Buying stuff in Tunisian Arabic

In this article we’re going to cover the basics of using Tunisian Arabic when entering, perusing, and buying products in a store.

What will be covered in this article is:

1. The Tunisian currency
2. Definitions of stores
3. Learning if a store is open or closed
4. Useful phrases while in a store
5. Buying and transacting

1. The Tunisian Currency

What it is

The currency in Tunisia is the Dinar / دينار. Its global currency abbreviation is TND. (And amongst citizens domestically, the abbreviation DT or dt is most commonly used) Although exchange rates vary like any currency, categorically, a Dinar is like a Dollar. Portions of Dinars are officially called Milliemes / ملّيم, but when people speak of them, they most commonly refer to these fractions as Franc / فرنك. Unlike the Dollar and Euro systems which use cents (i.e., 100 Cents in a Dollar or Euro), the Dinar uses 1000 Franc.

A Dinar is also commonly referred to as Lef / لاف. Lef is a variation of the word Alf / آلاف which means One thousand. (Here is the IBL page on One thousand, “One thousand” (1,000) in Tunisian Arabic) The concept of referring to a Dinar as Lef (One thousand) is essentially that there are 1,000 (Franc or Milliemes) in a Dinar. It varies depending on the speaker and no consistent rules apply but most commonly people may refer to lower-priced objects (e.g., under 40 Dinar) with the Lef / لاف and products higher in price with the Dinar / دينار terminology.

So a bottle of shampoo could be (simple estimations) 5 Dinar; a cup of coffee 1 Dinar, and a bottle of water 500 Franc (500 Milliemes; essentially, half of a Dinar).

Terminology

Following English (and French) linguistic procedure, it’s common to call multiple Dinar as Dinars (with the suffix, -s). In Tunisian Arabic though, multiple Dinars is still simply referred to as Dinar / دينار. The concept of the suffix -s is common in English and the Romance languages (e.g., French, Italian, Spanish, etc.) but isn’t a concept in Arabic.

Likewise, in Tunisian Arabic, 1 Franc (1/1000th of a Dinar or Lef), 10 Franc (10/1000th of a Dinar or Lef) or 500 Franc (500/1000th of a Dinar or Lef) is still considered a Franc / فرنك. (there is no -s suffix)

Below are three examples of money written and spoken in Tunisian Arabic: (Recordings provided by IBL contributor Aroua F.)

10 Lef = 3achra lef / عشرة ألاف

2.850 Dinars = Alfin w thmanya mye w khamsin franc / ألفين و ثمنية مية و خمسين فرنك

200 Dinars = Mitin Dinar / ميتين دينار

To deep-dive the topic of currency and money in Tunisian Arabic read the IBL article, Understanding Tunisian Money in Tunisian Arabic.

2. Definitions of stores

Like the word Store in English, the general word for a store in Tunisian Arabic is 7anout / حانوت (If you’re curious at this point why some of the Tunisian Arabic words in this article have numbers as letters, read the IBL article, Numbers as letters in Tunisian Arabic) This word, 7anout, can be used to describe a grocery store, a boutique (e.g., a store selling clothing), a convenience / corner store, and more.

Other common Tunisian Arabic words are:

• Boutique — Boutique / بوتيك (Derived from French)
• Grocery store — Maghaza / مغازة or Magasin مڨزان (Derived from French)
• A small store with no or very little room to stand or walk in and the merchant retrieves most of the products that are requested from behind the counter — 3atar / عطار
• Although not technically a store, a marketplace, in Tunisian Arabic, is called a Sou9 / سوق (based on Fos7a) and Marchi / مرشي (based on French)

Listen to Aroua F. pronounce 7anout below:

3. Learning if a store is open or closed

When arriving at a store (or a restaurant or café for that matter), asking if it’s open or closed is sometimes necessary.

There are several ways to ask a staff member if a store is open. A common way is to simply ask:

7allin? / حالّين؟

In English, 7allin means Open, as an adjective. The -in /ين on the end puts the word in the plural form. (It is a common attribute of Arabic to delineate an adjective between being used to describe singular and plural nouns based on spelling. For more information on Open as an adjective, visit the IBL page, “Open” (adjective) in Tunisian Arabic)

Another common English question in this setting is “What time do you close?” To do this you can ask Wa9tech tsakrou? وقتاش تسكرو؟. Wa9tech means When and tsakrou means Closed, as a verb in the You plural form.

What you’ll notice with the two examples above is that both questions are framed in the plural versus singular form. In Tunisian Arabic, it’s common to ask such questions, even if speaking to only one staff member, in the plural form. The reason is likely that, conventionally, a store or company is thought to be made up of multiple employees.

