Egyptian Grammar PDF

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
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.
Nouns and verbs
Here is a simple sentence in both english and Egyptian:
Ahmed loves sarah

aacHmad biyiHibb saarao
Element English Egyptian

'ahmad
subject noun Ahmed

biyihibb
verb loves

saara
object noun Sarah

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
saara
subject noun Sarah

bitihibb
verb loves

'ahmad
object noun Ahmed

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:

saara
name Sarah

irraagil
irraagil
noun (specific) the man

issitt
the woman

il'utta
the cat

ilfikra
the idea

raagil
noun(general) a man

sitt
a woman

'utta
a cat

fikra
an idea

shwyit rigalae
noun(quantity) some men

chamas rigala
five men

'ay raagil
any man

huwwa
pronoun(subject) he

hiya
she

-uh
pronoun(object) him

-ha
her

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
'ana
subject pronoun I

bahibb
verb love

-aha
object pronoun her

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

hiya
subject pronoun she

bitihibb
verb loves

-ny
object pronoun me

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 Egyptian
'ana -ny
I me

'ihna -na
we us

'inta -ak
you(m) you(m)

'inti -ik
you(f) you(f)

'intu -ukw
you(pl) you(pl)

huwwa -uh
he/it(m) him/it(m)

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hiya -ha
she/it(f) her/it(f)

humma -uhum
they them

Here are a few more examples:
English Egyptian
'ana Aaarifuh
I know him

'ahmad Aaarifuh
Ahmed knows him

saara Aaarifah
Sarah knows him

'ana bashrab sagaeyar
I smoke cigarettes

'ana baktib kutub
I write books

'ahmad biyiktib kutub
Ahmed writes books

huwwa biyiktib kutub
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he writes books
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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 Egyptian
'ana taAbaen
I am tired

'ahmad masry
Ahmed is Egyptian

il'utat fy ilginyna
the cats are in the garden

saara mawguda
Sarah is available

innahaarda ilgumAa
today is friday

dy miraaty
dy miraaty
this is my wife

guzy fy ilbiyt
my husband is at home

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 Egyptian
'ana taAbaen
I am tired

'ahmad taAbaen
Ahmed is tired

'ana kunt taAbaen
I was tired

'ahmad kaen taAbaen
Ahmed was tired

'ana hakun taAbaen
I will be tired

'ahmad hayikun taAbaen
Ahmed will be tired
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 Egyptian

maAaya kabryt
have with me I have matches

Aandy biyt
own I have a house

laezim 'aruwh
must I have to go

I will have dinner hatAashsha
eat, etc
(I will dine)
I will have a nap haechuz taAsyla
take
(I will take a nap)
Masculine, feminine, plural

Like many european languages, all Egyptian nouns are either masculine or feminine. Here are
some examples:
Gender English Arabic

kitaeb
masculine book

kalb
masculine dog

raagil
masculine man

biyt
masculine biyt

laban
masculine milk

salaem
masculine peace

mudarris
masculine teacher

mudarrisa
feminine teacher

fikra
fikra
feminine idea

tarabyza
feminine table

warsha
feminine workshop

sitt
feminine woman

daughter bint
feminine
girl
naar
feminine fire

raas
feminine head

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:
English Arabic
Singular Plural Singular Plural
kitaeb kutub
book books

kalb kilaeb
dog dogs

raagil riggala
man men

tifl 'atfael
child children

biyt buyut
house house

laban
milk

salaem
peace

mudarris mudarrisyn
teacher(m) teachers

mudarrisa mudarrisaet
teacher(f) teachers
teacher(f) teachers

fikra 'afkaar
idea ideas

tarabyza
tarabyzaet
table tables

warsha wirash
workshop workshops

sitt sattaet
woman women

daughter daughters bint banaet
girl girls
naar nyraan
fire fires

raas ru'wus
head heads

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
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 Egyptian
huwwa taAbaen
he is tired

hiya taAbaena
she is tired

humma taAbanyn
they are tired

huwwa kuwayis
he is good

hiya kuwayisa
she is good

humma kuwayisyn
they are good

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 Egyptian

'ana hargaA baAd shuwaya
verb I will come back soon

'ahmad biyimshy bisuraAa
verb Ahmed walks quickly

'ahmad shaatir giddaen
adjective Ahmed is extremely clever

'ahmad biyisu' bisuraAa maA'ula
adverb Ahmed drives reasonably fast

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:

baAd hiya gaet baAd ilAashaa'
after she came after dinner

wara ilginyna wara ilbiyt
behind the garden is behind the house

Aand Aandy biyt fy il'aehira
have I have a house in Cairo

fy fy mayae
there is there is water

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

Aaayiz aacAamil Aiysh lakin maAandysh diqyq kifaayao
Part English Egyptian

Aaeyiz 'aAamil Aiysh
Main clause I want to make bread

lakin
Conjunction but

maAandysh di'y' kifaeya
Second clause I don't have enough flour

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.

preposition 'iGsil iydyk 'abl ilAashaa'
wash your hands before dinner
(dinner is a noun)
conjunction 'iGsil iydyk 'abl ma taekul
(you eat is a clause- wash your hands before you eat
it contains a verb)

Nouns
A noun represents a person, thing or concept. Here are some examples:
Type English Arabic

