Ead Grammar v1

Contents
Section I
Introduction
Essentials
Section II - Grammar
Nouns
Pronouns
Adjectives
Verbs
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Section III - Usage
Courtesies
Questions
Negation
Ownership
Numbers
Quantities
Which one?
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Which one?
Time
Section IV - How to say...
This section will be coming soon...
Appendices
Arabic writing and pronunciation
More about verbs than you will ever want to know
Irregular verbs
About this document
Copyright
Introduction
This document is a concise reference to grammar for people who are learning the spoken arabic of
Egypt. It is intended to be used alongside other study aids available free of charge at
www.lisaanmasry.com.
If you want to see a wider range of examples of Egyptian Arabic, check out the Lonely Planet
publication "Egyptian Arabic Phrasebook" by Siona Jenkins. It is a very useful pocket guide.
Getting started
This document is made up of three main sections:
essentials - an introduction to grammatical terms and to Egyptian arabic, pointing out the
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similarities and differences between Egyptian and English

grammar - a description of how to build sentences using the standard language elements
usage - commonly used words, phrases and expressions
A word about arabic writing

It is not difficult to learn to read and write in arabic, but it is an additional barrier to learning.
Realistically, you are unlikely ever to see Egyptian Arabic in print: notices, packaging, adverts, web
sites etc are written in Modern Standard Arabic. And if you want to read Arabic handwriting, that's a
different ballgame altogether. An understanding of the Arabic alphabet can sometimes be useful,
but it is by no means essential.
The examples in this document are therefore written in both arabic and roman letters. There are two
ways of writing arabic using roman letters: the transliterated form tells you exactly how it would be
written in arabic, and the pronounced form gives you an indication of how to pronounce it in
european letters. For the pronounced form, I have chosen to write things how and english person
would. My apologies to people whose first language is not english.
The pronunciation rules, the arabic alphabet and the transliterated and pronounced spelling are
explained in the section on arabic writing and pronunciation
The examples in the PDF version are this document are written in arabic and in pronounced form.
The essentials- Same same but different

In many cases, Egyptian uses the same structure as English: let's first look at some simple
examples where the structure is similar, then move on to the differences.
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Nouns and verbs

Here is a simple sentence in both english and Egyptian:
Ahmed loves sarah
aacHmad biyiHibb saarao
Element
English Egyptian
subject noun Ahmed

verb
loves
object noun
Sarah
'ahmad
biyihibb

saara
In both the English and Egyptian examples, there are three words: two words are nouns (people,
things or ideas) and the middle word is a verb, which explains what is happening. In both cases, the
noun before the verb (Ahmed) is the subject (the person or thing that is doing something) and the
noun after the verb (Sarah) is the object- is the person or thing that is having something done to it.
We can change the meaning by turning the words around, like this:
Sarah loves Ahmed
saarao bitHibb aacHmad
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Element
English Egyptian
subject noun Sarah

verb
loves
object noun
Ahmed
saara

bitihibb

'ahmad
The nouns do not change, they have just moved: we know from the order of the words that Sarah is
now the subject- the one who is loving, and Ahmed is now the object, the one who is loved. In
english, the verb does not change at all, but in Egyptian it changes a little because the subject is
now female, not male. We will look in more detail at how exactly verbs change to match the subject
later, in the section on verbs.
Subject and Object

The subject and object can be a name, for example Sarah and Ahmed, but there are some other
possiblities as well. Here are some examples:
Element
English
name
Sarah
Egyptian
saara

irraagil
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noun (specific)
the man
the woman
the cat
the idea
noun(general)
a man
a woman
a cat
an idea
noun(quantity)
some men
five men
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irraagil

issitt

il'utta

ilfikra

raagil

sitt

'utta
fikra

shwyit rigalae

chamas rigala

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any man
pronoun(subject) he
she
pronoun(object)
him
her
'ay raagil

huwwa

hiya

-uh
-ha
The word il- is corresponds to 'the' in english, but there is no equivalent to 'a'. The noun just
appears on its own.
Note that adding il- to a word affects the pronunciation if it begins with a sun letter.
Pronouns
Pronouns are the short words like I and they that often replace nouns in spoken English and
Egyptian, to make our speech clearer and more concise. Here is a simple example:
I love her
aacnaa baHibbahaa
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Element
English Egyptian
subject pronoun I
verb
love
object pronoun
her
'ana
bahibb

-aha
We can see that the subject is still at the start of the sentence and the object is still at the end of the
sentence, but in Egyptian the object pronoun is attached to the end of the verb. Let's turn that round
and see what happens:
she loves me
hiya bitiHibb-ny
Element
English Egyptian
subject pronoun she
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verb
loves
object pronoun
me
hiya

bitihibb

-ny
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Woa, what happened there? Everything changed, in both English and Egyptian! The reason is that,
in both languages, there are different forms of the pronoun for subject and object. There is a third
form of the pronoun that indicates ownership (my/his/your/their/its) but we will save that until we
cover pronouns in more detail. For now, let's just look at the subject and object pronouns.
Remember that object pronouns are attached to the end of the verb.
Subject
Object
English Egyptian English

I
we
you(m)
you(f)
you(pl)
he/it(m)
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'ana
me
us
you(m)
you(f)
you(pl)
'ihna
'inta
'inti
'intu
huwwa

hiya
him/it(m)
Egyptian
-ny
-na
-ak
-ik
-ukw
-uh
-ha
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she/it(f)
they
hiya

humma
her/it(f)
-ha
-uhum
them
Here are a few more examples:

English
I know him
Ahmed knows him
Sarah knows him
I smoke cigarettes
I write books
Ahmed writes books
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he writes books
Egyptian
'ana Aaarifuh

'ahmad Aaarifuh

saara Aaarifah

'ana bashrab sagaeyar

'ana baktib kutub

'ahmad biyiktib kutub

huwwa biyiktib kutub
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he writes books
Note that the subject pronoun can be omitted if the meaning is still clear
There is no 'is'
The word is/am/are is one of the most commonly use verbs in english.... but, if you are talking about
something now (not the past or future), there is no word in Egyptian for 'is'. That's quite a big
difference, but it's not too difficult. Let's take a look at some examples:
English
I am tired
Ahmed is Egyptian
the cats are in the garden
Sarah is available
today is friday
Egyptian
'ana taAbaen

'ahmad masry

il'utat fy ilginyna

saara mawguda

innahaarda ilgumAa

dy miraaty
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this is my wife
my husband is at home
dy miraaty

guzy fy ilbiyt
When you are talking about a past or future situation, then the Egyptian words kaen - was and
haykun - will be are used. This will be covered in more detail later under verbs. Here are
some simple examples:
English
I am tired
Ahmed is tired
I was tired
Ahmed was tired
I will be tired
Ahmed will be tired
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Egyptian
'ana taAbaen

'ahmad taAbaen

'ana kunt taAbaen

'ahmad kaen taAbaen

'ana hakun taAbaen

'ahmad hayikun taAbaen
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Ahmed will be tired
There is no 'have'
The verb have is widely used in English, but there is no equivalent verb in Egyptian. Have is used
in many ways in English, and in Egyptian a different word is used for each meaning.
Meaning
English
have with me I have matches
Egyptian
maAaya kabryt

Aandy biyt
own
I have a house
must
I have to go
eat, etc
I will have dinner hatAashsha

(I will dine)
take
I will have a nap haechuz taAsyla

(I will take a nap)

laezim 'aruwh
Masculine, feminine, plural

Like many european languages, all Egyptian nouns are either masculine or feminine. Here are
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some examples:
Gender
English
masculine book
masculine dog
masculine man
masculine biyt
masculine milk
masculine peace
masculine teacher
feminine
teacher
Arabic
kitaeb

kalb
raagil

biyt
laban
salaem

mudarris

mudarrisa

fikra
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feminine
idea
fikra

tarabyza
feminine
table
feminine
workshop
feminine
woman
feminine
daughter
girl
feminine
fire
feminine
head
warsha

sitt

bint
naar

raas
As you can see, the majority of feminine nouns end in -a . There are a few exceptions though:
some are obvious, like woman and daughter, but others, you just need to learn them. We will cover
this in more detail in the section on nouns.
In both english and Egyptian, there are two forms of a noun: singular and plural. Here are some
examples of plurals:
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English
Arabic
Singular
Plural
book
books
dog
dogs
man
men
child
children
house
house
kutub

kalb
kilaeb
raagil

riggala

tifl

'atfael
biyt

buyut
salaem
teacher(m) teachers
kitaeb
peace
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Plural
laban
milk
teacher(f)
Singular
teachers
mudarris
mudarrisyn
mudarrisa mudarrisaet
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teacher(f)
teachers
idea
ideas

fikra
'afkaar

tarabyza
table
tables
workshop
workshops
woman
women
daughter
girl
daughters
girls
fire
fires
head
heads

tarabyzaet
warsha

sitt
wirash

sattaet

bint

banaet
naar

nyraan

raas

ru'wus
In english, the majority of plural nouns are the same as the singular, with a suffix of -s for example
book/books, but there are a small number of words with unusual plurals, for example man/men and
child/children. In Egyptian, feminine nouns that end in -a have a very straightforward plural- or -at
: plurals of masculine nouns vary quite a lot- the vowels move about a bit but the consonants
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remain the same. You will need to learn them.

Note that, both in english and Egyptian, some words do not have a plural- for example milk and
peace.
Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe something- for example, good or small. In english, adjectives do
not change, but in Egyptian there are different forms of an adjective for masculine, feminine and
plural. Here are some examples:
English
he is tired
she is tired
they are tired
he is good
she is good
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Egyptian
huwwa taAbaen

hiya taAbaena

humma taAbanyn

huwwa kuwayis

hiya kuwayisa

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they are good
humma kuwayisyn
The good news is that the majority of adjectives require just a different ending for feminine- -a
and plural -yn forms. We will cover this in more detail in the section on adjectives
Adverbs
Just as adjectives describe a noun, adverbs say something about a verb - where, when, how often,
how much etc. They can also be used to describe the extent of an adjective (very good) or even
another adverb (very slowly). Many English adverbs end with -ly. Usage of adverbs is very similar
in English and Egyptian: here are some examples
describing English
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verb
I will come back soon
verb
Ahmed walks quickly
adjective
Ahmed is extremely clever
adverb
Ahmed drives reasonably fast
Egyptian
'ana hargaA baAd shuwaya

'ahmad biyimshy bisuraAa

'ahmad shaatir giddaen

'ahmad biyisu' bisuraAa maA'ula

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Prepositions
In English, prepositions link to a noun. This is possible in Egyptian, but prepositions are also
commonly used in place of verbs.
In Egyptian, prepositions are widely used in place of verbs, for example have is usually expressed
using the prepositions Aand ( own) and maAa ( have with you): see ownership for more
information. Here are some examples of prepositions:
after
behind
have
there is
baAd
she came after dinner
the garden is behind the house
wara
Aand
fy
I have a house in Cairo

there is water
Egyptian
hiya gaet baAd ilAashaa'

ilginyna wara ilbiyt

Aandy biyt fy il'aehira

fy mayae
Conjunctions
A conjunction joins two clauses to make a much more complex sentence. Here is an example:
I want to make bread but I don't have enough flour
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Aaayiz aacAamil Aiysh lakin maAandysh diqyq kifaayao

Part
English
Main clause
I want to make bread
Conjunction
but
Second clause I don't have enough flour
Egyptian
Aaeyiz 'aAamil Aiysh

lakin
maAandysh di'y' kifaeya
In English, the same word is often used for a preposition and a conjunction, but in Egyptian it may
be different. Sometimes it is only necessary to add the word ma to convert a preposition to a
conjunction.
Element
English
preposition
(dinner is a noun)
wash your hands before dinner
Egyptian
'iGsil iydyk 'abl ilAashaa'
conjunction
'iGsil iydyk 'abl ma taekul
(you eat is a clause- wash your hands before you eat

it contains a verb)
Nouns
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A noun represents a person, thing or concept. Here are some examples:

Type
English
person
Ahmed
person
man
person
player
thing
leather
concept wisdom
concept appointment
Arabic
'ahmad
raagil

laeAib

gild
hikma
myAaed
Masculine and feminine

In arabic, nouns can be masculine or feminine. This does not necessarily mean that they belong to
male and female persons. Most words that end with -a are feminine. In addition, there are a small
number of words that do not end in -a that are also feminine. Some of these words are obvious:
others less so. Here are some examples of feminine nouns:
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English
fikra
idea
woman
daughter
fire
head
Arabic
sitt

bint
naar

raas
Plurals
If there is more than one of something, the noun becomes a plural. For many nouns, only the ending
changes.
Gender
masculine
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Ending Singular
-yn
Plural
muhaesib muhaesibyn

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feminine
-at
muhasba
muhaesibat
Occupations
Generally speaking, the plural for trades ends with either -yn or -aya , but for professions
there are different endings for men -yn and women -at .
English
carpenter
greengrocer
male teacher
female teacher
Singular
Plural
naggaar
naggaaryn

chudary

chudariyya

mudarris
mudarrisyn

mudarrisa mudarrisat
Collective nouns
In english, fish can mean pieces of fish or one fish or several: the former is described as a
collective noun. In Egyptian, many foods- and some other things- have a collective noun. You can
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talk about one item, for example one fish, by adding -a ending
English Collective one

eggs
fish
flies
biyd
biyda
samak
dibbaen
samaka
dibbaena
Many materials- things that can be used to make something from, like leather or cloth, are treated in
the same way: you add -a to give the meaning a piece of...
English Collective a piece

wood
soap
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chashab
sabun
chashaba
sabuna