Listen to Aroua F. pronounce the two examples in this section:

7allin?, which, in this context, is akin to “Are you open?”

Wa9tech tsakrou? which means “What time do you close?”

4. Useful phrases while in a store

Just looking

Once inside, you’re going to want to look around. This is when useful phrases come in hand.

If (at least initially) your intention is for a casual look-through of the various products, and a store clerk asksif they can assist you with something (In Tunisian Arabic, this phrase is commonly spoken as, N3awnek fi 7aja? / نعاونك في حاجة؟) you can respond one of these three ways:

Option 1 of 3:

(m) 9a3ed nchouf w bara / قاعد نشوف و برّا

(f) 9a3da nchouf w bara / قاعدة نشوف و برّا

9a3ed / 9a3da preempts a verb and means that the action is underway (versus it is going to happen or has happened); nchouf means look or looking in this context, in the I form; w means and; and bara has the effect of the English word just. If you put this string of words together, by saying 9a3ed/9a3da nchouf w bara, you’ve essentially said, “I’m just looking.”

Below Aroua F. speaks 9a3ed nchouf w bara & 9a3da nchouf w bara:

Option 2 of 3:

(m) 9a3ed ndour / قاعد ندور

(f) 9a3da ndour / قاعدة ندور

Again, 9a3ed / 9a3da indicates that an action is underway, while ndour is spoken to indicate that a speaker is walking around casually. (Like many Tunisian Arabic verbs, the -n puts the word in the I form) The two words brought together in a statement basically means, “I’m walking around casually.” (For more information on how verbs work, read the IBL article: How verbs function in Tunisian Arabic)

Below Aroua F. says 9a3ed ndour & 9a3da ndour:

Option 3 of 3:

If you’re doing a lot of shopping in a given day in Tunisia (amongst many other areas of Tunisia (including the medina of several cities) visiting the traditional sou9 / سوق at the medina in the City of Tunis is highly recommend), you may want a third way to express the effect of Just looking. A third option is to say:

Na3ml fi talla w barra / نعمل في طلة وبرا

Na3ml means the verb “Do” or “Doing” given how it’s used in a statement; talla means “a glance”, and again, barra (or bara) has the effect of the word, “just”. Together, this phrase’s direct translation in English is “Just doing a glance.”

Below IBL contributor Malak M. pronounces Na3ml fi talla barra:

How much?

Something may have caught your eye and you’re beginning to consider a purchase. You can ask how much something is by asking:

B9adech? / بقدّاش؟

Remember that the response will usually be in Dinar or Lef. (as outlined at the start of this article) And prepare yourself if the response comes in Tunisian Arabic by knowing how to count to 100. You can learn how to count to 100 by using the IBL list, Tunisian Arabic: Counting to 100.

Listen below as IBL contributor Amine B. pronounces B9adech?:

Do you have…?

It may be bottled water (a pack of water bottles is Stika me / ستيكة ماء), socks (9laset/ قلاسط), or cutlery (Couvert / كوفار) that you’re searching for. To preface the question, you can ask “Do you have…?” by saying 3andkom…? / عندكم…؟.

The direct translation for “Do you have…?” is 3andek…? / عندك…؟ By using -kom / كم- instead of -k / ك- it transitions the question from the You to the You plural form. The reason is keeping in alignment with the explanation above in the Learning if a store is open or closed section: Often asking an employee questions about the store are conventionally done using the You plural form.

(Here is the IBL page on Do you have…?, “Do you have…?” in Tunisian Arabic)

Below Aroua F. pronounces 3andkom…?:

Where is this from?

You may be interested in where a beautifully patterned rug was originally made, where a unique set of ceramic coffee mugs were potted, or where tomatoes (Tmatem / طماطم) were harvested.

To find out, when the object is considered masculine-based say, Mnin hedha? / منين هاذي؟ and when the object is considered feminine-based say, Mnin hedhi? / منين هاذي؟. In Tunisian Arabic all singular form nouns have a gender-designation. (e.g., Ma / ماء (Water) is masculine-based, Tawla / طاولة (Table) is feminine-based and Kes (Cup) is masculine-based). Most of the word sets that assist in identifying a noun in a statement have two variations (e.g., Hedha and Hedhi which both mean “It is…” or “This is…”) and the variant a speaker uses is based on the gender-designation of the operative noun in the statement. To deep-dive this topic more deeply and understand how nouns function in Tunisian Arabic, read the IBL article: How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic.

Below Aroua F. pronounces Mnin hedha? & Mnin hedhi?:

What is this made of?

