“I must / I have to” in Tunisian Arabic
لازِم
Lazem
I must / I have to
To say “I must / I have to” in Tunisian Arabic, you say لازِم, pronounced “Lazem”. An intermediate-level word, very common. In the Derja app, it appears in 2 example sentences and 1 dialogue.
Present-tense conjugation
لازم is invariable: it takes a suffixed pronoun (like عند), it doesn't conjugate
| أناI | لازمنيlazemni |
| إنتي/إنتYou | لازمكlazmek |
| هوHe | لازموlazmou |
| هيShe | لازمهاlazemha |
| أحناWe | لازمناlazemna |
| إنتوماYou (pl.) | لازمكمlazemkom |
| هوماThey | لازمهمlazemhom |
Examples
In the app's dialogues
- 🏠 At a friend's · Paying a visitلا شكرا لازمني نرجعla choukran lazimni nerja3No thanks, I need to get home
Grammar notes
Can & must: نجّم / لازم
نجّم (najjem) = can; لازم (lazem) = must / have to.
- لازم نمشيlazem nemchiI have to go
- نجّم نجيnajjem njiI can come
- تنجّم تعاونّي ؟tnajjem t3awenni ?Can you help me?
Did you know?
You'll see مَمْنُوع التْدْخِين mamnou3 etadkhin (no smoking) signs everywhere. An order softens fast with يْعَيّشِك ya3ichek (please / thank you): لازِم تُرْقُد بَكْرِي، يْعَيّشِك sounds far more polite.
Seen in the same sentences
More words · Verbs
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