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Pairs
The egyptian word for shoes (gazma )relates to a pair. For a single shoe, it is necessary to
say fardit gazma .
English Egyptian
shoes
socks
gloves
gazma
sharaab

guwanty
Duals
If you want to talk about two people, or specify a quantity of two, see the section on two in numbers.
If you want to talk about two things (not people or quantities), you should use the dual suffix -yn .
This is equivalent to a couple which can mean exactly two, or approximately two. There are slightly
different forms for feminine nouns and words ending in -y . Here are some examples:
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English
English
Egyptian
two books
kitaabyn
kursy
-tyn
chair
two chairs
(ends with y)
kursiyyin
book (m)
minute (f)
Egyptian Suffix
kitaeb
-yn
di'y'a
-iyyin
a couple of minutes diqiqtyn
Ownership
One way to express belonging is to add a posessive pronoun to the end of a noun. See ownership
for information about other methods. Here are some examples:
English
his book
my wife
your(m) idea
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on its own
with pronoun
kitaeb
kitaebuh

does not exist on its own
fikra

miraaty

fikritak

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Compound nouns
You can describe a noun using another noun, for example to say what material it is made from. The
qualifying noun is always singular. If the main noun is preceded by il- the qualifying noun is also
preceded by il- . Note that adding il- to a word affects the pronunciation if it begins with a sun
letter.
English
a plastic bag
the plastic bag
plastic bags
the plastic bags
Arabic
kys blastik

ilkys ilblastik

'akyaes blastik

il'akyaes ilblastik
Pronouns
Pronouns are short words that are used to replace nouns in spoken English and Arabic, to make
our speech clearer and more concise. In this example, Ahmed is the noun and He is the pronoun:
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Ahmed has a dog. He walks with it every day

aacHmad Aand-uh kalb wa huwwa biyitmashshY maAa-uh kul ywm
There are four main groups of pronoun:
personal pronouns - I, you, he, etc
demonstrative pronouns - this, that
indefinite pronouns - somebody, anywhere
relative pronouns - who, which, that
Personal pronouns
In English, there are four versions of the personal pronoun (he, him, his, himself): in Egyptian, there
is an additional version (to him).
English Egyptian Form
he
him
to him
huwwa
subject
object
-uh
-luh
indirect object
-uh
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-uh
his
nafsuh
himself
posessive
reflexive
In Egyptian, there are separate forms of you for masculine, feminine and plural, but there is no
neuter (it): instead, it is necessary to use the he or she form, depending on the gender of the noun
Subject pronouns
A subject is the noun that appears before the verb- the person or thing that is doing something.
I like to read
aacnaa baaHib aacktib
The subject pronouns are:
English Egyptian
I
we
you(m)
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'ana
'ihna
'inta

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you(f)
you(pl)
he/it(m)
she/it(f)
they
'inti

'intu
huwwa

hiya

humma
Personal pronouns are not needed with verbs, as it is clear from the verb, but it is common to use
them, especially for emphasis. They are often used with participles.
Object pronoun suffixes
You can attach an object pronoun (for example me or him) as a suffix to an imperative, verb or
participle. to refer to the object.
give me the knife
iicddyny iil-sikkynao
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The object suffixes are similar to posessive suffixes on nouns:

English
me
us
You(m)
You(f)
You(pl)
Him/it(m)
Her/if(f)
Them
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Suffix
-ni
-na
-ak
-ik
-kum
-u
-ha

-hum
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If there is an I before the last consonant and the suffix starts with a vowel, the -i- is dropped, so...
possessive pronoun suffix
Things that would be expressed using a posessive pronoun (my, your... etc) in English can be
handled using a possessive suffix attached to the noun, or using bitaA . The latter is used for
most imported words.
what (is) your name?
iicsm-ak iicyh?
The posessive pronouns themselves are pretty easy to learn, but when the pronouns are attached
to nouns, the vowels do a little dance to make sure that you don't get three consonants in a row.
Here are examples for nouns that end with one or two consonants:
Nouns ending in two consonants
English
after -C
after -CC
saahib
kalb

my
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-y
saahiby
-y
kalby
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our
your(m)
your(f)
your(pl)
his/its(m)
her/its(f)
their
-na
saahibna
-ina

-ak
saahibak
-ak

-ik
saahibik
kalbina
kalbak
-ik
kalbik
-kum saahibkum -ukum kalbukum

-uh
saahibuh
-ha

saahibha
-uh
kalbuh
-aha
kalbaha
-hum saahibhum -uhum kalbuhum
For nouns ending in -a , the -a is replaced by -t or -it and then the ending is added.
Nouns ending in -a
English
after -C
after -CC
kura
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shanta
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my
our
your(m)
your(f)
your(pl)
his/its(m)
her/its(f)
their
-ty
kurty
-itna
kuritna

-tak
-tik
kurtak
-ity
-itna
-itak

kurtik
-itik
shantity
shantitna
shantitak
shantitik
-itkum kuritkum
-itkum shantitkum
-tuh
-ituh
-itha
kurtuh
kuritha
-ithum kurithum
-itha
shantituh
shantitha
-ithum shantithum
Nouns that end in alif -a are treated almost like feminine nouns, ie the alif is replaced by -it
and then the ending is added.
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Nouns ending in -y or -w are listed below.

Note that for most words ending in -w , for example baltw , one would normally use bitaA
rather than a posessive suffix.
Nouns ending in a vowel
-a
English
-y
vyla
our
your(m)
your(f)
your(pl)
-ya
-na

vylitna
vylitak

-ki
vylitik

-kum vylitkum

-h
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vylity

-k
kursy

my
-w
vylituh
kursya
kursyna
kursyk
kursyky
Aadw
Aadwy
Aadwna
Aadwk
Aadwik
kursykum Aadwkum
kursyh
Aadwh
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his/its(m)
her/its(f)
their
-h
vylituh
-ha
kursyh

vylitha
kursyha
-hum vylithum
Aadwh
Aadwha
kursyhum Aadwhum
Father and brother 'abb

and brother 'achch
become 'abw- and brother 'achw- when a
possessive pronoun is added.
English
my
our
your(m)
your(f)
your(pl)
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father
aacbb
brother
aacKK
'abwya
'achwya
'abuna
'abuk
'abuky
'achuna
'achuk
'achuky
'abukum 'achukum
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your(pl)
his/its(m)
her/its(f)
their
'abuh
'achuh
'abuha
'achuha
'abuhum 'achuhum
reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself)

Reflexive pronouns can be used after a noun or a verb.
English
I can look after myself
The man himself
He did it by himself
Egyptian
haechud baly min nafsy

irraagil nafsuh

huwwa Aaemalha binafsuh
Demonstrative pronouns
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These are the words that you use when you want to point at something.
English
this (man)
this (woman, thing)
those (men)
those (women,things)
Egyptian
dah

dy
dul
dyh
If you want to use one of these with a noun, to indicate which one, (for example, this book), you
should use a Demonstrative adjective. Fortunately, in both English an Egyptian, the demonstrative
pronouns are the same as the demonstrative adjectives. Note that, when using demonstrative
adjectives in Egyptian, the noun retains its il- prefix.
demonstrative English
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pronoun
how much is this
pronoun
how much is this book
Egyptian
bikaem dah

bikaem ilkitaeb dah

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Indefinite pronouns
These are words like anybody, something etc. In Egyptian, these are made up of two words, but
they are used in exactly the same way as in English.
English
somebody
anybody
nobody
something
anything
nothing
somewhere
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Egyptian
hadd

'ay hadd

wala hadd

haega

'ay haega

wala haega

makaen

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anywhere
nowhere
'ay makaen

wala makaen
Relative pronoun
The relative pronoun illy is used to represent that, who and which
the left turn that is coming (ie the next left)
iil-yimyn iilly gayy
the man who lives here
iil-raagil iilly saakin hinaa
Adjectives
Adjectives can be used in two ways: to describe something, or to specify which one of several you
are talking about.
English
describe a cherry is red
describe the ball is red
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Egyptian
kiryza hamra

ilkura hamra

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describe I want a red ball

specify
I want the red ball
describe the book is big

describe I have read a big book
Aaeyiz kura hamra

Aaeyiz ilkura ilhamra

ilkitaeb kibyr

'araa't kitaeb kibyr

'araa't ilkitaeb ilkibyr
specify
I have read the big book
describe the man is blind

describe a blind man is outside
specify
the blind man is outside
irraagil 'aAma

raagil 'aAma barra

irraagil il'aAma barra
In English, when you use an adjective to specify which one of several you are talking about, you put
the word the in front of the adjective. It is almost the same in Egyptian, but you put il- before
both the adjective and the noun: the il- before the adjective is the one that means that the
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adjective is specifying which one you mean. Note that adding il- to a word affects the
pronunciation if it begins with a sun letter.
Masculine, feminine, plural

In english, there is only one form of an adjective, but in Egyptian, most adjectives must agree in
gender and number with the noun that they relate to. Here are some examples:
English
Egyptian
irraagil shaatir
the man is clever

issitt shaatrah
the woman is clever

il'atfael shaatiryn
the children are clever
The following table shows some typical feminine and plural forms:
English Egyptian
masculine feminine
-ah
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plural
-yn
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big
good
red
easy
nice
free
brown
kibyr
kibyrah
kuwayis

'ahmar
sahl
latyf
faady

hamrah
bunny
humr
sahlyn
lutaaf

bunny
faadyah
kuwayisah kuwayisyn
latyfah
kubaar
sahlah

faadyyin

bunny
The feminine form of most adjectives is made by adding the suffix -ah , and the plural is formed by
adding the suffix -yn . Note that adding a suffix may affect the pronunciation.
We will look at some of the common exceptions later. Note that some words, for example brown
bunny are invariable- you use the same form for masculine, feminine and plural.
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Countries
A country name is usually converted to an adjective by adding -y . This can be used to refer to a
person, a language or something from a country.
English
Country
pl
-y
-iya
iyyin
Egypt
Greece
Italy
Sweden
the North
Europe
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masr
masry
ilyunaen
'iytalya
yunany
'iytaly
siwydy
ishshimael shimaly
'uurubba

siwydya

'iytalya
masriyyin
yunaeniya yunaeniyyin

issiwyd
masriya

'iytalyyin

siwydyyin
shimaeliya shimaeliyyin

'uurubby

'uurubbiya

'uurubbiyyin

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Irregular ones...
India
America
ilhind
hindy
hindya
'amryka
hunud
amrikiya
'amryky (people)
'amrikany ( things)
amrykaen
For some countries eg England, the adjective is made from the collective noun. Here are some
examples:
English
Country
-y
-iya
England
Arabia
Russia
Germany
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'ingiltira
collective noun
'ingilyzy 'ingilyziyah 'ingilyz

Aaraby
Aaraby
rusya
rusy
Aarabiyah Aarab

rusyah

rus
'almanya 'almany 'almanyah 'almaen

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Spain
'asbanya 'asbany 'asbanyah 'asbaen
For countries ending in two consonants and alif, the ending is -awy .
English Country m
-awy

Austria
France
innimsa

faransa
nimsaewy
pl
-awiya
-awiyyin
nimsawiyyah nimsawiyyin
faransaewy faransawiyah faransawiyyin
One common usage of the country adjective is to talk about a person from that country. Here are
some examples:
English
an Egyptian man
an Egyptian woman
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Egyptian
waehid masry

wahda masrya

waehid 'ingilizy
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waehid 'ingilizy
an englishman
an englishwoman
a frenchman
a frenchwoman
wahda 'ingilyzya

waehid faransawy

wahda faransawiya
The feminine and plural are used only for people. For inanimate objects, the masculine form only is
used. Here are some examples:
English
a greek boat
French cheese
Egyptian
markib yunany

gibna faransaewy

ilAarabiyaet 'amrikany
american cars
Colours
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The main colours follow a pattern. Here are some examples:

English
pl
C=consonant aCCaC CaCCah CuCC

white
black
yellow
blue
green
red
'abyad
'iswid

'asfar
'azra'
biyda
suda
safra
'ahmar
suwd
sufr

zar'ah
'achdar chadra
biyd
zur'

chudr

hamra
humr
Colours derived from a material or thing just have a -y added. They are invariable: the feminine
and plural form is the same as the masculine form.
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English
m/f/pl
brown
coffee
bunny
golden
silver
copper
light grey

faddy
nahasy

rumady

rusaasy
dark green
olive
zyty
pale blue
zahaby
dark grey
lead
dark blue
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kuhly
labany
nibyty
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nibyty
dark red
wine
kastanae'yy
chestnut
light brown
honey
Aasaly
purple
violet
banafsigy
burtu'aly
orange
deep purple bitangany

aubergine

Personal attributes
Personal attributes or disabilities follow the same pattern as the basic colours:
English
pl
C=consonant aCCaC CaCCah CuCC

foolish
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'ahbal
habla
hubl
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squinting
bald
bald

'a'raA

'aslaA
fair skin
blonde
'ash'ar
dark skin
brunette
'asmar
frizzy haired
left handed
right handed
lame
blind
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'ahwal
'akrat
hulaa'

'arAa
salAaa'

sha'ara

samra

karta
'ayman yimna
'aArag

'aAma
'urA
sulA
shu'r
sumr
kurt
'ashwal shula
huwl
Aarga
shul
yumn
Aurg

Aamya
Aumy
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'atrash turshaa' tursh
deaf

'asam
deaf
samaa'
'achras charsa
mute
summ

churs
Slightly, Very... Extremely...