'ahmad
person Ahmed

raagil
person man

laeAib
person player

gild
thing leather

hikma
concept wisdom

myAaed
concept appointment

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:
English Arabic
fikra
idea

sitt
woman

bint
daughter

naar
fire

raas
head

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

-yn muhaesib muhaesibyn
masculine

-at muhasba muhaesibat
feminine

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 Singular Plural

naggaar naggaaryn
carpenter

chudary chudariyya
greengrocer

mudarris mudarrisyn
male teacher

mudarrisa mudarrisat
female teacher

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
talk about one item, for example one fish, by adding -a ending
English Collective one

biyd biyda
eggs

samak samaka
fish

dibbaen dibbaena
flies

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

chashab chashaba
wood

sabun sabuna
soap

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

sharaab
socks

guwanty
gloves

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:
English Egyptian Suffix English Egyptian
kitaeb -yn
book (m) two books kitaabyn

chair kursy -tyn
two chairs kursiyyin
(ends with y)
di'y'a -iyyin
minute (f) 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 on its own with pronoun

kitaeb kitaebuh
his book

miraaty
my wife does not exist on its own

fikra fikritak
your(m) idea

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 Arabic
kys blastik
a plastic bag

ilkys ilblastik
the plastic bag

'akyaes blastik
plastic bags

il'akyaes ilblastik
the plastic bags

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:
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

huwwa
he subject

-uh
him object

-luh
to him indirect object

-uh
-uh
his posessive

nafsuh
himself 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
'ana
I

'ihna
we

'inta
you(m)

'inti
you(f)

'intu
you(pl)

huwwa
he/it(m)

hiya
she/it(f)

humma
they

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
The object suffixes are similar to posessive suffixes on nouns:
English Suffix
-ni
me

-na
us

-ak
You(m)

-ik
You(f)

-kum
You(pl)

-u
Him/it(m)

-ha
Her/if(f)

-hum
Them


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

-y saahiby -y kalby
my

-na saahibna -ina kalbina
our

-ak saahibak -ak kalbak
your(m)

-ik saahibik -ik kalbik
your(f)

-kum saahibkum -ukum kalbukum
your(pl)

-uh saahibuh -uh kalbuh
his/its(m)

-ha saahibha -aha kalbaha
her/its(f)

-hum saahibhum -uhum kalbuhum
their

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 shanta

-ty kurty -ity shantity
my

-itna kuritna -itna shantitna
our

-tak kurtak -itak shantitak
your(m)

-tik kurtik -itik shantitik
your(f)

-itkum kuritkum -itkum shantitkum
your(pl)

-tuh kurtuh -ituh shantituh
his/its(m)

-itha kuritha -itha shantitha
her/its(f)

-ithum kurithum -ithum shantithum
their

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.
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 -y -w
English

vyla kursy Aadw

-ya vylity kursya Aadwy
my

-na vylitna kursyna Aadwna
our

-k vylitak kursyk Aadwk
your(m)

-ki vylitik kursyky Aadwik
your(f)

-kum vylitkum kursykum Aadwkum
your(pl)

-h vylituh kursyh Aadwh
-h vylituh kursyh Aadwh
his/its(m)

-ha vylitha kursyha Aadwha
her/its(f)

-hum vylithum kursyhum Aadwhum
their

Father and brother 'abb

and brother 'achch
become 'abw- and brother 'achw- when a
possessive pronoun is added.
father brother
English
aacbb aacKK
'abwya 'achwya
my

'abuna 'achuna
our

'abuk 'achuk
your(m)

'abuky 'achuky
your(f)

'abukum 'achukum
your(pl)
your(pl)

'abuh 'achuh
his/its(m)

'abuha 'achuha
her/its(f)

'abuhum 'achuhum
their

reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself)
Reflexive pronouns can be used after a noun or a verb.
English Egyptian
haechud baly min nafsy
I can look after myself

irraagil nafsuh
The man himself

huwwa Aaemalha binafsuh
He did it by himself

Demonstrative pronouns
These are the words that you use when you want to point at something.
English Egyptian
dah
this (man)

dy
this (woman, thing)

dul
those (men)

dyh
those (women,things)

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 Egyptian

bikaem dah
pronoun how much is this

bikaem ilkitaeb dah
pronoun how much is this book


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 Egyptian
hadd
somebody

'ay hadd
anybody

wala hadd
nobody

haega
something

'ay haega
anything

wala haega
nothing

makaen
somewhere

'ay makaen
anywhere

wala makaen
nowhere

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 Egyptian
kiryza hamra
describe a cherry is red

ilkura hamra
describe the ball is red

Aaeyiz kura hamra
describe I want a red ball

Aaeyiz ilkura ilhamra
specify I want the red ball

ilkitaeb kibyr
describe the book is big

'araa't kitaeb kibyr
describe I have read a big book

'araa't ilkitaeb ilkibyr
specify I have read the big book

irraagil 'aAma
describe the man is blind

raagil 'aAma barra
describe a blind man is outside

irraagil il'aAma barra
specify the blind man is outside

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
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 plural
-ah -yn

kibyr kibyrah kubaar
big

kuwayis kuwayisah kuwayisyn
good

'ahmar hamrah humr
red

sahl sahlah sahlyn
easy

latyf latyfah lutaaf
nice

faady faadyah faadyyin
free

bunny bunny bunny
brown

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.
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 m f pl
-y -iya iyyin

masr masry masriya masriyyin
Egypt

ilyunaen yunany yunaeniya yunaeniyyin
Greece

'iytalya 'iytaly 'iytalya 'iytalyyin
Italy

issiwyd siwydy siwydya siwydyyin
Sweden

ishshimael shimaly shimaeliya shimaeliyyin
the North

'uurubbiyyin
'uurubba 'uurubby 'uurubbiya
Europe

Irregular ones...
ilhind hindy hindya hunud
India

'amryka 'amryky (people) amrikiya amrykaen
America
'amrikany ( things)
For some countries eg England, the adjective is made from the collective noun. Here are some
examples:
English Country m f collective noun

