There are two ways to say "X's Y" in Darija: put the two nouns side by side, or link them with dyal ("of, belonging to"). Darija uses dyal much more than other dialects use their equivalents.
dyal: the everyday way
Put the thing owned first with l-, then dyal, then the owner:
- الدار ديال أحمدd-dar dyal a7medAhmed's house
- الساروت ديال الطوموبيلs-sarut dyal t-tomobilthe car key
dyal never changes: the same word works for masculine, feminine and plural.
With an ending, dyal means "my, your, his…": dyali, dyalek, dyalu, dyalha, dyalna, dyalkum, dyalhum.
- هاد التيليفون دياليhad t-tilifun dyaliThis phone is mine.
- ديال من هاد الشكارة؟dyal men had sh-shkara?Whose bag is this?
Two nouns side by side
For family, parts of the body and fixed expressions, put the two nouns together. The first noun has no l-:
- دار خوياdar khuyamy brother's house
- باب الدارbab d-darthe door of the house
If the first noun ends in -a, it becomes -t: mrat a7med (Ahmed's wife).