The following adverbs can be placed after the adjective:
English
slightly
moderately
very
extremely
Egyptian
shwaya

bi'iAtidael

'awy
chaalis

giddaen
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giddaen
Aail'achir

too
'awy
Here are some examples:

English
the car is slightly damaged
Egyptian
ilAarabiya 'itdarrarit shwaya

issigaeda kaenit Galya 'awy
the carpet was very expensive
he is extremely rich
this house is too big
huwwa Gany giddaen

ilbiyt dih kibyr 'awy
You may have noticed that the word qawy has two meanings: very and too. This sometimes
causes confusion when Egyptians speak english: they say, for example, too much when they
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mean very much.
Comparatives
In english we take an adjective like big and add suffixes -er to make comparative bigger and -est
to make the superlative biggest. In Egyptian there is one word, a comparative, that is used for both.
The context indicates the meaning.
We can compare two things using min :
English
Ahmad is taller than me
he is more stupid than I thought
Egyptian
'ahmad 'atwal minny

huwwa 'aGba min makunt faekir
We can also make comparison without specifying the second thing like this:
English
Ahmad is a lot taller
the weather will be a little better tomorrow
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Egyptian
'ahmad 'atwal bikityr

ilgaww haykun 'ahsan shuwaya bukra

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For the superlative (best, biggest) the comparative is used immediately before a noun:
English
mohammed is the tallest student
he is the youngest boy
Egyptian
muhammad 'atwal taalib

huwwa 'asGar walad

ittaalib il'atwal tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy
the tallest student is 1m90
the most expensive drink is 20 pounds

this is the prettiest dress in the shop
it was the best day in my life
ilmashrub il'aGla 20 ginyh

dih 'ahla fustaen fy ilmahal

kaen 'ahsan yum fy hayaty
Making comparatives
As you may have noticed from the previous examples, the comparative is often derived from the
adjective as follows:
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English
big
easy
tall
classy
adjective
comparative
kibyr
'akbar
sahl
'ashal
tawyl
'atwal
raqy

'arqa
exceptions
good
kuwayyis
'ahsan
For adjectives with two consonants and ending in -y or -w , the final letter changes to alif-layena
-a .
English
pretty
expensive
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adjective comparative
hilw
'ahla
Galy
'aGla
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expensive
loud/high
rich
healthy
stupid
clever

Aaly
'aAla

Gany
'aGna
sahy
Gaby
no comp
'aGba
zaky
'azka
For adjectives with three consonants where the last two consonants are the same, the middle vowel
is replaced with a fatha -a .
English
serious
new
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adjective comparative
gadd

gidyd
no comp
'agdad

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important
numerous
lucky
popular
light
delicious
few
muhimm 'ahamm

Aadyd
mahzuz
mahbub

no comp
no comp
'ahabb
chafyf

'achaff
lazyz

'alazz
'alayil

'a'ael
In English, it is not possible to make a comparative in the usual way from some adjectives, for
example interesting: instead, we say more interesting. The same is true in Egyptian: the words
'aktar - more and 'a'ael - less are used with the adjective. Here are examples of adjectives
that are handled this way
Group
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English
Egyptian
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participles
beginning with m
the contract is more acceptable like

this
participles
beginning with ta
I am less traditional than you
adjectives
he gets more selfish every day
beginning with 'a-
adjectives
ending with -an
Sarah is more tired than Ahmed
ilAa'd ma'bul 'aktar kidah

'ana ta'lidy 'a'ael minnak

huwwa biyib'a 'anany 'aktar kul
yum

saara taAbaena 'aktar min 'ahmad
Verbs
A verb tells you what is happening- for example, reading, walking etc. In Egyptian, the general
meaning of a word is defined by the consonants, and several related words may contain this set of
letters. For example, the letters ktb are used to make the words write, type, book, writer, written,
writing, office and desk. The exact meaning is affected by the vowels, prefixes and suffixes (extra
bits at the beginning and the end). Here are some of the ways the exact meaning can change for
verbs:
tense - when something happens (past, present, future)
case - who is doing it (I, you, he, etc)
mode - must, could etc
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pronouns - who is doing it, who is having it done to them

negation - say something is NOT happening
The examples that follow use the verb katab , which means write: about 30% of verbs follow
this pattern, and there are probably about three or four other patterns.
The web site www.lisaanmasry.com and the windows and Android apps that you can download
from the web site all provides full details for the majority of verbs.
Pronouns
There are three main types of pronouns that can be used with verbs:
subject - I, we, you, he, she, it, they
object - me, us, you, him, her, it, them
indirect object - to me, to us, to you, to him, to her, to it, to them
In Egyptian, the subject pronoun is a separate word before the verb: the object and indirect object
pronouns are attached to the end of the verb. Here are a some examples:
Pronoun
English
Subject
I know Ahmed
Subject, object I know him

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Arabic
'ana Aaarif 'ahmad

'ana Aaarifuh

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Object
Ahmed saw her yesterday
Object
Sarah knows him
'ahmad shaefha 'imbaarih

saara Aaarifah

iddyhwly
Object, Indirect give it to me!
Subject pronoun
The subject pronoun appears before the verb or participle.
English Arabic
I
we
you(m)
you(f)
you(pl)
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'ana
'ihna
'inta

'inti

'intu
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you(pl)
he/it(m)
she/it(f)
they
huwwa

hiya

humma
Object pronoun
You can attach an object pronoun (for example me or him) to the end of an imperative, verb or
participle. See pronouns for more information.
Ahmed envies me
aacHmad biyiHsad-ny
English
me
us
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Suffix
-ny
-na
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-ak
you(m)
-ik
you(f)
-kum
you(pl)
him/it(m)
her/it(f)
them
-uh
-ha
-hum
If there is an -i- before the last consonant and the suffix starts with a vowel, the -i- is dropped. If
the verb requires a preposition (to, from etc) the object goes on the preposition.
English
show me!
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Egyptian
warryny

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nobody helped us
mahaddish saeAidna

'ana shuftak
I saw you(m)

'ana bahibbik
I love you(f)

'ana Aaarifuh
I know him

'ana 'ultilhum
I told them
Indirect object
Some verbs require two objects- for example:
give it(f) to me
iiddy-haa-ly
It is the direct object and to me is the indirect object. The indirect object suffixes are as follows:
English
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Suffix
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to me
to us
to you(m)
to you(f)
to you(pl)
to him/it(m)
to her/it(f)
to them
-ly
-lina
-lak
-lik
-luku

-lu
-laha
-luhum
Tenses
In both english and Egyptian, a verb has different tenses to indicate when something happens- in
the past, now or in the future. The usage of each tense will be explained in more details later. Here
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are some examples using katab :

Form
perfect
simple imperfect
bi-imperfect
ha-imperfect
active participle
passive participle
imperative
verbal noun
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Example Meaning
katab
yiktib
biyiktib
hayiktib
kaetab

maktub
iktib

kitaeba
No of
cases
he wrote
8 (i/we/you, etc)
used with modals - eg he must write

and kaen - he used to write
8 (i/we/you, etc)
he is writing
he writes
8 (i/we/you, etc)
he knows how to write used with kaen
he will write
used with kaen
8 (i/we/you, etc)
(he is) writing
3 (m/f/pl)
(it is) written
3 (m/f/pl)
write!
3 (m/f/pl)
(the box is covered with) writing
2 (s/pl)
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place
maktab
writing place (desk or office)
2 (s/pl)
Case
The two main tenses of a verb are the perfect and the simple imperfect: the bi-and ha- imperfect
just have prefixes added to the simple imperfect. The usage of these tenses will be explained in
more detail the section on time. Here is the he case of each tense:
Tense
English
perfect
he wrote
simple imperfect he must write

bi-imperfect
he writes
ha-imperfect
he will write
Egyptian
huwwa katab

huwwa laezim yiktib

huwwa biyiktib

huwwa hayiktib
There are eight possible cases for each tense, corresponding to the eight pronoun forms
(I/we/you/he, etc). Remember that the three imperfect forms are very similar.
Perfect
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Perfect
Here is an example of the perfect, which is used for things that occurred in the past.
Perfect
English
I wrote
we wrote
you(m) wrote
you(f) wrote
you(pl) wrote
he/it(m) wrote
she/it(f) wrote
they wrote
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Pronoun Verb
'ana
katabt
'ihna
katabna
'inta
katabt

'inti
katabty

'intu
katabtu
huwwa

hiya
katab
katabit

humma
katabu
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they wrote
Simple imperfect
The imperfect has no meaning on its own: it is used in four ways:
with kaen for things that happened in the past
with modals like must, could, should etc.
with bi-prefix for things happening now
with ha-prefix for things that will happen
Here is an example with laazim, which means must.
Simple Imperfect
English
I must write
we must write
you(m) must write
you(f) must write
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Pronoun modal Verb

'ana
laezim 'aktib

'ihna
laezim niktib

'inta
laezim tiktib

'inti
laezim tiktiby

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you(pl)must write
he/it(m)must write
she/it(f)must write
they must write
'intu
laezim tiktibu

huwwa
laezim yiktib

hiya
laezim tiktib

humma
laezim yiktibu
The english word must is a proper modal, it is the same for all cases. The Egyptian word
laezim is a proper modal. Later on, you will learn how to use participles and verbs as modals,
and you will see how they will change to match the case.
bi-imperfect
For the majority of verbs, the bi-imperfect is used to describe things happening now, and for
habitual actions. See active participles for the exceptions
It is the same as the simple imperfect, with a bi- in front. Note that there are some small changes
to the beginning of the imperfect when the prefix is added.
bi-imperfect
English
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Pronoun verb
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I write
we write
you(m) write
you(f) write
you(pl) write
he/it(m) writes
she/it(f) writes
they write
'ana
baktib
'ihna
biniktib
'inta
bitiktib

'inti
bitiktiby

'intu
bitiktibu
huwwa

hiya
biyiktib
bitiktib

humma
biyiktibu
ha-imperfect
The ha-imperfect is used for things that will happen at some time in the future.
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It is the same as the simple imperfect, with ha- in front. Note that there are some small changes to
the beginning of the imperfect when the prefix is added.
ha-imperfect
English
I will write
we will write
you(m) will write
you(f) will write
you(pl) will write
he/it(m) will write
she/it(f) will write
Pronoun Verb
'ana
haktib
'ihna
haniktib
'inta
hatiktib

'inti
hatiktiby

'intu
hatiktibu
huwwa

hiya
hayiktib
hatiktib

humma
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hayiktibu
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they will write
humma
hayiktibu
is/was/will be
As mentioned earlier, there is no word for is in Egyptian. There are, however, words for was - kaen
and will be - haykun .
kaan
kaen can be used on its own to talk about some situation in the past, or it can be used with the
imperfect and bi-imperfect to move the meaning of the verb into the past, and with the ha-imperfect
to indicate something that almost or nearly happened.
kaan
English
I was
we were
you(m) were
you(f) were
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Pronoun Verb
ana
kunt

ihna
kunna

'inta
kunt

'inti
kunty
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you(f) were
you(pl) were
he/it(m) was
she/it(f) was
they were

'intu
kuntu
huwa
kaen

hiya

kaenit

humma
kanu

English
he was here
I was too tired
Egyptian
kaen hina

kunt taAbaen 'awy

ilhafla kaenit kuwayisa
the party was good
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preposition
there was water, but it's finished
preposition
we had a house
bi-imperfect
he was smoking a cigarette
bi-imperfect
he used to smoke cigarettes
kaen fy mayaeh wa chilsit

kaen Aandina biyt

kaen biyishrab sygaara

kaen biyishrab sigaeyar

kunt hadusuh
ha-imperfect I almost ran him over
Note that, for prepositional sentences, kaen does not change with the subject of the sentence it is always kaen - it was.
haykwn
haykun simply means will be. Here are some examples:
haykwn
English
I will be
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Pronoun verb
ana
hakun
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we will be
you(m) will be
you(f) will be
you(pl) will be
he/it(m) will be
she/it will be(f)
they will be
ihna
hankun

'inta
hatkun

'inti
hatkuny

'intu
hatkunu
huwa
haykun

hiya
hatkun

humma
haykunu

English
the party will be good
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Egyptian
ilhafla hatkun kuwayisa

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there will be a lot of wind tomorrow

I will be free at five
haykun fy hawaa' kityr bukra

'ana hakun faady issaeAa chamsa
Note that, for prepositional sentences, haykun does not change with the subject of the
sentence - it is always haykun - it will be.
Time
Here is a summary of ways to express when something happens:
Construction
perfect
kaen + imperfect
kaen + bi-imperfect
bi-imperfect
PRO version
Example
katab
Meaning
he wrote
kaen yiktib
he was writing
kaen biyiktib
he used to write

biyiktib
he is writing
he writes
he can write
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ha-imperfect
hayiktib
kaen hayiktib
kaen + ha-imperfect

kaen haymut

raayih + imperfect
hayruh + imperfect
he will write
he intended to write
he almost died
raayih yiktib

hayruh yiktib
he is going to write
Participles
In both English and Egyptian, a participle is derived from a verb, but is used like an adjective. There
are two types of participle- active and passive. As they are adjectives, in Egyptian, there are three
forms- masculine, feminine and plural.
Participle English
Masculine Feminine
Plural
-a
-yn
Active
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wanting
Aaeyiz
Aaeyiza
Aaeyizyn

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Active
knowing
Active
understanding
Active
boiling
Active
daydreaming
Passive
bound
Passive
blessed
Passive
born
Passive
understood
Aaarif
Aaarifa

faehim

faehima
Galayaen Galayaen

sarhaen

mitgalid

sarhaena

mitgalida
Aaarifyn

faehimyn

Galayaen

sarhanyn

mitgalidyn
mubaarak mubaaraka mubaarakyn

mawlud
mafhum

mawluda

mafhuma

mawludyn
mafhumyn
Active Participles
In English, we can describe something happening now by using the present tense or the active
participle:
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present I look
a single event or habitual action
present I am looking a continuous action

In Egyptian, for some verbs, the active participle is the normal way of expressing what somebody is
doing right now. For other verbs, the bi-imperfect is used. Generally, participles are used for verbs
that relate to a state or continuous actions, but there is no flexibility: you have to use a participle for
a particular verb whether the action is continuous or not. The four groups of verbs where the
participle is used are:
movement: going, coming etc
senses: seeing, hearing
states of mind: knowing, understanding, angry
states of body: sleeping
English
put
travel
know
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Verb
Active
Participle
hatt
haatyt

saefir
misaefir
Airif
Aaarif

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understand
sleep
angry
fihim
faehim
naem

naeyim

ziAil

zaAlaen
Active participles are like adjectives, and have masculine, feminine and plural forms. Here are some
examples showing how the participle agrees with the subject
English
I(m) know Ahmed
I(f) know Ahmed
we know Ahmed
you(m) know Ahmed
you(f) know Ahmed
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Verb
'ana Aaarif 'ahmad

'ana Aaarifa 'ahmad

ihna Aaarifyn 'ahmad

'inta Aaarif 'ahmad

'inti Aaarifa 'ahmad

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you(pl) know Ahmed

he knows Ahmed
she knows Ahmed
they know Ahmed
'intu Aaarifyn 'ahmad

huwwa Aaarif 'ahmad

hiya Aaarifa 'ahmad

humma Aaarifyn 'ahmad
The participle is also used for an action that took place in the past but whose effect is still in force,
for example reserving a room:
Element
perfect
participle
English
tabacht ilAasha

'ana taabach Aasha
Arabic
I cooked dinner (a long time ago)
I cooked dinner (it is reaady now)
Passive Participles
A passive participle describes something that has had something done to it. In English it often ends
with -ed, and in Egyptian, it often begins with ma- . Passive participles are like adjectives, and
PRO version
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have masculine, feminine and plural forms.