-y -iya

'ingiltira 'ingilyzy 'ingilyziyah 'ingilyz
England

Aaraby Aaraby Aarabiyah Aarab
Arabia

rusya rusy rusyah rus
Russia

'almanya 'almany 'almanyah 'almaen
Germany

'asbanya 'asbany 'asbanyah 'asbaen
Spain

For countries ending in two consonants and alif, the ending is -awy .
English Country m f pl
-awy -awiya -awiyyin

innimsa nimsaewy nimsawiyyah nimsawiyyin
Austria

faransa faransaewy faransawiyah faransawiyyin
France

One common usage of the country adjective is to talk about a person from that country. Here are
some examples:
English Egyptian
waehid masry
an Egyptian man

wahda masrya
an Egyptian woman

waehid 'ingilizy
waehid 'ingilizy
an englishman

wahda 'ingilyzya
an englishwoman

waehid faransawy
a frenchman

wahda faransawiya
a frenchwoman

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

gibna faransaewy
French cheese

ilAarabiyaet 'amrikany
american cars

Colours
The main colours follow a pattern. Here are some examples:
English m f pl
C=consonant aCCaC CaCCah CuCC
'abyad biyda biyd
white

'iswid suda suwd
black

'asfar safra sufr
yellow

'azra' zar'ah zur'
blue

'achdar chadra chudr
green

'ahmar hamra humr
red

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.
English m/f/pl
brown bunny
coffee
zahaby
golden

faddy
silver

nahasy
copper

rumady
light grey

dark grey rusaasy
lead
dark green zyty
olive
kuhly
dark blue

labany
pale blue

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dark red nibyty
wine
kastanae'yy
chestnut

light brown Aasaly
honey
purple banafsigy
violet
burtu'aly
orange

deep purple bitangany
aubergine
Personal attributes
Personal attributes or disabilities follow the same pattern as the basic colours:
English m f pl
C=consonant aCCaC CaCCah CuCC
'ahbal habla hubl
foolish

'ahwal hulaa' huwl
squinting

'a'raA 'arAa 'urA
bald

'aslaA salAaa' sulA
bald

fair skin 'ash'ar sha'ara shu'r
blonde
dark skin 'asmar samra sumr
brunette
'akrat karta kurt
frizzy haired

'ashwal shula shul
left handed

'ayman yimna yumn
right handed

'aArag Aarga Aurg
lame

'aAma Aamya Aumy
blind

'atrash turshaa' tursh
deaf

'asam samaa' summ
deaf

'achras charsa churs
mute

Slightly, Very... Extremely...
The following adverbs can be placed after the adjective:
English Egyptian
shwaya
slightly

bi'iAtidael
moderately

'awy
very

chaalis
extremely

giddaen
giddaen

Aail'achir

'awy
too

Here are some examples:
English Egyptian
ilAarabiya 'itdarrarit shwaya
the car is slightly damaged

issigaeda kaenit Galya 'awy
the carpet was very expensive

huwwa Gany giddaen
he is extremely rich

ilbiyt dih kibyr 'awy
this house is too big

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
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 Egyptian
'ahmad 'atwal minny
Ahmad is taller than me

huwwa 'aGba min makunt faekir
he is more stupid than I thought

We can also make comparison without specifying the second thing like this:
English Egyptian
'ahmad 'atwal bikityr
Ahmad is a lot taller

ilgaww haykun 'ahsan shuwaya bukra
the weather will be a little better tomorrow

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

huwwa 'asGar walad
he is the youngest boy

ittaalib il'atwal tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy
the tallest student is 1m90

ilmashrub il'aGla 20 ginyh
the most expensive drink is 20 pounds

dih 'ahla fustaen fy ilmahal
this is the prettiest dress in the shop

kaen 'ahsan yum fy hayaty
it was the best day in my life

Making comparatives
As you may have noticed from the previous examples, the comparative is often derived from the
adjective as follows:
English adjective comparative
kibyr 'akbar
big

sahl 'ashal
easy

tawyl 'atwal
tall

raqy 'arqa
classy

exceptions
kuwayyis 'ahsan
good

For adjectives with two consonants and ending in -y or -w , the final letter changes to alif-layena
-a .

hilw 'ahla
pretty

Galy 'aGla
expensive
expensive

Aaly 'aAla
loud/high

Gany 'aGna
rich

sahy
healthy no comp

Gaby 'aGba
stupid

zaky 'azka
clever

For adjectives with three consonants where the last two consonants are the same, the middle vowel
is replaced with a fatha -a .

gadd
serious no comp

gidyd 'agdad
new

muhimm 'ahamm
important

Aadyd
numerous no comp

mahzuz
lucky no comp

mahbub 'ahabb
popular

chafyf 'achaff
light

lazyz 'alazz
delicious

'alayil 'a'ael
few

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 English Egyptian

participles ilAa'd ma'bul 'aktar kidah
the contract is more acceptable like
beginning with m-

this
participles 'ana ta'lidy 'a'ael minnak
beginning with ta- I am less traditional than you

huwwa biyib'a 'anany 'aktar kul
adjectives yum
he gets more selfish every day
beginning with 'a-

adjectives saara taAbaena 'aktar min 'ahmad
Sarah is more tired than Ahmed
ending with -an
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
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 Arabic

'ana Aaarif 'ahmad
Subject I know Ahmed

'ana Aaarifuh
Subject, object I know him

'ahmad shaefha 'imbaarih
Object Ahmed saw her yesterday

saara Aaarifah
Object Sarah knows him

iddyhwly
Object, Indirect give it to me!