And perhaps, instead of, or in addition to other things you ask in a store, what the material of the product that caught your interest is matters. If you want to know what something is made of, you can ask:

(if the object is masculine-based) Mnech masnou3 hedha? / مناش مصنوع هذا؟

(if the object is feminine-based) Mnech masnou3a hedhi? / مناش مصنوعة هاذي؟

Mnech is a combination of the Tunisian Arabic words men / من (“from”) and chnowa / شنوة (“what”) and, therefore, has the direct translation in English of “From what?”; masnou3/masnou3a means “made”, and hedha/hedhi, as covered above, means “it is” or “this is”. Bringing these words together, and using conventional English syntax, the translation becomes, “What is this made of?”

Above Aroua F. pronounces Mnech masnou3 hedha? and Mnech masnou3a hedhi?:

5. Buying and transacting

I’ll buy it

When you’re ready to buy something, you may start with simply saying to a store clerk, I’ll buy it or I’ll buy these. This can be done buy saying one of the following:

(singular, masculine-based object) Bech nechrih / باش نشريه

(singular, feminine-based object) Bech nechreha / باش نشريها

(singular, plural object) Bech nechrihom / باش نشريهم

Below Aroua F. pronounces Bech nechrih, Bech nechreha, & Bech nechrihom:

Paying with credit card or cash

The store clerk may ask if you’re going to pay for the items with a card or with cash. What you may hear is: Bel carte wala cash? / بالكارت ولا كاش؟. If you hear this, what you’ve been asked is “[Are you going to pay] With card or cash?

When you hear this question or a similar one, you can respond with either:

Bech nkhalles bel carte / باش نخلص بالكارت (You’ve said, “I’ll pay with credit card.”)f

Bech nkhalles cash / باش نخلص كاش (Here you’ve said, “I’ll pay with cash.”)

In Tunisian Arabic, Cash / كاش is a common term to mean money. (The word espèces /  آسباس, a derivative of French, is also commonly used) The word Money is translated as Flous / فلوس. And the word Change (as in coins and other small denominations of money) is translated as Sarf / صرف.

Below Aroua F. translates the two statements provided above.

Bech nkhalles bel carte:

Bech nkhalles cash:

To deep-dive the verb Pay in the future tense (including understanding all seven of its pronoun conjugations), here is the IBL page on it: “Pay” (future) (verb) in Tunisian Arabic. Included on this page is an alternative to Nkhalles that is used commonly enough in Tunisian Arabic but is based on Standard Arabic (Fos7a / فصحى).

Can I have a receipt?

A bill at a restaurant is commonly known as Fetoura / فاتورة or L’addition / لاديسيون and the slip that comes after paying at a restaurant or in a store is commonly referred to as Reçu /روسو or El ticket / التيكي. So after you’ve paid, if you wish for a receipt, you can ask either of the following and you’ll be understood by Tunisian Arabic speakers:

Najem nekhou el ticket? / نجم ناخو التيكي؟ (“Can I have a receipt?”):

Najem nekhou reçu? / نجم ناخو روسو؟ (An alternative way to ask, “Can I have a receipt?”):

Bag or no bag

With the transaction complete and it being time to leave with your newly purchased goods, having a bag to put your products in may be useful. In Tunisian Arabic, a bag in this context is Sachet / ساشي. You can ask for a bag by asking, Najem nekhou sachet? /  نجم ناخو ساشي؟. Or simplify the request by just asking Sachet, 3aychek? / ساشي عيشك؟ (3aychek (or commonly Y3aychek / يعيشك) is one of the most proverbial and popular Tunisian Arabic words and means Please or Thank you given the context and how’s its said)

Perhaps it’s something small like a couple bottles of water or a new pair of sandals and no bag is necessary. Here are two final translations to equip you with the next time you’re speaking Tunisian Arabic at a store:

Manest7a9ech sachet. / منستحقش لازم ساشي (“I don’t need a bag.”)

Mouch lezem sachet. / منستحقش/موش لازم ساشي (“A bag isn’t necessary.”)

Here are some final recordings in this to assist you with your Tunisian Arabic pronunciations:

Najem nekhou sachet?:

Sachet, 3aychek?:

Manest7a9ech sachet:

Mouch lezem sachet:

Wrapping up the article

While shopping in a country like Tunisia, being able to speak the local dialect of Arabic to store employees or other customers can enrich and enliven your shopping experience. (It certainly makes it more fun!) After spending enough time with the material in this article, you’ll know how to ask if a store is opened or closed, some basic questions to assist while perusing products in a shop, how to perform the transaction, and closing requests like if a receipt or bag is necessary.

To learn more about how Tunisian money works from a Tunisian Arabic perspective, read the IBL article: Understanding Tunisian Money in Tunisian Arabic. Or you may wish to move over to the topic of verbs and understand how verbs work in Tunisian Arabic: How verbs function in Tunisian Arabic.

As always, we wish you a marvellous journey.