English
the food is cooked
the bowl is broken
the floors are washed
I was married
smoked salami
Arabic
Verb
il'akl matbuch
tabach

issultaniya maksura

il'ardiyaet maGsulyn

kunt mitgawwiz

salamy mudachan
kasar
Gasal
'itgawwiz

dachchan
modals: possibility, preference etc

You can use a modal together with the simple imperfect to indicate whether something must, may,
could happen. Most proper modals are invariable- there is no I/you/he form. Here are some
examples:
PRO version
Modal
Example
laezim
laezim yiktib
Meaning
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laezim
laezim yiktib

mumkin

mumkin yiktib
mihtaeg

mihtaeg yiktib

yimkin

yimkin yiktib
ilmafrud

ilmafrud yiktib

darury

darury yiktib
he must write
he could write
he needs to write
he might write
he should> write
it is essential that he should write
Aalashaen
Aalashaen yiktib
in order to write
pronounced Aashaen

There are also some verbs or participles that can be used as modals. Here are some examples:
Type
PRO version
Modal
Example
Aaewiz
Aaewiz yiktib
Meaning
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participle
participle
noun
verb
verb
verb
verb
verb
verb
Aaewiz
Aaewiz yiktib

naewy

naewy yiktib

nifs

nifsuh yiktib
'idir, yi'dar

Airif, yiAraf

yi'dar yiktib

yiAraf yiktib

habb, yihibb

lihi', yihla'

raah, yiruh

nisy, yinsa
yihibb yiktib

lihi' yiktib

raah yiktib

nisi yiktib
he wants to write
he intends to write
he wishes he could write
he is able to write
he knows how to write
he likes to write
he managed to write
he went to write
he forgot to write
Participles must agree with the gender and number, and verbs must be the appropriate case. True
modals like laezim do not change. Here are some examples.
PRO version
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Type
English
modal
I must write
modal
you(m) must write
modal
he must write
modal
they must write
participle I want to write

participle she wants to write
participle they want to write
PRO version
verb
I like to write
verb
he likes to write
Arabic
'ana laezim 'aktib

'inta laezim tiktib

huwwa laezim yiktib

humma laezim tiktibu

'ana Aaeyiz 'aktib

hiya Aaeyiza tiktib

humma Aaeyizyn yiktibu

ana baehibb 'aktib

huwwa biyihibb yiktib

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verb
she likes to write
verb
they like to write
hiya bitihibb tiktib

humma biyihibbu yiktibu
If the subject of the verb is not the same as the subject of the modal
I want to go (same)
I want him to go (different)
in both english and egpytian you add an object pronoun to the modal: in Egyptian it is attached to
the modal, or to any preposition associated with it.
English
she wants me to write
she wants to write
she wants him to write
he wants her to write
PRO version
Arabic
hiya Aaeyizany 'aktib

hiya Aaeyiza tiktib

hiya Aaeyizah yiktib

huwwa Aaeyizha tiktib

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she likes him to write

he likes her to write
I let him write
I asked him to write
bitihibbuh yiktib

biyihibbha tiktib

chalitw yiktib

talabt minnuh yiktib
Imperatives
When you want to tell somebody to do something, you use an imperative. In Egyptian, there are
three forms- masculine, feminine and plural. Here are some examples.
English
Verb
Masculine Feminine Plural

-y
Imperfect
look!
go!
PRO version
yibuss
buss

yiruh
-u
bussy

ruwh
ruwhy
bussu
ruwhu

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yiygy
come!
taAaly
taAalu
taAaela

irregular
eat!
shut up!
calm down!
walk!
(go away)
yaekul
kul
kuly

yuskut
yihda
yimshy
kulu
'iskut
'iskuty
'ihda
'iskutu

'ihdy
'imshy
'ihdu
'imshy
'imshu
verbal nouns
It is sometimes useful to make a noun from a verb. Here are some examples:
English
wash your hands before eating
I have a reservation
PRO version
Arabic
Verb
iGsil iydyk 'abl il'akl
kal

Aandy hagz
haegiz

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illiaAba dih li'arbAa laAyba

This game is for four players
liAib
Negation of verbs
You can say that something is not happening using the word mish . It can appear before a verb,
or wrapped around it. Here are some examples:
English
he is not here
he was not here
I have not travelled outside egypt
I do not know
he was not able to come
he will not come
PRO version
Egyptian
huwwa mish hina

huwwa makansh hina

masafirtish barra masr

'ana mish Aaarif

ma'dirsh yigy

mish hayigy
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he will not come

don't go!

matimshysh
See Negation for more details.
Adverbs
A verb explains what is being done: adverbs can be used to specify how, when, where and in what
manner it is being done. There can be more than one adverb- they are placed after the verb. Here
are some examples.
English
direction
Ahmed is going up (stairs)
position
Ahmed is coming here
time
Ahmed will come tomorrow evening
frequency Ahmed always walks

quickly
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out the HTML
to PDF API
PRO quality
version Are you aAhmed
Egyptian
'ahmad taalaA fu'

'ahmad gayy hina

'ahmad hayigy bukra biillyl

'ahmad biyimshy daymaen

'ahmad biyimshy bisuraAa
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quality
Ahmed walks quickly
extent
Ahmed walks extremely quickly

'ahmad biyimshy bisuraAa giddaen
'ahmad biyitaalaA issalaelim daymaen

Ahmed always walks slowly upstairs in bishwysh fy illyl

the evening

direction
Direction adverbs can be used with verbs like go
English
up
down
left
right
PRO version
Egyptian English example
Egyptian example
fu'
'ana taalaA fu'
taht
shamael

yimyn
I am going upstairs
he dived down
turn left!
look right!

Gitis taht

chushsh shamael

buss yimyn

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Aala tul
go(walk) straight ahead
straight ahead
'imshy Aala tul
location
Location adverbs can be used with verbs like go
English Egyptian English example
here
there
hina
hinaek
come here!
I have to go there tomorrow
Egyptian example
taAala hina

laezim 'aruwh hinaek bukrah
time
Time adverbs are used to specify when you do something: they can be used with almost any verb.
English
immediately
Egyptian
halaen
English example
I will open it immediately
dilwa'ty
PRO version
Egyptian example
haftahuh halaen

'ihna gaehizyn dilwa'ty
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dilwa'ty
now
already
innahaarda
today
tomorrow
the day after

tomorrow
yesterday
day before
yesterday
next week
PRO version
no
equivalent
bukrah
we are ready now

he (is) already here
'ihna gaehizyn dilwa'ty

huwwa mawgwd
ilhafla innahaarda biillyl
the party is this evening
I will go to Alexandria tomorrow
haruwh il'iskandiraaya
bukrah
baAd bukrah I will come back the day after

tomorrow
'ana hargaA baAd bukrah
'imbaarih
wasalt 'imbaarih

'awil
'imbaarih
she arrived yesterday
I bought it the day before yesterday
il'usbwaA
illigaey
we will go home next week

'ashtarytuh 'awil 'imbaarih

hanrawwah il'usbwaA
illigaey

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il'usbwaA dih
this week
last week
early
evening
later
again
we are on holiday this week

il'usbwaA 'illy
faet
I saw her last week

badry
biillyl

baAdyn
kamaen
marrah
we must get up early tomorrow

there is a party this evening
see you later
play that song again
baAd kida
we will eat and afterwards we will
afterwards
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ihna fy 'agaeza il'usbwaA

dih

shuftaha il'usbwaA 'illy
faet

laezim ni'um badry bukrah

fy hafla biillyl

hashufak baAdyn

Ganny il'aGniya dih
kamaen marrah

hanaekul wa baAd kida
hani'Aad fyilginyna
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afterwards
baAd kida
we will eat and afterwards we will

sit in the garden
I have lived here for a long time (lit.

since a long time ago
min
ago

sikint hina min zamaen
frequency
This group of adverbs specifies how frequently you do something. Here are some examples:
English
usually
always
English example
Aaedataen
baechud Aadataen taAsylla baAd

I usually take a nap after lunch ilGadaa'

daymaen

naediraan
rarely
regularly
recently
PRO version
Egyptian
bi'intizaem

min 'urayib
Egyptian example
his office is always neat

I rarely see Ahmed
I go to the gym regularly
maktabuh mitsattif daymaen

'ana bashuf ahmad naediraan

baruh ilgym bi'intizaem
hadd s'aalny Aanuh dih min

somebody asked me about that 'urayib
recently
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recently
'abadaen
at all
thany
again

Galibaen
often
forever
finally
I would like to go there again
nobody lives for ever
lil'abad
all
(my/his/her)
life
I don't know him at all
she is often tired
tul ilyum
all day
firstly
recently
tul ilAumr
it rained all day

he smoked cigarettes all his
life
mish Aaarifuh 'abadaen

Aaeyiz 'aruh hinaek thany

hiya taAbaena Galibaen

mahaddish biyiAish lil'abad

mattar tul ilyum

kaen biyishrib sagaeyar tul
Aumruh
'awilaen

'achyraan
he finally visited london
min wa't
lilthany
PRO version
zaar lundun 'achyraan

baruh ilginyna min wa't lilthany
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occasionally
lilthany
I go to the park occasionally

biissaeAa
hourly
sometimes
'ahyanaen
you must check hourly

we sometimes see sharks
here
laezim titammim biissaeAa

binishuf samak 'irsh 'ahyanaen
hina

'aw'aet bitmattar fy masr
sometimes
'aw'aet
it sometimes rains in Egypt

Note: always goes at beginning of
sentence
Extent
The following adverbs can be placed after an adjective or another adverb to indicate the extent:
English
slightly
reasonably
PRO version
Egyptian
shwaya

maA'ula
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'awy
very
extremely
chaalis

giddaen
Aail'achir

too
'awy
Derived adverbs
Most adjectives in english can be converted to an adverb by adding the letters -ly, for example nice
becomes nicely. In Egyptian, the adjective can be converted to an adverb by adding the ending -an
English
officially
theoretically
PRO version
adjective adverb
rasmy

nazary
rasmyaen

nazariyaen
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theoretically
naturally
literally
generally
normally
slightly
tabyAy

tabyAyaen
harfy
harfyaen
Aumumy Aumumaen
Aady
Aadataen

'ulayil

'alayalaen
Similarly, a noun can be converted to an adverbal phrase by adding the word with, for example
with care. In Egyptian, the same can be achieved by adding bi- at the start of the word.
English
with care
with speed
PRO version
Egyptian
bihazar

bisurAa
biirraaha
English
he opened the box carefully
Ahmed drives very fast
Egyptian
fatah ilAalba bihazar

'ahmad biyisu' bisurAa 'awy

'ilaAbu biirraaha
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with calm
with precision
with
moderation
in the evening
biirraaha

biizzabt
play (pl) quietly!

the meeting took exactly one
hour

bi'iAatidael

biillyl
eat moderately
there is a party this evening
'ilaAbu biirraaha

il'igtimaeA 'achad saeAa
biizzabt

'akul bi'iAatidael

fy hafla biillyl
Miscellaneous
English
Egyptian
together
(people)
sawa
together
(people and
things)
maAa baAd
separately
well
PRO version
English example
we will travel together
we will travel together
kul wahid
liwahduh

kuwayis
we will travel
separately
he sings very well
Egyptian example
'ihna misaefiryn sawa

'ihna misaefiryn maAa baAd

'ihna misaefiryn kul wahid
liwahduh

huwwa biyiGanny kuwayis 'awy
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well
he sings very well
Prepositions
Prepositions define a relationship (in time, space,etc) between a noun and something else. In both
english and Egyptian, the preposition goes before the noun that it defines the relationship to. Here
are some examples:
Domain
English
time
after
space
behind
quality
like
reference
Egyptian
baAd
hiya gaet baAd ilAashaa'
wara

zayy
she came after dinner
Aand
the garden is behind the

house
ilginyna wara ilbiyt
I need another pen like

this
mihtaeg 'alam thany zayy dah
according hasab
according to the police,
to
the riot started at 2am
ownership have
PRO version
Egyptian English
I have a house in Cairo

hasab kalaem ilbulys, ishshaGab
'ibtada issaeAa ithnyn

Aandy biyt fy il'aehira

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The noun can be one of the following:

Element
Preposition English
name
Ahmed
simple noun the house
she is with Ahmed

the cat is inside the house
complex
noun
the man
who...
I arrived after the man who

delivered the carpet
object
pronoun
her
I arrived after her
qualifying
pronoun
this
I need another pen like this
Egyptian
hiya maAa 'ahmad

il'utta guwwa ilbiyt

wasalt baAd irraagil illy wasal
issigaeda

wasalt baAdaha

mihtaeg 'alam thany zayy dah
Be careful! If it's not a noun, but a complete clause (ie it has a verb), you have to use a
conjunction. In english, it's confusing because the preposition and conjunction are often the same
word: in Egyptian it is necessary to insert the word maa to convert a preposition ot a conjunction.
See more about this below.
Prepositions of time
PRO version
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baAd
after
'abl
before
athnaa'
during

lihadd
till

liGaeyit
till
we will start after the feast

I must paint the house before
summer
smoking is forbidden during dinner
I will be here till dinner
they are busy until 8pm
Egyptian
hanibtidy baAd ilAiyd

laezim 'adhin ilbiyt 'abl issyf

ittadchyn mamnuA 'athnaa' ilAashaa'

'ana mawgud lihadd ilAashaa'

humma mawgudyn liGaeyit saeAa
tamanya
Prepositions of space
English
from
away from
PRO version
Egyptian English
Egyptian
min
huwwa min ilqaahira
he is from Cairo
the dog ran away from me
Aan

ilkalb garry minny

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at/toward
fu'
above
taht
below
opposite
opposite
at
PRO version
fy
at
facing
Aala
'usaad
that man is looking at us

my husband is at home
my apartment is above the laundry
there are many many fish under the
water
the restaurant is opposite the railway
station
irraagil dah bass Aalyna

guzy fy ilbiyt

sha''aty fu' ilmaGsala

fy samak kityr taht ilmayaeh

ilmataAm 'usaad mahattit
il'ataar
'ubael

fy
wishsh
the house is facing the desert
Aand
the customs office is at the airport
ilbiyt fy wishsh issaharaa'

maktab ilgamaarik Aand
ilmataar

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Aand
at
behind
beside
turn right at the pharmacy
the cat is behind you (f)
wara
gamb
fy
in
guwa
inside
outside
the dog is in the garden
do you want anything from outside?
bara
between
there was an accident beside the

mosque
we must stay inside the house
Aala
on
PRO version
byn
biittul
the bread is on the table
Hurghada is between the desert and

the sea
chushsh yimyn Aand

issayidaliya

il'utta waraaky

kaen fy hadtha ganb ilgamAa

ilkalb fy ilginyna

laezim ni'Aud guwa ilbiyt

Aaeyiz haga min baraa?