Subject pronoun
The subject pronoun appears before the verb or participle.
English Arabic
'ana
I

'ihna
we

'inta
you(m)

'inti
you(f)

'intu
you(pl)
you(pl)

huwwa
he/it(m)

hiya
she/it(f)

humma
they

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 Suffix
-ny
me

-na
us

-ak
you(m)

-ik
you(f)

-kum
you(pl)

-uh
him/it(m)

-ha
her/it(f)

-hum
them

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 Egyptian
warryny
show me!

mahaddish saeAidna
nobody helped us

'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 Suffix
-ly
to me

-lina
to us

-lak
to you(m)

-lik
to you(f)

-luku
to you(pl)

-lu
to him/it(m)

-laha
to her/it(f)

-luhum
to them

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
are some examples using katab :
No of
Form Example Meaning
cases
katab
perfect he wrote 8 (i/we/you, etc)

yiktib used with modals - eg he must write
simple imperfect 8 (i/we/you, etc)
and kaen - he used to write
biyiktib he is writing
bi-imperfect he writes 8 (i/we/you, etc)
he knows how to write used with kaen
hayiktib he will write
ha-imperfect 8 (i/we/you, etc)
used with kaen
kaetab
active participle (he is) writing 3 (m/f/pl)

maktub
passive participle (it is) written 3 (m/f/pl)

iktib
imperative write! 3 (m/f/pl)

kitaeba
verbal noun (the box is covered with) writing 2 (s/pl)

maktab
place 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 Egyptian

huwwa katab
perfect he wrote

huwwa laezim yiktib
simple imperfect he must write

huwwa biyiktib
bi-imperfect he writes

huwwa hayiktib
ha-imperfect he will write

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
Perfect
Here is an example of the perfect, which is used for things that occurred in the past.
Perfect
English Pronoun Verb
'ana katabt
I wrote

'ihna katabna
we wrote

'inta katabt
you(m) wrote

'inti katabty
you(f) wrote

'intu katabtu
you(pl) wrote

huwwa katab
he/it(m) wrote

hiya katabit
she/it(f) wrote

humma katabu
they wrote
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 Pronoun modal Verb
'ana laezim 'aktib
I must write

'ihna laezim niktib
we must write

'inta laezim tiktib
you(m) must write

'inti laezim tiktiby
you(f) must write

'intu laezim tiktibu
you(pl)must write

huwwa laezim yiktib
he/it(m)must write

hiya laezim tiktib
she/it(f)must write

humma laezim yiktibu
they must write

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 Pronoun verb
'ana baktib
I write

'ihna biniktib
we write

'inta bitiktib
you(m) write

'inti bitiktiby
you(f) write

'intu bitiktibu
you(pl) write

huwwa biyiktib
he/it(m) writes

hiya bitiktib
she/it(f) writes

humma biyiktibu
they write

ha-imperfect
The ha-imperfect is used for things that will happen at some time in the future.
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
'ana haktib
I will write

'ihna haniktib
we will write

'inta hatiktib
you(m) will write

'inti hatiktiby
you(f) will write

'intu hatiktibu
you(pl) will write

huwwa hayiktib
he/it(m) will write

hiya hatiktib
she/it(f) will write

humma hayiktibu
humma hayiktibu
they will write

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
ana kunt
I was

ihna kunna
we were

'inta kunt
you(m) were

'inti kunty
you(f) were
you(f) were

'intu kuntu
you(pl) were

huwa kaen
he/it(m) was

hiya kaenit
she/it(f) was

humma kanu
they were

English Egyptian
kaen hina
he was here

kunt taAbaen 'awy
I was too tired

ilhafla kaenit kuwayisa
the party was good

kaen fy mayaeh wa chilsit
preposition there was water, but it's finished

kaen Aandina biyt
preposition we had a house

kaen biyishrab sygaara
bi-imperfect he was smoking a cigarette

kaen biyishrab sigaeyar
bi-imperfect he used to smoke cigarettes

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 Pronoun verb
ana hakun
I will be

ihna hankun
we will be

'inta hatkun
you(m) will be

'inti hatkuny
you(f) will be

'intu hatkunu
you(pl) will be

huwa haykun
he/it(m) will be

hiya hatkun
she/it will be(f)

humma haykunu
they will be

English Egyptian
ilhafla hatkun kuwayisa
the party will be good

haykun fy hawaa' kityr bukra
there will be a lot of wind tomorrow

'ana hakun faady issaeAa chamsa
I will be free at five

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 Example Meaning

katab
perfect he wrote

kaen yiktib
kaen + imperfect
he was writing
kaen biyiktib he used to write
kaen + bi-imperfect

biyiktib he is writing
bi-imperfect he writes
he can write
hayiktib
ha-imperfect he will write

kaen hayiktib
he intended to write

kaen + ha-imperfect
kaen haymut
he almost died

raayih yiktib
raayih + imperfect

he is going to write
hayruh yiktib
hayruh + imperfect

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

Aaeyiz Aaeyiza Aaeyizyn
Active wanting

Aaarif Aaarifa Aaarifyn
Active knowing

faehim faehima faehimyn
Active understanding

Galayaen Galayaen Galayaen
Active boiling

sarhaen sarhaena sarhanyn
Active daydreaming

mitgalid mitgalida mitgalidyn
Passive bound

mubaarak mubaaraka mubaarakyn
Passive blessed

mawlud mawluda mawludyn
Passive born

mafhum mafhuma mafhumyn
Passive understood

Active Participles
In English, we can describe something happening now by using the present tense or the active
participle:
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
Active
English Verb
Participle
hatt haatyt
put

saefir misaefir
travel

Airif Aaarif
know

fihim faehim
understand

naem naeyim
sleep

ziAil zaAlaen
angry

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 Verb
'ana Aaarif 'ahmad
I(m) know Ahmed

