Another short post about a useful and common expression.
نفسي (for most people nifsi or nəfsi, you may hear some people say nafsi) means ‘I’d love…’ or ‘I wish (I had…)’. You can replace ـي with other pronouns, of course.
With nouns it takes بـ:
نفسي بفنجان قهوة
nəfsi bfənjaan 2ahwe
I’d love a cup of coffee
نفسي بإيشي يفرحني
nifsi b2ishi yfarri7ni
I wish I had something to make me cheery
With verbs it triggers the subjunctive:
I’d really like sometime to have a dream where the picture was clear. All my dreams are filmed on Nokias
There’s a high-quality rap by the guy from El Morabba that makes extensive use of this construction:
ايش نفسك؟
2eesh nifsak?
What’s your wish? / What would you like to happen?
نفسي نقعد نفكر ونخطط لقدام نفسي نبعد ونكرر نخبط نكسر الحيطان
nifsi nu23od nfakker nkhaTTet la2uddaam nifsi nub3od w nkarrer, nkhabbeT nuksor il7iTaan
I want us to sit down and think, to plan ahead / I want us to go away and repeat, slam and break down the walls
نفس is also used in the very useful expression:
ما إلي نفس
maa 2əli nəf@s
I don’t feel like it, I don’t have any appetite