ilAysh Aala ittarabyza

ilGarda'a byn issaharaa' wa
ilbahr
fy Aawamyd nur biittul

ishshaariA
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biittul
along
surrounding
there are lamp posts all along the street
hawalyn The view surrounding the house is

very beautiful
ishshaariA

ilmanzar hawalyn ilbiyt gamyl
'awy
Note that you don't need a prepositional to after words like raah - go.
I am going to Cairo
aacnaa raayiH iil-Qaahirao
Miscellaneous Prepositions
English
concerning
there is
Egyptian
'amae...
fa...
zayy
like
PRO version
Egyptian English
fy
do you have something like this?

there is a stain on this shirt
Aandak haega zayy dih?

fy bu'Aa Aala il'amys dih
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there is
Aan
about
according
to
contrary
hasab
Aaks
'ila
except
there is a stain on this shirt

I am reading a book about the
revolution
according to Ahmed, it will be
windy tomorrow
my opinion is contrary to yours

there is no food except this
bread

ba'ra kitaeb Aan iththura

hasab kalaem 'ahmad, haykun fy
hawaa' kityr bukrah

r'ayy Aaks r'ayak

mafish akl 'ila ilAayshsh dah
maAada
except
instead of
despite
baddal

biirraGm
min
give us chicken instead of beef
he succeeded despite his injuries
'idyna firaach baddal illahma

nigih biirraGm min ziraaAuh ilmaksur

fy Aashara duyuf zae'yid 'ithnyn
PRO version
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zae'yid
plus
there are ten guests plus two

staff
muwazafyn
Prepositions of ownership
This important group is discussed in more detail in the section on ownership.
English
own
have with you
have got
for
Egyptian
Aand
maAa

ly
Aalashaen
English
I own a car
I have a cigarette lighter
I have two legs
there was a phone call for you
Egyptian
Aandy Aarabiya

maAayah walaeAa

ly riglyn

kaen fy mukalma Aalashaenak
Subordinate clauses: maa

A preposition connects a noun to a sentence. If you want to connect a clause (something with a
verb) to a sentence, you need to use a conjunction.
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In English, many conjunctions are the same as prepositions: In Egyptian, some prepositions can be
converted to a conjunction by adding the word ma . Here are some examples:
Element
English
preposition wash your hands before dinner

conjunction wash your hands before you eat
preposition she arrived after the bus
conjunction she arrived after the bus had gone
preposition he acts like the owner
conjunction he acts as if he owns the place
Egyptian
'iGsil iydyk 'abl ilAashaa'

'iGsil iydyk 'abl ma taekul

hiya wasalit baAd ilmasarahiya

hiya wasalit baAd ma ilmasrahiya 'ibtadit

biyitsarraf zayy ilmaelik

biyitsarraf zayy ma yikun ilmakaen bitaeAuh
yikun is added in the last example because it is something that is unlikely to happen. See kaan
for more details.
Conjunctions
PRO version
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Conjunctions are the useful little words that join clauses together to make more complex sentences.
I want to make bread but I don't have enough flour
Aaayiz aacAamil Aiysh lakin maAandysh diqyq kifaayao
Part
English
Main clause
I want to make bread
Conjunction
but
Second clause I don't have enough flour
Egyptian
Aaeyiz 'aAamil Aiysh

lakin
maAandysh di'y' kifaeya
If you just want to attach a noun, you should use a preposition, but if you want to attach a clause
(ie, there is a verb on both sides), then a conjunction is required. In English, the same word is often
used for both preposition and conjunction, but there are differences in Egyptian: see prepositions
and conjunctions for more details.
If there is a subject pronoun in the second clause, it becomes an object pronoun attached to the
conjunction. For example:
I feared that she was lost
aanaa Kuft iinnahaa tikwn taahit
The following table lists most of the common conjunctions, and gives examples how they can be
PRO version
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used.
English
Egyptian
English Example
'inn
that
as long
as
tul ma

Aalashaen
because
pronounced
Aashaen
in order
to
after
and
PRO version
I feared that she was lost
as long as you water the garden,

the plants will grow
Egyptian Example
ana chuft 'innaha tikun taehit

tul ma bitis'y ilginyna, izzaraA
hayikbar
maAndysh Aarabiya Aalashaen

I don't have a car because there is mafiysh filus kifaeya

not enough money
Aalashaen

baAd ma

wi
mihtaeg filus Aalashaen 'ashtiry

I need money in order to buy food 'akl
we will leave after the movie has

finished
hanimshy bAad ma ilfylm yichlas
I went to the bank and it was

closed
raht ilbank wi kaen ma'ful

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Aala 'inn
as if

kae'inn
as if
he spends money as if he is rich
'abl ma
before

bass
but

lakin
but
'in
if
'iza
if
instead
PRO version
biyusrif filus kae'innuh Gany

biyusrif filus zayy ma yikun Gany
zayy ma
as if
he spends money as if he is rich
badal ma
I would like to go but I don't have

time
nifsy aaruh bass maAandysh wa't
ditto
If you go, you will get into a fight
if you have some money, lend me

fifty pounds
instead of going, call them
'inn ruht hinaek, haetit chaani'
'iza kaen maAaek filus, salifny

chamsyn ginya

badal ma matruh, kalimhum
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instead
of

zay ma
like
neither..
nor..
lae...
walaeh..

'aw
or
wala
or (in
question)
'ahsan
rather
than
otherwise
unless
PRO version
wa 'illa

'ila 'iza
instead of going, call them

as you did for him, he will do for
you
neither this is working nor is this
working
we can eat fish or chicken
would you like fish or chicken?

I would prefer to eat fish rather
than chicken
shut up otherwise we go home!
don't give him any money unless I

allow you to

zayy ma Aamalt fyh hayitAamil
fyk

la dah naefaA walaeh dah
biyinfaA

mumkin naekul samak 'aw firaach

Aaewiz taekul samak wala
firaach?

'akul issamak 'ahsan min ilfiraach

'ichrassy wa 'illa haarawahik

matidyhush filus 'ila 'iza 'ana
samahtylak
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conditional clauses (if.. then...)

There are two words meaning if: they are 'iza and law . 'iza can be used under all
circumstances: law cannot be used with the imperfect form of a verb or a preposition.
In English, the word then is occasionally used to complement if In Egyptian, there is no equivalent
word.
If I were rich...
If an event or situation is improbable or impossible, in English we use modals like 'would' and 'were'.
In Egyptian, the word kaen is used after law . Compare these two sentences:
if I have time, I will read the book
iicdhaa Aandy waqt, haaqraac iil-kitaab
if I had time, I would read the book
law kaan Aandy waqt, kunt qaryt iil-kitaab
When
conditional clause
past
'iza kaen + perfect
present 'iza kaen + imperfect

future
PRO version
'iza kaen + imperfect

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Courtesies
This section summarises the expressions that are used daily to greet and say goodbye to people,
ask for things and thank people on a day to day basis.
Religion
Religion is very important in Egypt. There are several phrases that you will hear regularly in any
conversation.
Egyptian
English
ilhamdu lillah

'allah yisalaemak

'allah yisalaemik

'inn shaa' 'allah
ya rab
thanks to Allah
may god protect you m
may god protect you f
god willing
Oh god!
rabbina
PRO version
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rabbina
our god!
issalaem Aalykum
greeting

Aalykum issalaem
response
peace be with you m/f
Addressing somebody
ya is often used before somebody's name or title as a greeting
Egyptian
ya 'ahmad

ya rayis

ya 'ustah

ya 'ustaez
English
hey, Ahmad!
hey, boss!
driver!
hey mister(teacher)!
to a respectable person
ya 'ustaeza

PRO version
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hey madam!
basha
pasha m/f
In addition to the standard pronouns for you, there are some more formal versions:
Egyptian
'inta
informal
English
you m
you f
you pl
'inti
'intu
hadritak
sir
hadritik
madam
formal
PRO version
siyadtak
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siyadtak
siyadtik
'afandim
sir
madam
Sir/Madam
Greetings
To welcome somebody, you can use one of these phrases...
Egyptian
greeting
response
response
response
greeting
PRO version
English
'ahlaen wa sahlaen

'ahlaen wa sahlaen
welcome and ease
welcome to you m
welcome to you f
'ahlaen byk
'ahlaen byky
hamd illah Aala salamtak
welcome and ease
thank god for protecting you m

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greeting
greeting

hamd illah Aala salamtik
thank god for protecting you m

thank god for protecting you f
Whenever you meet somebody that you already know, you should shake hands (very gently) and
use one of the following greetings.
Before sunset, the following informal greetings are used:
Egyptian
greeting
response
response
response
English
sabaeh ilchyr

sabaeh innur

sabaeh il'ishta

sabaeh ilful
a day of wellbeing
a day of light
a day of cream
a day of daisies
After sunset, the following informal greetings may be used: I have heard them very rarely, though.
Egyptian
PRO version
English
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greeting
response
response
misaa' ilchyr

misaa' ilchyr

misaa' ilful
an evening of wellbeing
an evening of wellbeing
an evening of daisies
Next, you should ask how they are:

Egyptian
question
question
question
question
question
PRO version
English
Aaemil 'iyh?

Aaemila 'iyh?

'izayak?
what are you f doing?
how are you m
how are you f
'izayik?
il'achbaar 'iyh?
what are you m doing?
what's new?
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response
response
response
response
response
response
question
question
kuluh tamaem, ilhamdu lillah

miya miya, ilhamdu lillah

kuwayis, ilhamdu lillah

kuwayisa, ilhamdu lillah

nus nus

mish battaal

wa 'inta?
all ok, thank god

100% thank god
I m am good, thank god
I fgood, thank god
half and half
not bad
and you m?
and you f?
wa 'inti?
If you know them well, you should ask how their wives, children, etc...
Introductions
PRO version
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Egyptian
English
'ismak 'iyh?

'ismik 'iyh?

'ismy ...

tisharrafna
what is your m name?

what is your f name?
my name is ...
pleased to meet you
Making you comfortable

Egyptian
'istirayah

'istirayahy

tishrab 'iyh?

tishraby 'iyh?
PRO version
English
make yourself m comfortable
make yourself f comfortable
what will you m drink?
what will you f drink?
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what will you f drink?
Meal time
Egyptians normally have two big meals a day, plus a snack before bedtime.
English
Time
Types of food
Egyptian
breakfast
11-12am
bread with salads, dips, luncheon meats, omelette with

bastirma, tamiyya
fitaar
breakfast
sunset
(Ramadan)
cooked meat, rice and vegetables, juice, sweet things
lunch
5-8pm
cooked meat or fish, rice and vegetables
dinner
before
sleeping
yogurt, fruit

'iftaar

Gada
Aasha
Here are some expressions that are often used around meal times
Egyptian
remark
PRO version
biilhanna wa ishshiffa
When to say it
before or after eating
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remark
response
sufrah daeymaen
say to host
before leaving table
like "thanks for the meal"
biilhanna wa ishshiffa
Please
Egyptian
to m
to f
to m
to f
to m
to f
PRO version
English
Aan 'iznak
excuse me
Aan 'iznik
to get past someone

law samaht

law samahty
please

min fadlak

min fadlik
please

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request
response
mumkin...
mumkin
Please could you/I.....

Yes (it's possible)
Thank you
Egyptian
remark
remark
remark
reply
reply
English
shukraan
'alf shukr

mutshakir a'wy

Aafwaen
ilAafw
don't mention it
you are welcome
you are welcome
Goodbyes
PRO version
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Egyptian
remark
reply
English
maAa issalaema

maAa issalaema

hashufak 'imtae?

hashufik 'imtae?

hashufak baAdyn

hashufik baAdyn
with safety
with safety
When will I see you f?
When will I see you f?
See you m later
See you f later
Achievement
Egyptian
English
hazz saAyd

remark
PRO version
mabruk
good luck!
congratulations
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remark
response
response
'allah yibaarak fyk

'allah yibaarik fyky
congratulations
god bless you m
god bless you f
Occasions
Egyptian
English
kul sana wa 'inta tayib every year and you are happy
birthdays, new year, feasts
remark
response
ramadaan karym

'allah 'akram
during ramadan
during ramadan
Opinions
Egyptian
question
PRO version
English
'iyh r'ayak?
what do you m think?

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question
question
question
response
response
response
response
response
response
response
PRO version
'iyh r'ayik?

tamaem?

tamaem kidah?

'aywa
mashy

tamaem

tayib
haadir

mayinfaAsh
mish mumkin
what do you f think?