'ana Aaarifa 'ahmad
I(f) know Ahmed

ihna Aaarifyn 'ahmad
we know Ahmed

'inta Aaarif 'ahmad
you(m) know Ahmed

'inti Aaarifa 'ahmad
you(f) know Ahmed

'intu Aaarifyn 'ahmad
you(pl) know Ahmed

huwwa Aaarif 'ahmad
he knows Ahmed

hiya Aaarifa 'ahmad
she knows Ahmed

humma Aaarifyn 'ahmad
they know Ahmed

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 English Arabic

tabacht ilAasha
perfect I cooked dinner (a long time ago)

'ana taabach Aasha
participle 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
have masculine, feminine and plural forms.
English Arabic Verb

il'akl matbuch tabach
the food is cooked

issultaniya maksura kasar
the bowl is broken

il'ardiyaet maGsulyn Gasal
the floors are washed

kunt mitgawwiz 'itgawwiz
I was married

salamy mudachan dachchan
smoked salami

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:
Modal Example Meaning

laezim laezim yiktib
laezim laezim yiktib
he must write

mumkin mumkin yiktib
he could write

mihtaeg mihtaeg yiktib
he needs to write

yimkin yimkin yiktib
he might write

ilmafrud ilmafrud yiktib
he should> write

darury darury yiktib
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 Modal Example Meaning

Aaewiz Aaewiz yiktib
Aaewiz Aaewiz yiktib
participle he wants to write

naewy naewy yiktib
participle he intends to write

nifs nifsuh yiktib
noun he wishes he could write

'idir, yi'dar yi'dar yiktib
verb he is able to write

Airif, yiAraf yiAraf yiktib
verb he knows how to write

habb, yihibb yihibb yiktib
verb he likes to write

lihi', yihla' lihi' yiktib
verb he managed to write

raah, yiruh raah yiktib
verb he went to write

nisy, yinsa nisi yiktib
verb 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.
Type English Arabic
'ana laezim 'aktib
modal I must write

'inta laezim tiktib
modal you(m) must write

huwwa laezim yiktib
modal he must write

humma laezim tiktibu
modal they must write

'ana Aaeyiz 'aktib
participle I want to write

hiya Aaeyiza tiktib
participle she wants to write

humma Aaeyizyn yiktibu
participle they want to write

ana baehibb 'aktib
verb I like to write

huwwa biyihibb yiktib
verb he likes to write

hiya bitihibb tiktib
verb she likes to write

humma biyihibbu yiktibu
verb they like to write

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 Arabic
hiya Aaeyizany 'aktib
she wants me to write

hiya Aaeyiza tiktib
she wants to write

hiya Aaeyizah yiktib
she wants him to write

huwwa Aaeyizha tiktib
he wants her to write

bitihibbuh yiktib
she likes him to write

biyihibbha tiktib
he likes her to write

chalitw yiktib
I let him write

talabt minnuh yiktib
I asked him to write

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 -u
Imperfect

yibuss buss bussy bussu
look!

yiruh ruwh ruwhy ruwhu
go!

yiygy
come!
taAaela taAaly taAalu

irregular
yaekul kul kuly kulu
eat!

yuskut 'iskut 'iskuty 'iskutu
shut up!

yihda 'ihda 'ihdy 'ihdu
calm down!

walk! yimshy 'imshy 'imshy 'imshu
(go away)
verbal nouns
It is sometimes useful to make a noun from a verb. Here are some examples:
English Arabic Verb

iGsil iydyk 'abl il'akl kal
wash your hands before eating

Aandy hagz haegiz
I have a reservation

illiaAba dih li'arbAa laAyba
liAib
This game is for four players

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 Egyptian
huwwa mish hina
he is not here

huwwa makansh hina
he was not here

masafirtish barra masr
I have not travelled outside egypt

'ana mish Aaarif
I do not know

ma'dirsh yigy
he was not able to come

mish hayigy
he will not come
he will not come

matimshysh
don't go!

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 Egyptian
'ahmad taalaA fu'
direction Ahmed is going up (stairs)

'ahmad gayy hina
position Ahmed is coming here

'ahmad hayigy bukra biillyl
time Ahmed will come tomorrow evening

'ahmad biyimshy daymaen
frequency Ahmed always walks

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

'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 Egyptian English example Egyptian example

fu' 'ana taalaA fu'
up I am going upstairs

taht Gitis taht
down he dived down

shamael chushsh shamael
left turn left!

yimyn buss yimyn
right look right!

