchange even if you were going to pay the asking price anyway. The point is not the money. The point is that you will have run a real negotiation in Darija, which sounds far harder than it is until the first time you do it.

3 phrases pour commencer