OK?
Ok like this?
yes
It goes
ok
good
fine
right away
it's no use
not possible
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response
response
response
response
response
response
response
response
response
laa'

laa' 'abadaen

'aha
Aafwaen?
'ana mish 'akyd

'ana mish Aaarif

'ana mish Aaarifa

'ana mish faehim

'ana mish faehima
no
never!
offensive way of disagreeing
Pardon?
if you didn't hear
I m/f am not sure
I m don't know
I f don't know
I m don't understand
I f don't understand
Hassle
PRO version
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'imshy
chalaas kidah

haraam Aalyk

haraam Aalyky
go away!
stop this
shame on you m!
shame on you f!
chalyk muhtaram
be respectful!
'ihtirim nafsak
if a man gets
over-friendly to a woman
Insults
remark
remark
PRO version
remark
humaar

'ibn marah
donkey
offensive
your father is a woman
very offensive
'ibn sharmuta son of a whore/bitch

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remark
response
very offensive
'ifandim???
pardon????
Negation
The word mish is used to negate a phrase. It is either placed in front of the verb or preposition,
or wrapped around it.
Structure
English
I have cigarettes
I don't have any cigarettes
Preposition
There is water
There is no water
I was there
kaan
PRO version
Arabic
Aandy sagaeyar

maAandysh sagaeyar

fy mayaeh

mafysh mayaeh

'ana kunt hinaek

'ana makuntish hinaek
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I was not there

I saw Ahmed
perfect
I did not see Ahmed
I know
'ana makuntish hinaek

'ana shuft 'ahmad

'ana mashuftish 'ahmad

'ana Aaarif

'ana mish Aaarif
participle
I do not know

aacnaa maAaarifsh
He wants to eat
imperfect
He does not want to eat

he must not eat
I like this book
PRO version
Aaeyiz yaekul

mish Aaeyiz yaekul

mayaekulsh

bahibb ilkitaeb dah

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mabahibbsh ilkitaeb dah
bi-imperfect
I do not like this book
less common...
mish bahibb ilkitaeb dah

]
I will buy the book
Ha-imperfect
I will not buy the book
imperative
hashtiry ilkitaeb

mish hashtiry ilkitaeb
go away!
iimshy!
don't go!
use mish+you-imperfect
matimshysh
Sometimes ma- is used on it own- the -sh does not appear after the word. There are no rules about
when this can happen.
Numbers
Arabic digits are not the same as Roman digits:
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Digit English Egyptian

0
PRO version
zero
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
sifr
waehid

'itnyn
talaeta

'arbaAa
chamsa
sitta
sabAa
tamanya

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nine
10
ten
tisAa
Aashara
Cardinals and Ordinals

In both English and egyptian, there are two forms of number- cardinals and ordinals. Cardinals are
used to count things (one, two, three), Ordinals are used to describe sequence (first, second, etc).
Example Function
Cardinal five
used to count things
Ordinal
used to describe the order, or position in sequence, of something
fifth
Cardinals
Cardinals are used for counting and specifying how many of something. Usage of the first few
numbers is complicated, but it gets easier after that :-). There are special rules for:
People of a particular nationality (eg one englishman)
Quantities- weight, money, and when you are ordering something (eg teas)
People in general (men, women etc)
Things - everything else
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The following table gives an overview of the situation:
Number Form
Nationals
Egyptians
Quantities
Things
People
weight
books
men
money
chairs
women
tea
minutes
sifr
wazn
zero
mafysh
masriyyin

+plural
noun
kutub
rigala
karasy
filus
sittaet

da'aeyi'
shaey

kylw
waehid
masry
ginyh
+sing
noun
PRO version
shaey
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wahda
one
masriya

+sing
noun
kitaeb
raagil
kursy
sitt
di'y'a
ns
on its own

rigala
'itnyn
masriyyin

sittaet
+plural
noun

kylw
'itnyn
PRO version
gynyh
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two
+sing
noun
shaey

kitabyn

kursiyyin
noun-yn
di'i'tyn
kylw
talaeta

+sing
noun
gynyh
masrya
shaey

three
kutub
talat
PRO version
masry
rigala
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rigala
talat
karasy

sittaet
da'aeyi'
+plural
noun

four thru nine, same as 3
Zero
For zero, there is no equivalent of no as in no books. Instead, the verb or preposition is negated
with mish . As in english, the noun is a plural. Alternatively, you can use or without- min Gyr
.
English
zero
no egyptians (m/f)
no weight
no money
PRO version
Egyptian
sifr
mafysh masriyyin

wazn

filus
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no money
no tea
no men
no women
no books
no chairs
no seconds
shaey

ragala

sittaet

kutub
karasy

da'aeyi'
One
The number one has a masculine and feminine form. Both forms are used for people of a particular
nationality eg an englishman.
For weights, money and when ordering things, the masculine form only is used.
In English, we would usually say a book rather than one book: the same is true in Egyptian, but
PRO version
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there is no word for a - the noun is simply used on its own.

English
one
one egyptian (m)
Egyptian
waehid

waehid masry
one egyptian (f)
waHdao maSriyao
a kilo
waaHid kylw
a guinea
waaHid ginyh
one tea
waaHid shaay
a man
raagil
a woman
sitt
a book
kitaab
a chair
kursy
a minute
diqyqao
Two
For people of a particular nationality, eg two englishmen or two egyptians, use the number 'itnyn
PRO version
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followed by a plural noun.

For weights, money and orders, use the number 'itnyn followed by a singular noun.
For things, you should use the suffix -yn for masculine nouns and -tyn for feminine nouns.
Nouns ending in -y take the ending -iyyin . This is equivalent to a couple which can mean
exactly two, or approximately two.
English
two
two egyptians (m/f)
PRO version
Egyptian
'itnyn
'itnyn masryyin
two kilos
iictnyn kylw
two guineas
iictnyn ginyh
two teas
iictnyn shaay
two men
iictnyn ragaalaa
two women
iictnyn sittaat
two books
kitaabyn
two chair
kursiyyin
two minutes
diqiqtyn
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Three to Ten
For People of nationalities, use the number followed by a plural noun.
For weights, money and when ordering things, use the number followed by a singular noun.
For people and things, use the short form listed below followed by a plural noun:
Digit English Egyptian English
3
PRO version
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
talaeta

'arbaAa
chamsa
sitta
sabAa
tamanya
three books
four books
five books
six books
seven books
eight books
Egyptian
talat kutub

'arbaAa kutub

chamas kutub

sitt kutub

sabaA kutub

taman kutub

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tisAa
nine
Aashara
10
ten
nine books
ten books
tisAa kutub

Aashara kutub
Eleven to Ninety Nine

From 11 onwards, if the number is followed by a noun, the noun must be singular:
English
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
PRO version
Egyptian
hidaeshar

'itnaeshar

talatshar

'arbaAtashar
chamastashar
sittashar
English
eleven books
twelve books
thirteen books
fourteen books
fifteen books
sixteen books
Egyptian
hidaeshar kitaeb

'itnaeshar kitaeb

talatshar kitaeb

'arbatAshar kitaeb

chamastashar kitaeb

sittashar kitaeb
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sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
sabaAtashar
tamantashar
tisAatashar
sixteen books
seventeen books
eighteen books
nineteen books

sabaAtashar kitaeb

tamantashar kitaeb

tisAatashar kitaeb
The digits in Egyptian numbers are written in the same order as in European numbers. When
expressed as words, however, the two digits are stated as units and tens, as in german not english,
with wa in between:
35
thirty five
Kamsao wa talatyn
Here are the numbers from 20 to 90:
English Egyptian
twenty
Aasharyn
talatyn
PRO version
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thirty
forty
fifty
sixty
seventy
eighty
ninety
talatyn
'arbaAyn
chamsyn
sittyn
sabaAyn
tamanyn
tisAyn
Hundreds
Here are the numbers from one to nine hundred. Note that the short form myt is used when
hundreds are followed by a noun (which must be singular):
English
PRO version
Egyptian
short form
+ singular noun
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one hundred
two hundred
three hundred
four hundred
five hundred
six hundred
seven hundred
eight hundred
nine hundred
miya
myt kitaeb
mityn

mityn kitaeb
tultumiya

tultumyt kitaeb
rubAumiya
rubAumyt kitaeb
chamsumiya chamsamyt kitaeb
suttumiya
subuAmiya

suttumyt kitaeb

subuAamyt kitaeb
tumunumiya tumunumyt kitaeb
tusAumiya

tusAumyt kitaeb
Thousands
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Here are the numbers from one to nine thousand. Five thousand should really be chamsaet 'alf
, but it is pronounced as below.
English
one thousand
two thousand
three thousand
four thousand
five thousand
six thousand
seven thousand
eight thousand
PRO version
Egyptian
alf

alfyn

talat talaef

'arbaA talaef

chamas talaef

sit talaef

sabaA talaef

taman talaef

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nine thousand
ten thousand
tisaA talaef

Aashar talaef
Ordinals
To explain the sequence of things (first, second, third), you use the ordinal. It can be either as an
adjective or as a noun in the genitive form: As an adjective, the ordinal be preceded by il and, for
1 to 9, must agree with the gender of the noun. From 11 onwards, the cardinal numbers are the
same as ordinals, and are used as adjectives only.
English
the third day
third day
the third time
third time
PRO version
the tenth day

Egyptian
ilyum ittaelit

taelit yum

ilmarra ittalta

taelit marra

ilyum ilAaeshir
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the tenth day

tenth day
the tenth time
tenth time
the eleventh day
eleventh time
the twentieth day
twentieh time

Aaeshir yum

ilmarra ilAaeshira

Aaeshir marra

ilyum ilhidaeshar

ilmarra ilhidaeshar

ilyum ilAasharyn

ilmarra ilAasharyn
Here are the first ten ordinals:

first
PRO version
awwil
the first book
Egyptian
ilkitaeb il'awwil
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first

'uula

second
tany

tanya

third
taelit

talta

fourth
rabAa

rabAa

fifth
chams

chamsa
PRO version
the first book

the first cat
the second book
the second cat
the third book
the third cat
the fourth book
the fourth cat
the fifth book
the fifth cat

il'utta il'uula

ilkitaeb ittany

il'utta ittanya

ilkitaeb ittaelit

il'utta ittalta

ilkitaeb irrabAa

il'utta irrabAa

ilkitaeb ilchaamis

il'utta ilchamsa

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sixth
saedis

saetit

seventh
seventh
eighth
eighth
ninth
ninth
tenth
PRO version
saebiA

saebiAa

taemin

tamna
the sixth book

the sixth cat
the seventh book
the seventh cat
the eighth book
the eighth cat
the ninth book

Aaeshir

il'utta issaetit

ilkitaeb issaebiA

il'utta issaebiAa

ilkitaeb ittaemin

il'utta ittamna

ilkitaeb ittaesiA
taesiA
tasAa
ilkitaeb issaedis
the ninth cat

the tenth book
Aaeshira
tenth
the tenth cat
il'utta ittaesiAa

ilkitaeb ilAaeshir

il'utta ilAaeshira
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tenth
the tenth cat
From the eleventh onwards, the cardinal and ordinal are the same. Here are some examples:
Number
eleven
twelve
thirteen
twenty
thirty
forty
one hundred
two hundred
PRO version
Ordinal
English
hidaeshar

'itnaeshar

talaetashar

Aasharyn
thalatyn
'arbaAyn
miya
mityn
the eleventh book

the twelfth book
the thirteenth book
the twentieth book
the thirtieth book
the fortieth book
the hundredth book
the two hundredth book
Egyptian
ilkitaeb ilhidaeshar

ilkitaeb il'itnashar

ilkitaeb ittalaetashar

ilkitaeb ilAasharyn

ilkitaeb ittalatyn

ilkitaeb il'arbaAyn

ilkitaeb ilmiya

ilkitaeb ilmityn
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two hundred
three hundred
one thousand
tultumiya
'alf
the two hundredth book

the three hundredth book

ilkitaeb ittultumiya

ilkitaeb il'alf
the thousandth book
Fractions
The following fractions are widely used:
English
half
a third
a quarter
three quarters
Egyptian
nus
tilt
rubaA

talaet 'arbaAa
Questions
PRO version
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To ask how many people or things, you should use kam before the noun. To ask for a
sequence or reference number (what or which, you put the kam after the noun. In all of these
cases, the noun is singular.
Type English
count How many children do you have?
count How many days will you stay?
count How many guests tomorrow?
what
What is your telephone number?
what
What time is it?
what
What time is the meeting?
what
What is your apartment number?
which Which floor do you want?

PRO version
Egyptian
Aandak kam walad?

kam yum hatinizil?

kam zibun bukrah?

nimritak kaem?

issaeAa kaem?

il'igtimaeA issaeAa kaem?

sha''ytak raqam kaem?

Aaeyiz dur kaem?
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which Which floor do you want?
Ownership
There are several different ways to indicate ownership and belonging. These are:
Egyptian
Meaning
Egyptian
English
possessive
my/your/his
pronoun
'ismuh
simple
genitive
ism ilwalad
bitaeA
of
his name
the name of the boy
ilbasbur bitaeAy
belonging
Aand
maAa

ly
PRO version
ownership
have with you
having for a purpose
intended for
attached
my passport
Aandy biyt

maAaek kabryt?
I have a house
Do you have matches (on you)?
fy busta lyk
there is some post for you

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milk
(my/your/his) property
ilbiyt dah milkuh
that house is his property
possessive pronoun
In both english and arabic, the most common way of expressing ownership is with a posessive
pronoun (my, your... etc). In egyptian, this is a suffix attached to the noun. Here are some examples:
English
my name
your(m) name
your(f) name
my house
his house
my father
PRO version
Arabic
'ismy
'ismak
'ismik
biyty
biytuh
'abwya
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your(f) father
his father
our god
'abuha
'abuh
rabbina
The posessive pronouns themselves are pretty easy to learn, but when the pronouns are attached
to nouns, the vowels do a little dance to make sure that you don't get three consonants in a row.
See pronouns for more information.
simple genitive
In english, the simple genitive can take two forms: both are expressed in the same way in arabic.
English
Egyptian
'ism irraagil
the man's name
'ism irraagil
the name of the man
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il- can be attached to the second noun if required, but must never be attached to the first noun. If
the first noun is feminine, the -a ending changes to -it . Nothing must be placed between the
two nouns. Adjectives go after the second noun, but must agree in gender and number with the first
noun. If a possessive suffix is required, it must go on the second word (or use bitaeA ) . Here are
some examples:
English
the boy's name is strange
I have her telephone number
Where is the railway station?
Do you know my cousin? (uncle's son)
Do you know my cousin? (uncle's son)
Have you seen the boss's new car?
Egyptian
'ism ilwalad Garyb

Aandy nimrit tilyfunha

mahatit il'atr fyn?

'inta Aaarif 'ibn Aammy?

tiAarif 'ibn Aammy?

'inta shuft Aarabiyit ilmudyr ilgidyda?

'inta shuft ilAarabiya 'illy maAa ilmudyr ilgidyd?
Have you seen the new boss's car?

PRO version

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I want a bottle of water
Aaeyiz 'izzaezit mayaeh

iddyny 'izzaezit ilmayaeh
give me this bottle of water

dyh
Belonging- bitaA
bitaA is used in several ways:
noun +
noun +
bitaA +
bitaA +
bitaA + possessive suffix, to indicate ownership

bitaA + possessive suffix, as an alternative to a genitive
product (milk, onions, tyres etc), to indicate somebody who sells the product
possessive suffix, to refer to a man's or woman's private parts
bitaA is always used for ownership when the noun ends in -yn and for imported words (my
villa). It is not used for parts of the body (my leg).
English
I have lost my passport
Egyptian
'ana daayAt ilbasbur bitaAy

Aandak kam 'uuda fy ilvyla bitaAtak?
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how many rooms does your villa have?
fyn ilmudarrisyn bitwaAak?
Where are your teachers?

huwwa bitaeA chudaar
He is a vegetable seller

huwwa bitaeA laban
He is a milk seller
means he's a ladies' man

battal tuhrush fy bitaeAak
Stop scratching yourself!
bitaeA is like a participle, so it has to agree in gender and number with the noun. Here are all of
the possible endings:
English
belonging to me
PRO version
pl
the book
the bag
the books
ilkitaeb bitaeA-
ishshanta bitaAt-
ilkutub bituA-
bitaAy
bitaAty
bituAy

bitaAna

bitaeAitna
bituAna
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bitaAna
belonging to us
bitaeAitna
belonging to you(m)
belonging to you(f)
belonging to you(pl)
belonging to him
belonging to her
belonging to them
bitaeAak
bituAna

bitaAtak

bitaeAik
bituAak

bitaAtik

bitaeAitkum

bitaeAuh
bituAha

bitaeAithum

bitaeAitha
bitaAhum
bituAkum
bituAuh

bitaAtuh
bitaAha
bituAik

bitaAkum
bituAhum
Ownership - Aand
Aand means that you own something but don't necessarily have with you. It can also be used
about members of your family. An object pronoun can be added to indicate who owns something.
English
PRO version
Egyptian
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Aandy Aarabiya
I have a car

Aanduh waladyn
he has two children
do you have any books?
Aandak kutub?
Here are all of the possible forms.

