The short answer
Darija is Moroccan Arabic, the everyday spoken language of Marrakech and most of Morocco. It is a distinct dialect with strong Amazigh, French and Spanish influences, so it differs a lot from Egyptian, Levantine or Gulf Arabic. Morocco's official languages are Arabic and Amazigh; Darija is what people actually speak at home and on the street.
In more detail
Darija is above all a spoken language. Modern Standard Arabic is the written, formal register: it is understood, but nobody chats in it on the street. Tamazight, the Amazigh language, is the home language in many Atlas villages around Marrakech.
For a visitor it sounds fast because vowels are compressed: 'drari' (children) almost collapses into one syllable. Two sounds have no English equivalent: 'gh', like a soft French 'r', and 'kh', like the 'ch' in 'loch'.
Learn the numbers if you plan to shop. Hearing a price in Darija and understanding it keeps a bargain in your hands, and the phrase guide below lists them from one to a thousand.
You don't need much. A dozen words, such as salam, shukran, la shukran, bshal (how much?), safi and bslama, carry you through a week and earn a lot of goodwill.
Good to know
- Bshal?: how much?
- Ghali bzzaf: too expensive.
- Mashi mushkil: no problem.
- Spellings vary, so don't worry about them.