Algerian Arabic Negative Form

Learning how to say no in Algerian Arabic is actually fun!
In this lesson, you’ll learn the two ways to make something negative:

1. With verbs — what I call the sandwich way 🥪

2. With nouns and adjectives — a simpler structure you’ll use all the time.

Let’s dive in! 👇

1️⃣ The Sandwich Way (for Verbs)

When we want to say “I don’t do something” in Algerian Arabic, we wrap the verb between ما /ma:/ and ش /ch/.

It’s like making a sandwich — ما /ma:/ is the top bread, ش /ch/ is the bottom bread, and the verb is the filling!

👉 Formula:

ما + verb + ش

/ma:/ + verb + /ch/

a) Simple Present Tense 

Examples:

I like = /n’7ib/ نْحِبْ

I don’t like = /ma:n’7ibch/ ما نْحِبْش

أنا نْحِبْ شِيكولا ⬅️ أنا ما نْحِبْش شِيكولا

/ana: ma: n’7ibch chi:koula:/

I don’t like chocolate

b) Simple Past Tense

Examples:

I wrote = /k’tibt/ كْتِبْت

I didn’t write = /ma:k’tibtch/ ما كْتِبْتْش

كْتِبْت الدَّرْسْ لْبَارِح ⬅️ ما كْتِبْتش الدَّرْسْ لْبَارِح

/ma:k’tibtch eddars elba:ri7/

I didn’t write the lesson yesterday

c) Future Tense

Examples:

I will travel = /ra:ni: ra:y7a n’sa:fir/ راني) رايْحَة نْسَافِر)

ما رانِيش/ مانيش رايْحَة نْسَافِر

/ma:ra:ni:ch/ma:ni:ch ra:y7a n’sa:fir/

I will not travel

رَانِي رَايْحة نْسَافِرْ غُدْوَة ⬅️ ما رَانِيش (منيش) رَايْحة نْسَافِرْ غُدْوَة

/ma:ra:ni:ch/ma:ni:ch ra:y7a n’sa:fir ghodwa/

I will not travel tomorrow

2️⃣ Negatives with Nouns and Adjectives

Now let’s see how we negate nouns or adjectives.
Here, we don’t use the sandwich form.
Instead, we just add the short, simple word مش /mich/ or ماشي /ma:chi:/ before the noun or adjective — and that’s it!

Examples:

هذَا رَشيد؟ ⬅️ هذا مِش رشيد. هذا أحْمَد

/ha:da: rachi:d/ /ha:da: mich rachi:d ha:da: a7med/

Is this Rachid? He’s not Rachid. He’s Ahmed

هذِي مْلِيحَة ⬅️ هذِي ماشي مْلِيحَة

/ha:di: m’li:7a/ /ha:di: ma:chi: m’li:7a/

This is not good

Negation in Algerian Arabic is actually simple once you know the trick — verbs get the sandwich, and nouns or adjectives get their own little helper word.
Keep practicing by turning your daily sentences into negatives — the more you use them, the more natural they’ll sound.
You’ve got this! 💪