English
I have
we have
you(m) have
you(f) have
you(pl) have
PRO version
Arabic
Aandy
Aandina

Aandak

Aandik

Aandukum

Aanduh
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he has
she has
they have
Aanduh

Aandaha

Aanduhum
Having with you maAa

maAa means that you have something or somebody with you. It takes an object suffix to say who it
is with.
English
Egyptian
maAak ilmafatyh?
Do you have the keys?

'ana haaruh maAaak
I will go with you
Do you have any change?
maAak fakka?
Here are all of the possible forms:

English
PRO version
Egyptian
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I have
we have
you(m) have
you(f) have
you(pl) have
he has
she has
they have
maAaeya

maAana

maAaek

maAaky

maAaekum

maAaeh

maAaha

maAaehum
intended for - ly-

ly can be used for parts of the body, members of your family, for something that is attached, and
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for something that is intended for somebody or something. It is also used when an inanimate object
has something. Here are some examples:
English
he has only one leg
she has two children
there is mail for you (f)
I owe you five pounds
Lit: I have five founds for you(m)
this present is for (all of) you(pl)
I want a garden seat
A seat intended for the garden
the flat has a garage
Egyptian
lyh rigl wahda bas

lyha waladyn

fy busta lyky

Aandy chamsa giny lyk

ilhidaya dy lykum

Aaeyiz kursy lilginiyna

ishsha''a lyha garaaj
ishsha''a fyhae'uudtyn
the flat has two bedrooms
use fy because rooms are inside
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Here are all of the possible forms:

English
I have
we have
you(m) have
you(f) have
you(pl) have
he has
she has
they have
PRO version
m
liya

lyna
lyk
lyky
lykum
lyh
lyha
lyhum
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Possession property milk

Ownership of real estate - houses, land etc, can be expressed with milk- plus a suffix.
English
He has his own house
Egyptian
Aanduh biyt milkuh

Aandy 'ard milk fy ilGarda'a
I own land in Hurghada
Quantities
You can specify a quantity in several ways:
measures - metres, kilos etc
numbers
containers - packs, bottles etc
approximate amounts - a little, a lot etc
Measures
For weights, lengths and other measurements, you use a number followed by a singular noun.
'ahmad tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy
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Ahmed is 1m90 tall

this bag is 20 pounds
2 kilos of potatoes, please
I want a hundred grams of salami
I need a quarter kilo of butter
'ahmad tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy

ishshanta dih bi Aishryn ginyh

'itnyn kylw bataatis, law samaht

Aaeyiz myt garam salamy

mihtaeg rubaA kylw zibda

ilAarabiya gaebit tamanya tun mayae
the truck brought eight tonnes of water
Numbers
See the section in numbers for more information about this.
Containers
If you want something in a container of some sort: carton, bottle, etc, you use the genitive of the
container. The main effect of this is that words ending in tee-marbuta -a are pronounced -it .
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you must take one spoonful of medicine

I want a pack of cigarettes
a bottle of water, please
laezim tachuz maAla'it dawaa'

Aaeyiz Aalbit sagaeyar

'izzaezit maeya, law samaht
Approximate measures
tea without sugar
normal tea
(with three sugar)
weak tea
strong tea
a little milk
I don't have enough money
PRO version
shaey myn Gyr sukkar

shaey mazbut

shaey chafyf

shaey ti'yl

shuwayit laban

maAandysh filus kifaeya
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I don't have enough money

he has a lot of money
you have a lot of friends
informal

Aanduh filus kityr

Aandak 'ashaeb yama
Questions
There are four main groups of questions.
Direct- what, when, why
Indirect- courteous question and whether
Confirmation - isn't it so?
Rhetorical- you are making a point and don't expect an answer
English quirks
In english, it is possible to ask a question in many different ways. some of these translate easily into
Egyptian: others require a little thought. The ones you need to watch out for are:
sentences with 'do' where you are not doing anything
sentences with 'got' where you are not getting anything
sentences with how followed by an adverb or adjective (see adverbal question)
For all english verbs except is and have, you can turn a statement into a question by putting do in
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front of it.
you know John
do you know John?
.
In egyptian, you can either add huwwa at the start of the sentence or use inflection you know
john?
The word have is somewhat overused in english, and English speakers often reduce the risk of
confusion by saying have you got rather than the older form, still used by most americans, do you
have...?. There is no equivalent in egyptian, so inflection is used
Direct questions
It is possible to frame a direct question in several ways:
using a query word at the end of the sentence
preceding a sentence with huwwa
by inflection
Query words
In english, a query word normally start the sentence: in egyptian it is normally at the end of the
sentence. For example
where are you going?
raayiH fyn?
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The following query words can be used:

English
what
when
where
where from
how
which
Egyptian
'iyh
'imta
fyn
minyn
'izzay

'anhw
kaem
how many
followed by singular noun

kaem
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what (number)
how much (of something)
how much (money)
why
kaem

'add iyh

bikaem

lyh
The simple imperfect ('aAamil, tiAuz, yiruh is often used in questions. Here are some
examples:
English
how are you?
how are you?
lit. what are you doing?
what are you doing?
Egyptian
'izzayak?

'aAamil 'iyh?

bitaAamil 'iyh?

'ashufak 'imta?
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when will I see you?

where is the station?
where can I buy flowers from?
where can I buy flowers from?
where are you from?
how do I charge this phone?
which book (m) do you(m) want?
which glass (f) is yours(m)?
how much milk would you like?
how much is this bag?
PRO version
'ashufak 'imta?

ilmahatta fyn?

mumkin 'ashtiry ward min fyn?

minyn mumkin 'ashtiry ward?

'inta minyn?

'ashhan ittilyfun dah 'izzay?

Aaewiz ilkitaeb 'anhw?

'anhw ilkubaeya bitaAitak?

Aaewiz laban 'add iyh?

ishshanta dy bikaem?

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why is he going?
huwwa raayih lyh?
Here are some common answers to questions

English
How much? This much
Why? Because.
Why? It's like that
Why? Better like this
Why? Why not?
Egyptian
'add iyh? 'add kidah

lyh? Aalashaen

lyh? kidah

lyh? 'ahsan kidah

lyh? lyh laa'?
To ask how many people or things, you should use kaem before the noun. To ask for a
sequence or reference number (what or which, you put the kaem after the noun. In all of these
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cases, the noun is singular.

English
How many children do you have?
How many days will you stay?
How many guests tomorrow?
What is your telephone number?
What time is it?
What time is the meeting?
What is your apartment number?
Which is your apartment?
Egyptian
Aandak kaem walad?

hatinizil kaem yum?

kaem zibun bukrah?

nimritak kaem?

issaeAa kaem?

il'igtimaeA issaeAa kaem?

sha''itak ra'am kaem?

sha''itak 'anhw?

Aaeyiz dur kaem?
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Which floor do you want?
Aaeyiz dur kaem?
Pronoun questions
In english, it is possible to make a question by swapping the subject and verb. For example,
he is english
is he english?
The equivalent in Egyptian arabic is to put the query pronoun huwwa at the start of the
sentence. You should think of this as "Is it so that..."
huwwa iicnta gaay maAa-naa?
Is it so that you are coming with us?
Inflection
In english, you can make a statement by saying she is coming. or turn it into a question, she is
coming? just by the tone of your voice: the pitch rises a little at the end of the sentence to indicate
a question. You can do exactly the same thing in Arabic. hiya gayya is a statement nd hiya
gayya? is a question.
Indirect questions (whether)

An indirect question is made up of two clauses: the first clause is often a courtesy clause "Could
you possibly..." and the second clause is the real question. Here are some examples of direct and
indirect questions.
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Direct
Indirect
where is the station? Can you tell me where the station is?
what is the time?
Do you know what the time is?
is he coming?
Do you know whether he is coming?
The query-word whether is used only in indirect questions: in egyptian, 'iza is used for this.
English
Can you tell me where the station is?
Do you know what the time is?
Do you know whether he is coming?
Egyptian
mumkin ti'uly fyn ilmahatta?

'inta Aaarif issaeAa kaem?

'inta Aaarif 'iza huwwa gayy?
Confirmation questions
If you are pretty sure about something but want to check, you can use one of the following methods:
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English
he's coming, isn't he?
he's coming, isn't that so?
he's coming, right?
Arabic
huwwa mish gaey?

huwwa gaey, mish kidah?

huwwa gaey, sahh?
Rhetorical questions
A rhetorical question is used to make a point: you don't expect an answer. Any of the above
methods can be used to ask rhetorical questions.
English
wouldn't it be better if you(m) shut up?
you(m) must be kidding!
you(m) are an idiot, right?
PRO version
Arabic
mish tiskut 'ahsan?

bithazzar, mish kidah?

'inta 'ahbal, sahh?

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Adverbal and adjectival questions

In english, it is possible to ask a question using how followed by an adjective or adverb. There is
no similar construction in Egyptian, so it is necessary to re-phrase the question, usually so that you
are asking for a number. Here are some examples:
English
re-phrased
Egyptian
How fast were you driving?
how many kilometers an

hour..
kaem kylumitr fy issaeAa
How often do you go to the

gym?
how many times a week...
How hot is the oven?
what is the temperature?
How difficult was the exam?
was the exam difficult

kaem marra fy il'usbwaA...

ilharraara kaem

huwwa il'imtihaen kaen
saAb?
Time
Time can be expressed in several different ways:
units of time - days, weeks etc
parts of the day - morning/afternoon
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time of day - 6.30

relative time (before/after) - today/yesterday etc
days of the week
dates
Units of time
English Egyptian Plural
moment
second
minute
hour
day
week
month
PRO version
lahza
lahzaet
thanya
thawany
di'y'a
da'aeyi'

saeAa

yum

saAaet

'ayaem
'usbuA
'asaebiyA
shahr
shuhur
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month
year
lifetime
sana
sinyn
Aumr
'aAmaar
Parts of the day

The main events in the day are sunrise and sunset. Midnight, noon and the six prayer times can
also be used to specify an approximate time.
English
last prayers till dawn
dawn until sunset
after sunset
dawn
Arabic
illyl

issubh

masaa'

fagr
idduhr
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idduhr
noon

baAd idduhr
after noon

ilmaGrib
sunset

nus illyl
midnight
Time of day
In English, it is normal to use half and quarter hours to describe time. In addition, in Egyptian, thirds
are used. Here is a list of the words that can be used:
English
half
a third
a quarter
PRO version
Arabic
nus
tilt
rubA

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and
less
wa
'ila
Here are all the times at five minute intervals:

English
seven o'clock
five past seven past
ten past seven
quarter past seven
twenty past seven
twenty five past seven
PRO version
Arabic
sabAa
sabAa wa chamsa

sabAa wa Aashara

sabAa wa rubA

sabAa wa tilt

sabAa wa nus 'ila chamsa

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half past seven

twenty-five to eight
twenty to eight
quarter to eight
ten to eight
five to eight
sabAa wa nus

sabAa wa nus wa chamsa

tamanya 'ila tilt

tamaanyao iiclaa rubaA
tamanya 'ila Aashara

tamanya 'ila chamsa
Relative time
English
the day before yesterday
yesterday
today
PRO version
Arabic
'awil 'imbaarih

'imbaarih

innahaarda
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today

bukrah
tomorrow

baAd bukrah
the day after tomorrow

English
last week
this week
next week
English
now
soon
later
PRO version
Arabic
iluusbwaA 'ily faet

iluusbwaA dih

iluusbwaA 'ily gaey

Arabic
dilwa'ty

baAd shuwayao
baAdyn
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not yet
early
late (at night)
lissah
badry
wachry
Days of week
English
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
PRO version
Arabic
yum ilaahad

yum il'ithnyn

yum ittalaet

yum il'arbaAa

yum ilchamys

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Friday
Saturday
yum ilgumaAa

yum issabt
Dates
Which one?
This section explains how to specify which of several things we are interested in, or talking about.
Definite article
To talk about a particular man, we say 'the man' in english. In arabic, we attach il- to the front of
the noun.
the man is reading his book
iil-raagil biyiqraac kitaab-uh
Note that adding il- to a word affects the pronunciation if it begins with a sun letter.
Indefinite article
If we don't want to refer to any man in particular, we say 'a man' in english. There is no equivalent of
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a in arabic, you just use the noun on its own.