Aala tul
'imshy Aala tul
straight ahead go(walk) straight ahead

location
Location adverbs can be used with verbs like go

hina taAala hina
here come here!

hinaek laezim 'aruwh hinaek bukrah
there I have to go there tomorrow

time
Time adverbs are used to specify when you do something: they can be used with almost any verb.

halaen haftahuh halaen
immediately I will open it immediately

dilwa'ty 'ihna gaehizyn dilwa'ty
dilwa'ty 'ihna gaehizyn dilwa'ty
now we are ready now

no
already he (is) already here huwwa mawgwd
equivalent
ilhafla innahaarda biillyl
innahaarda
today the party is this evening

haruwh il'iskandiraaya
bukrah bukrah
tomorrow I will go to Alexandria tomorrow

the day after baAd bukrah I will come back the day after 'ana hargaA baAd bukrah
tomorrow tomorrow
'imbaarih wasalt 'imbaarih
yesterday she arrived yesterday

'awil
day before 'ashtarytuh 'awil 'imbaarih
'imbaarih I bought it the day before yesterday
yesterday

il'usbwaA hanrawwah il'usbwaA
illigaey illigaey
next week
we will go home next week

ihna fy 'agaeza il'usbwaA
il'usbwaA dih
dih
this week we are on holiday this week

il'usbwaA 'illy
faet shuftaha il'usbwaA 'illy
last week faet
I saw her last week

badry laezim ni'um badry bukrah
early we must get up early tomorrow

biillyl fy hafla biillyl
evening there is a party this evening

baAdyn hashufak baAdyn
later see you later

Ganny il'aGniya dih
kamaen kamaen marrah
again marrah play that song again

hanaekul wa baAd kida
baAd kida we will eat and afterwards we will hani'Aad fyilginyna
afterwards
baAd kida we will eat and afterwards we will
afterwards
sit in the garden

min I have lived here for a long time (lit. sikint hina min zamaen
ago
since a long time ago
frequency
This group of adverbs specifies how frequently you do something. Here are some examples:

baechud Aadataen taAsylla baAd
Aaedataen
usually I usually take a nap after lunch ilGadaa'

daymaen maktabuh mitsattif daymaen
always his office is always neat

naediraan 'ana bashuf ahmad naediraan
rarely I rarely see Ahmed

bi'intizaem baruh ilgym bi'intizaem
regularly I go to the gym regularly

hadd s'aalny Aanuh dih min
min 'urayib somebody asked me about that 'urayib
recently
recently
recently
recently
'abadaen mish Aaarifuh 'abadaen
at all I don't know him at all

thany Aaeyiz 'aruh hinaek thany
again I would like to go there again

Galibaen hiya taAbaena Galibaen
often she is often tired

lil'abad mahaddish biyiAish lil'abad
forever nobody lives for ever

tul ilyum mattar tul ilyum
all day it rained all day

all kaen biyishrib sagaeyar tul
tul ilAumr he smoked cigarettes all his
(my/his/her) Aumruh
life
life
'awilaen
firstly

'achyraan zaar lundun 'achyraan
finally he finally visited london

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

biissaeAa laezim titammim biissaeAa
hourly you must check hourly

binishuf samak 'irsh 'ahyanaen
'ahyanaen we sometimes see sharks
sometimes hina
here

'aw'aet bitmattar fy masr
'aw'aet
sometimes
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 Egyptian
shwaya
slightly

maA'ula
reasonably

'awy
very

chaalis
extremely

giddaen

Aail'achir

'awy
too

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 adjective adverb

rasmy rasmyaen
officially

nazary nazariyaen
theoretically
theoretically

tabyAy tabyAyaen
naturally

harfy harfyaen
literally

Aumumy Aumumaen
generally

Aady Aadataen
normally

'ulayil 'alayalaen
slightly

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.

bihazar fatah ilAalba bihazar
with care he opened the box carefully

bisurAa 'ahmad biyisu' bisurAa 'awy
with speed Ahmed drives very fast

PRO version
biirraaha
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biirraaha 'ilaAbu biirraaha
with calm play (pl) quietly!

il'igtimaeA 'achad saeAa
biizzabt the meeting took exactly one
with precision biizzabt
hour

with bi'iAatidael 'akul bi'iAatidael
eat moderately
moderation
biillyl fy hafla biillyl
in the evening there is a party this evening

Miscellaneous

together sawa 'ihna misaefiryn sawa
we will travel together
(people)
together maAa baAd 'ihna misaefiryn maAa baAd
(people and we will travel together
things)

kul wahid 'ihna misaefiryn kul wahid
liwahduh we will travel liwahduh
separately
separately

kuwayis huwwa biyiGanny kuwayis 'awy
well
he sings very well pdfcrowd.com
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 Egyptian English Egyptian

baAd hiya gaet baAd ilAashaa'
time after she came after dinner

wara the garden is behind the ilginyna wara ilbiyt
space behind
house
zayy I need another pen like mihtaeg 'alam thany zayy dah
quality like
this
hasab kalaem ilbulys, ishshaGab
according hasab according to the police, 'ibtada issaeAa ithnyn
reference
to the riot started at 2am

Aand Aandy biyt fy il'aehira
ownership have I have a house in Cairo

The noun can be one of the following:
Element Preposition English Egyptian

hiya maAa 'ahmad
name Ahmed she is with Ahmed

il'utta guwwa ilbiyt
simple noun the house the cat is inside the house

wasalt baAd irraagil illy wasal
complex the man I arrived after the man who issigaeda
noun who... delivered the carpet

object wasalt baAdaha
her I arrived after her
pronoun
qualifying mihtaeg 'alam thany zayy dah
this I need another pen like this
pronoun
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
baAd hanibtidy baAd ilAiyd
after we will start after the feast

