Marrakech runs on Darija (Moroccan Arabic) in the souks and the street, and on French in restaurants, hotels and on the road signs — with Tamazight heard in the Atlas villages on your day trips. A handful of phrases opens doors in the medina that money alone never will.
Culture · Updated June 2026 · 4 min read
Greetings and basics
Greetings matter enormously in Marrakech. Opening with the right words in a souk stall or a riad doorway signals respect and almost always earns a warmer welcome — and a fairer first price. Darija greetings echo Modern Standard Arabic but carry a distinctly Moroccan accent: the 'q' often softens to a glottal stop and the vowels are compressed. Don't fret about getting it perfect; the attempt is what counts.
- Salam / Salam alaykum — Hello / Peace be upon you (standard greeting)
- Wa alaykum salam — And upon you peace (response)
- Labas? / Labas, hamdullah — How are you? / Fine, praise God
- Shukran — Thank you
- La shukran — No, thank you (essential for polite refusals)
- Smah liya — Excuse me / I'm sorry
- Bslama — Goodbye
- Wakha — OK / Alright
Numbers and money
Numbers in Darija follow a familiar pattern from Modern Standard Arabic. For haggling over a lamp in the souks or settling a petit-taxi fare across Gueliz, these are the ones you will reach for most:
- Wahed, jouj, tlata, rba, khamsa — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Stta, sba, tmanya, tsa'oud, a'shra — 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
- A'shr-in, tlat-in — 20, 30 (and so on by tens)
- Miya — 100 | Alf — 1,000
- Bshhal? — How much?
- Ghali bzzaf — Too expensive
- Khfef shwiya — A little cheaper
- Mashi mushkil — No problem
French essentials
French is the language of the menu in a Gueliz bistro, the riad reception, the road signs and most business in Marrakech — a legacy of the French Protectorate (1912–1956) that remains deeply embedded. Even a little French dramatically widens what you can say, especially in the ville nouvelle districts of Gueliz and Hivernage.
- Bonjour / Bonsoir — Good day / Good evening
- S'il vous plaît / Merci — Please / Thank you
- L'addition, s'il vous plaît — The bill, please
- Où est...? — Where is...?
- Je voudrais... — I would like...
- Combien ça coûte? — How much does it cost?
- C'est trop cher — It's too expensive
- Parlez-vous anglais? — Do you speak English?
Pronunciation notes and haggling
Darija compresses vowels heavily compared with Modern Standard Arabic — 'drari' (children) almost collapses into a single syllable. The letters 'gh' (غ) and 'kh' (خ) are guttural sounds absent from English: 'gh' resembles a soft French 'r'; 'kh' resembles the 'ch' in 'loch'. Neither takes long to get the hang of.
In the Marrakech souks the haggle is a friendly ritual and entirely expected. Open in French or Darija, ask 'bshhal?' (how much?), meet the first price with a wince and 'ghali bzzaf' (too expensive), counter at roughly 40–60% of the opening figure, and trade upward from there. Keep a smile and good humour throughout and both sides enjoy it. Drifting slowly toward the door of the stall often conjures the real final price.