I want a dog
aacnaa Aaayiz kalb
If you want to make it clear that you are talking about just one, you can use the word waaHid- one.
When used for emphasis like this, you place it after the noun.
I want (just) one dog
aacnaa Aaayiz kalb waaHid
You also use it with nationalities to indicate that you are talking about a person, rather than (for
example) the language.
an English man (or woman)
waaHid iingilyzy
waaHdao iingilyziyao
Adjectives
In both English an Egyptian, you can use an adjective to specify which one you are interested in:
you simply put the - il- in front of the adjective. Note that, in Egyptian, the noun still retains its il prefix.
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English
Egyptian
Aaeyiz kura hamra
describe I want a red ball

specify
I want the red ball
Aaeyiz ilkura ilhamra

'araa't ilkitab ilkibyr
specify
I have read the big book
Demonstrative adjectives
One particular type of adjective is a demonstrative adjective. These are almost the same as the
demonstrative pronouns.
this man
iil-raagil dah
The demonstrative adjectives are:
English
this (man)
Arabic
irraagil dah

ilkitaeb dah
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this (thing, m)
this (thing, f)
this (woman)
these (men)
these (men) nearer
these (women)
these (things,m)
these (things,f)
over there (m)
over there [f]
PRO version
ilkitaeb dah

ilhaga dah

issitt dy

irragala dul

irragala dy

issittaet dul

ilkutub dy

ilhagaet dy

'ahw
'ahy
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over there (pl)
'ahum
Comparatives
You can use a comparative in the same was as an adjective to specify which one you mean:
English
mohammed is the tallest student
he is the youngest boy
Egyptian
muhammad 'atwal taalib

huwwa 'asGar walad

ittaalib il'atwal tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy
the tallest student is 1m90
the most expensive drink is 20 pounds

this is the prettiest dress in the shop
it was the best day in my life
PRO version
ilmashrab il'aGla 20 ginyh

dih 'ahla fustaen fy ilmahal

kaen 'ahsan yum fy hayaty

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Arabic Writing and pronunciation

This chapter describes the arabic alphabet, and how it can be written using roman letters, then
goes on to explain the general pronunciation rules of the language.
Please remember that Egyptian Arabic is an oral language. When people are asked to write it, some
write in Modern Standard Arabic and then pronounce it the Egyptian way, others write it as an
Egyptian would say it. As a result, there may some variation in the way things are spelt.
Arabic script
There are 28 basic letters in Egyptian arabic, and about a dozen modifiers.
Writing goes from right to left, and the majority of arabic letters join onto the following letter and so
there are therefore four forms of each letter: solitary, initial, middle and final. For the six letters that
do not join, there are just two forms- solitary and final.
position normal letter non-joining letter
solitary
initial
middle
final
The three short vowels a , i and u and shadda , which doubles the length of a consonant, are
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collectively called tashkyl or vowellization. Tashkyl is not normally used in written arabic apart
from in the Quran. If they are used, they are written above a consonant but pronounced after it: for
the convenience of non-arabic readers, I have included the tashkyl, but written it after the
consonant.
Transliterated arabic
The transliterated form is an exact representation of the arabic script in roman letters: this is not
always straightforward, as there are a lot more letters and modifiers in arabic than there are in the
roman alphabet.
If you want to be able to say words accurately, you need to be able to read either arabic or the
transliterated form- for example, so that you can see the difference between syn and saad.
Here is a summary of the less obvious features of the system:
Letter
Transliterated Pronounced/arabic
short vowel
a [e] i u
long vowel (alif)
aa ee ii uu
alif with hamza
aac iic uuc
aeiu
a 'e i uu

'a 'i 'u

yw
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other long vowels
yw
other long vowels with hamza yc wc

gluttal stop qaf
voiced qaf
soft consonant
dhstz
hard consonant
DHSTZ
double-letter consonants
dh sh th
t-marbuta
alif-layena
yw
'y 'w
'
dhstz
dhstz
z sh th
-a
-a
It is readable if you ignore hamza ' and tee-marbuta - , and read atif-layena a as a.
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Pronounced arabic
The pronounced form is supposed to be how an english person would write a word or phrase. For
ease of reading, the pronounced arabic in this document does not follow the rules that join words
together, for example sun letters and consonant clusters.
the alphabet
This table shows how to read and pronounce the arabic letters, and how they are written in roman
letters throughout the dictionary.
name
arabic
trans
pronounced
literated
examples
Notes
'aywa
alif
hamza above
aac
'a
mas'ala
bad'a
'intaeg

ae as in
aeroplane
luGaet
after soft consonant
makaen
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alif
fatha
aa
hamraa'

aa as in hard
faar
after hard consonant

before r
Gata
alif
kasra
ii
ilwalad

'ism
alif
hamza below
iic
'i
'istanna
'itfaehim

'umm
alif
damma
uuc
'u

'ustaez

'esif
alif
PRO version
ee
ee
mut'ekil
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madda
ee
ee
'echir
baAd
by
kibyr
gawaeb

taht
ty
'aktar
kursaet

thabbit
thy
th
th
mathal
bahth
gaeb
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gyn
magmuAa

churraag

jaekit
jyn
'ajinda
not arabic
borrowed from farsi
byj
haedith
ha
'ihna
yiruh
chaaf
kha
ch
as in loch
achaz

taarych

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daem

dal
nady

zaed

zaekar

thal
dh
z
th as in there
kizb
'ustaez

raah

ray
tary'
'iftakar
zayy

zyn
PRO version
gazar

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gahhiz
sitt
syn
masaa'

dars

shaef
shyn

sh
sh
rashwa

mish
sanf
saad
'asad
chaalis

dahr
PRO version
hadritak
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hadritak
'abyad
daad
taba'a
batal
Galat
taa
zarf
yizhar
hazz
zaa

Aala
baAd
taebiA
A - nasal a
ain

Galab
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PRO version
gin
G - gargling noise
suGayar
baeliG

fiAlaen
fah
mifalis
nidyf
veh
vyla
v
not arabic
nuvimbir
borrowed from farsi
'udaem
qaf
PRO version
'
nu'ta
as in cockney bottle
(bo'le)
sadda'
cannot tell from arabic
qana
whether qaf is pronounced

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qana
k
sounds swallowed
upper egyptians say g
raqam

sadyq
kaen
kef
'aktar
hadritak

lakin
lem
Aala
ful
mumkin
mym
PRO version
Aaemil

naem
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nashaat
nwn
'ihna
sinyn
hey
hina
_ah
_it
it
zahar
tee-marbuta
sura

'izzaezit zyt genitive
bottle of oil
wishsh

wow
yum
Audw
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s'wael
wow-hamza
wc
'w

mas'wliya

wow-alif
oo
'intu
unusual pronunciation
for verb endings
yizhar
yeh
taarych

zayy

yeh-hamza
ra'yys
yc
'y

daf'y

Aala
alif-layena
nada
used at end of words

alif-layena
madda
PRO version
Ye
muthannae
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short vowels
dawla

basal
fatha
'inta

'arbaAa

madda
short e
rarely used
min
kasra
kibyr
'inti

sufrah

damma
tulaeb

'anhuh
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sukun
silent
means that there is no vowel
other symbols
sadda'
doubles the letter
shadda
hadd
it is above

fathatan
tanwyn
tatwyl
daeymaen
used on alif
at end of word
used for spacing
'ana
aac
yc
wc
hamza
PRO version
r'ya
'
s'wael
as in cockney bottle

(bo'le)
hawaa'
small above alif, yeh, wow
full size, on its own

laa'

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You can print out this table and keep it handy for reference.
Stress
In most words, the second to last syllable is usually stressed.
'iftakar
kitaeb
mudachan
The stress moves to the last syllable if it contains a long vowel (alif, wow, yeh) or ends with a
double consonant. Remember that the letter AIN is treated as a consonant.
taAbaen
maftuh
yidu''

This means that the stress will move if suffixes are added to a word.
Feminine endings
When a word ends in _aaCiC (where C is any consonant) has a feminine ending attached, the i
disappears and the aa is pronounced as an a.
waehid -> wahda
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Elision
If a word ends with a vowel and the first vowel of the next word is either an i or a u, the words are
run together (elided) and the i or u omitted.
'inta minyn? -> 'intamnyn?
This also happens if you attach an object suffix that begins with an i.
consonant clusters
If putting two words next to each other makes more than two consonants in a row, a shwa (which
sounds like a short a) is inserted between the words.
baAd kidah -> baAdakidah
Sun letters
If the definite article, il- , is attached to a word that begins with a sun-letter (t t d d l r n s s z z
) the l is dropped and the sun-letter is doubled:
il- shams -> ishshams
Pronunciation exceptions
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The pronunciation of some pronoun and verb endings is a little unusual. For the you(pl) 'intu
subject pronoun and for you(pl) and they in the verb perfect, the ending is written -w a but
pronounced -uh .
The word because is written Aalashaen but pronounced Aashaen .
The word orange is written burtu'ael but pronounced burtu'aen .
Irregular verbs
There are very few irregular verbs in Egyptian: here are all the ones that I know of:
be/was - kaen
eat - kul
take - chud
come - gih
give - idda
fall - wi'iA
stop - wi'if
Be - kaen
The verb 'to be' does not exist in the present tense. It is used only in the perfect and Ha-imperfect
forms.
English Pronoun Perfect Ha-Imperfect
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I
we
you (m)
you (f)
you (pl)
he
she
they
'ana
kunt
'ihna
kunna
'inta

kunt

'inti
kunty

'intu
hakun
hankun
hatkun
hatkuny
kuntuh hatkunuh
huwwa

hiya
kaen

kaenit

humma
kanuh
haykun
hatkun
haykunuh
Eat- kul
kul has irregular imperfect froms
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Pronoun Perfect Imperfect Imperative

'ana
kalt
ihna
akul
kalna

'inta
kalt

'inty
'intu
huwa
kal
kalit

humma

kul

takly
kuly
kalu
kulw
yaekul

hiya
naekul
kaltu
taekul
kalty
Active
Participle
kalw

taekul

yakluh
Take- chud
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Kud has irregular imperfect froms

'ana
chudt
ihna
achud
chadna naechud

'inta
chudt

'inty
chady
'intu

taechud
huwa
achad

hiya

chadit

humma
tachdy
chudty
chudw
yaechud

taechud
achadu yachduh

chud
chadtw chadtw
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Active
Participle

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Come- gih
'ana
gyt
ihna
gyna
'inta
'inty
'intu
huwa
hiya
humma
tygy

taAaly
tygu

taAalu
gaey

gaeya

gayyin
yigy
gaet
taAaela
gih
gytu
nygy
tygy
gyty
gyt
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'egy
Active
Participle
tigy

gum
yigu
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Give- idda
'ana
'idyt
ihna
addy
'iddyna niddy

'inta
'iddyt

'inty
'intu
tiddy
'iddyty
'iddy
tiddy
huwa
'idda

hiya

humma
'iddu

'iddu
yiddy
'iddyt
'iddit
'iddytu tiddu
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Active
Participle
tiddy
yiddu
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fall- wi'iA
Pronoun Perfect
Imperfect Imperative
'ana
a'aA
wi'iAt
ihna

wi'iAna

'inta

'inty

wi'iAtu

huwa
wi'iA

hiya
humma
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tu'aA

wi'Au
wae'iA
tu'aAy
tu'aAu

wa'Ait

wa'Ayn
yu'aA

wi'Ait
nu'aA

wi'iAty
'intu

wi'iAt
Active
Participle
tu'aA
yu'aAu
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stand- wi'if
Pronoun Perfect
Imperfect Imperative
'ana
a'af
wi'ift
ihna

wi'ifna

'inta
wi'iftu
'intu
huwa
wi'if

hiya
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nu'af
tu'af

wi'ifty
'inty

wi'ift
uu'af
tu'afy
tu'afu

uu'afy

uu'afu
wae'if

wae'ifty
wae'ifyn
yu'af

wi'fit
Active
Participle
tu'af
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humma

wi'fu
yu'afu
Verbs: Root and Stem

A verb is made up of a root (a set of consonants) and a stem (a prefix and the vowels between).
There may be more than one verb derived from the same root- for example, starting with fhm, you
can make fihim (to understand) and fahhim (to make somebody understand).
Most roots have three consonants: it is conventional to describe this type of verb using the letters
K, T and B, as in kitab , write. For words with four consonants, the letter L is used as well. A
small number of roots have two or four consonants. There are five main roots, and each of these
can make three main stem types, as per the following table. Note that, in arabic, AIN is treated a
consonant, so Airif is of the form KiTiB.
A
1 KVT
KvTv
KvTT
KvTvB
KvTBvL
2 KvVVvT KvTTv KvTTvT KvTTvB

3 KaaViT
KaaTi
KvTT
KaaTiB
KvTBvL
KTBL=root consonantsv=aiuV=wy
From any of these main stems, it is possible to derive more stems by adding prefixes. Here are
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some examples:
Prefix Main stem Derived stem Meaning
iit-
KvTvB
iitKvTvB
yitKvTvB
passive (be *-ed)

reflexive (* oneself)
iit-
KvTTvB
iitKaTTaB
yitKvTTvB
passive (be *-ed)

reflexive (* oneself)
iit-
KaaTiB
yiKTvB
iitKaaTiB
yitKaaTiB
each other
iiKt-
KvTvB
iiKtvTvB
yiKtvTvB
as iit-
iin-
KvTvB
iinKvTvB
yinKvTvB
as iit-
iista-
KvTvB
iistaKvTvB
yistaKvTvB
consider or seek
There are also some verbs that are derived from classical arabic- the perfect genarally begins with
aa-, and the imperfect with yu-.
About this document

I would like to thank the residents of the White House, Suze Labib and Rana el Hindy for helping
me to make this possible.
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The logo was designed by Khaled Adel of Absolute Studios.

This document is a work in progress. It was developed and revised over several years as a study
aid for my own use: It has been extensively checked, but I am sure that there are still mistakes and
omissions.
The dictionary and grammar are supplied 'as is': you are welcome to use them on condition that you
do not hold me responsible for any loss, injury or embarrassment that may result from their use. See
the copyright notice if you wish to publish any part of this document.
If you notice any errors or omissions or have suggestions for improvements, you can contact me
using the Contact us page.
Cookies
You were probably wondering about cookies. Or maybe not. The web and android versions of this
document use cookies to remember your preferences for transliterated, pronounced and show
arabic. No personal data, nothing sinister.
Copyright
This material is Copyright 2007-2012 Mike Green.
You may distribute the documents and applications free of charge if it is strictly for non-commercial
use, and:
either the material is supplied complete and in its existing form
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or extracts from the material are attributed to www.lisaanmasry.com and carry the original
copyright details of the document
If you need to access the entire dictionary database for any reason, please ask and maybe I can
supply it in a more convenient form.
Mike Green
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Contents

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similarities and differences between Egyptian and English

A word about arabic writing

The essentials- Same same but different

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Nouns and verbs

subject noun Ahmed

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subject noun Sarah

Subject and Object

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subject pronoun she

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English Egyptian English

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Here are a few more examples:

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Ahmed will be tired

have with me I have matches

I will have dinner hatAashsha

I will have a nap haechuz taAsyla

Masculine, feminine, plural

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remain the same. You will need to learn them.

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they are good

I will come back soon

Ahmed walks quickly

Ahmed is extremely clever

Ahmed drives reasonably fast

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she came after dinner

the garden is behind the house

I have a house in Cairo

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Aaayiz aacAamil Aiysh lakin maAandysh diqyq kifaayao

I want to make bread

Second clause I don't have enough flour

maAandysh di'y' kifaeya

wash your hands before dinner

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A noun represents a person, thing or concept. Here are some examples:

Masculine and feminine

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English Collective one

English Collective a piece

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a couple of minutes diqiqtyn

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Ahmed has a dog. He walks with it every day

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