'abl I must paint the house before laezim 'adhin ilbiyt 'abl issyf
before
summer
athnaa' ittadchyn mamnuA 'athnaa' ilAashaa'
during smoking is forbidden during dinner

lihadd 'ana mawgud lihadd ilAashaa'
till I will be here till dinner

humma mawgudyn liGaeyit saeAa
liGaeyit
till they are busy until 8pm tamanya

Prepositions of space

min huwwa min ilqaahira
from he is from Cairo

Aan ilkalb garry minny
away from the dog ran away from me

Aala irraagil dah bass Aalyna
at/toward that man is looking at us

fy guzy fy ilbiyt
at my husband is at home

fu' sha''aty fu' ilmaGsala
above my apartment is above the laundry

taht there are many many fish under the fy samak kityr taht ilmayaeh
below
water
ilmataAm 'usaad mahattit
'usaad the restaurant is opposite the railway il'ataar
opposite
station

'ubael
opposite

fy
ilbiyt fy wishsh issaharaa'
facing wishsh the house is facing the desert

maktab ilgamaarik Aand
Aand
at ilmataar
the customs office is at the airport

chushsh yimyn Aand
Aand
at turn right at the pharmacy issayidaliya

wara il'utta waraaky
behind the cat is behind you (f)

gamb there was an accident beside the kaen fy hadtha ganb ilgamAa
beside
mosque
fy ilkalb fy ilginyna
in the dog is in the garden

guwa laezim ni'Aud guwa ilbiyt
inside we must stay inside the house

bara Aaeyiz haga min baraa?
outside do you want anything from outside?

Aala ilAysh Aala ittarabyza
on the bread is on the table

ilGarda'a byn issaharaa' wa
byn Hurghada is between the desert and ilbahr
between
the sea

fy Aawamyd nur biittul
biittul ishshaariA
biittul ishshaariA
along there are lamp posts all along the street

ilmanzar hawalyn ilbiyt gamyl
hawalyn The view surrounding the house is 'awy
surrounding
very beautiful

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

'amae...
fa...
concerning

zayy Aandak haega zayy dih?
like do you have something like this?

fy fy bu'Aa Aala il'amys dih
there is there is a stain on this shirt
there is there is a stain on this shirt

Aan I am reading a book about the ba'ra kitaeb Aan iththura
about
revolution
hasab kalaem 'ahmad, haykun fy
according hasab according to Ahmed, it will be hawaa' kityr bukrah
to windy tomorrow

Aaks r'ayy Aaks r'ayak
contrary my opinion is contrary to yours

'ila there is no food except this mafish akl 'ila ilAayshsh dah
except

bread

maAada
except

baddal 'idyna firaach baddal illahma
instead of give us chicken instead of beef

biirraGm
min nigih biirraGm min ziraaAuh ilmaksur
despite he succeeded despite his injuries

fy Aashara duyuf zae'yid 'ithnyn
zae'yid there are ten guests plus two muwazafyn
plus
staff

Prepositions of ownership
This important group is discussed in more detail in the section on ownership.

Aand Aandy Aarabiya
own I own a car

maAa maAayah walaeAa
have with you I have a cigarette lighter

ly ly riglyn
have got I have two legs

Aalashaen kaen fy mukalma Aalashaenak
for there was a phone call for you

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.
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:

'iGsil iydyk 'abl ilAashaa'
preposition wash your hands before dinner

'iGsil iydyk 'abl ma taekul
conjunction wash your hands before you eat

hiya wasalit baAd ilmasarahiya
preposition she arrived after the bus

hiya wasalit baAd ma ilmasrahiya 'ibtadit
conjunction she arrived after the bus had gone

biyitsarraf zayy ilmaelik
preposition he acts like the owner

biyitsarraf zayy ma yikun ilmakaen bitaeAuh
conjunction he acts as if he owns the place

yikun is added in the last example because it is something that is unlikely to happen. See kaan
for more details.
Conjunctions
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 Egyptian

Aaeyiz 'aAamil Aiysh
Main clause I want to make bread

lakin
Conjunction but

maAandysh di'y' kifaeya
Second clause I don't have enough flour

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
used.
English Egyptian English Example Egyptian Example

'inn ana chuft 'innaha tikun taehit
that I feared that she was lost

tul ma bitis'y ilginyna, izzaraA
as long tul ma as long as you water the garden, hayikbar
as the plants will grow

Aalashaen maAndysh Aarabiya Aalashaen
I don't have a car because there is mafiysh filus kifaeya
because
not enough money
pronounced
Aashaen

mihtaeg filus Aalashaen 'ashtiry
in order Aalashaen
I need money in order to buy food 'akl
to

baAd ma we will leave after the movie has hanimshy bAad ma ilfylm yichlas
after
finished
wi I went to the bank and it was raht ilbank wi kaen ma'ful
and
closed
Aala 'inn
as if

kae'inn biyusrif filus kae'innuh Gany
as if he spends money as if he is rich

biyusrif filus zayy ma yikun Gany
zayy ma
as if he spends money as if he is rich

'abl ma
before

bass I would like to go but I don't have nifsy aaruh bass maAandysh wa't
but

time

lakin
but ditto

'in 'inn ruht hinaek, haetit chaani'
if If you go, you will get into a fight

'iza kaen maAaek filus, salifny
'iza if you have some money, lend me chamsyn ginya
if
fifty pounds

instead badal ma badal ma matruh, kalimhum
instead of going, call them
instead
instead of going, call them
of
zayy ma Aamalt fyh hayitAamil
zay ma as you did for him, he will do for
like fyk
you

lae... la dah naefaA walaeh dah
neither.. walaeh.. neither this is working nor is this biyinfaA
nor.. working

'aw mumkin naekul samak 'aw firaach
or we can eat fish or chicken

Aaewiz taekul samak wala
or (in wala
would you like fish or chicken? firaach?
question)

rather 'ahsan I would prefer to eat fish rather 'akul issamak 'ahsan min ilfiraach
than than chicken
wa 'illa 'ichrassy wa 'illa haarawahik
otherwise shut up otherwise we go home!

matidyhush filus 'ila 'iza 'ana
'ila 'iza don't give him any money unless I samahtylak
unless
allow you to

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 'iza kaen + imperfect
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
thanks to Allah

'allah yisalaemak
may god protect you m

'allah yisalaemik
may god protect you f

'inn shaa' 'allah
god willing

ya rab
Oh god!

rabbina
rabbina
our god!

issalaem Aalykum
greeting

peace be with you m/f
Aalykum issalaem
response

Addressing somebody
ya is often used before somebody's name or title as a greeting
Egyptian English
ya 'ahmad
hey, Ahmad!

ya rayis
hey, boss!

ya 'ustah
driver!

ya 'ustaez hey mister(teacher)!
to a respectable person
ya 'ustaeza

hey madam!

basha
pasha m/f

In addition to the standard pronouns for you, there are some more formal versions:
Egyptian English
'inta
you m

'inti
informal you f

'intu
you pl

hadritak
sir

hadritik
madam

formal
siyadtak
siyadtak
sir

siyadtik
madam

'afandim
Sir/Madam

Greetings
To welcome somebody, you can use one of these phrases...
Egyptian English
'ahlaen wa sahlaen
greeting welcome and ease

'ahlaen wa sahlaen
response welcome and ease

'ahlaen byk
response welcome to you m

'ahlaen byky
response welcome to you f

hamd illah Aala salamtak
greeting thank god for protecting you m
greeting thank god for protecting you m

hamd illah Aala salamtik
greeting 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 English
sabaeh ilchyr
greeting a day of wellbeing

sabaeh innur
response a day of light

sabaeh il'ishta
response a day of cream

sabaeh ilful
response a day of daisies

After sunset, the following informal greetings may be used: I have heard them very rarely, though.
Egyptian English
misaa' ilchyr
greeting an evening of wellbeing

misaa' ilchyr
response an evening of wellbeing

misaa' ilful
response an evening of daisies

Next, you should ask how they are:
Egyptian English
Aaemil 'iyh?
question what are you m doing?

Aaemila 'iyh?
question what are you f doing?

'izayak?
question how are you m

'izayik?
question how are you f

il'achbaar 'iyh?
question what's new?

kuluh tamaem, ilhamdu lillah
response all ok, thank god

miya miya, ilhamdu lillah
response 100% thank god

kuwayis, ilhamdu lillah
response I m am good, thank god

kuwayisa, ilhamdu lillah
response I fgood, thank god

nus nus
response half and half

mish battaal
response not bad

wa 'inta?
question and you m?

wa 'inti?
question and you f?

If you know them well, you should ask how their wives, children, etc...
Introductions
Egyptian English
'ismak 'iyh?
what is your m name?

'ismik 'iyh?
what is your f name?

'ismy ...
my name is ...

tisharrafna
pleased to meet you

Making you comfortable
Egyptian English
'istirayah
make yourself m comfortable

'istirayahy
make yourself f comfortable

tishrab 'iyh?
what will you m drink?

tishraby 'iyh?
what will you f drink?
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

bread with salads, dips, luncheon meats, omelette with fitaar
breakfast 11-12am
bastirma, tamiyya
breakfast 'iftaar
sunset cooked meat, rice and vegetables, juice, sweet things
(Ramadan)
Gada
lunch 5-8pm cooked meat or fish, rice and vegetables

before Aasha
dinner yogurt, fruit
sleeping
Here are some expressions that are often used around meal times
Egyptian When to say it

biilhanna wa ishshiffa
remark before or after eating

sufrah daeymaen say to host
remark before leaving table
like "thanks for the meal"
biilhanna wa ishshiffa
response

Please
Egyptian English
Aan 'iznak
to m
excuse me
Aan 'iznik to get past someone
to f

law samaht
to m

please
law samahty
to f

min fadlak
to m

please
min fadlik
to f

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

mumkin
response Yes (it's possible)

Thank you
Egyptian English
shukraan
remark

'alf shukr
remark

mutshakir a'wy
remark

Aafwaen don't mention it
reply
you are welcome
ilAafw
reply you are welcome

Goodbyes
Egyptian English
maAa issalaema
remark with safety

maAa issalaema
reply with safety

hashufak 'imtae?
When will I see you f?

hashufik 'imtae?
When will I see you f?

hashufak baAdyn
See you m later

hashufik baAdyn
See you f later

Achievement
Egyptian English
hazz saAyd
good luck!

mabruk
remark congratulations
remark congratulations

'allah yibaarak fyk
response god bless you m

'allah yibaarik fyky
response god bless you f

Occasions
Egyptian English
kul sana wa 'inta tayib every year and you are happy
birthdays, new year, feasts
ramadaan karym
remark during ramadan

'allah 'akram
response during ramadan

Opinions
Egyptian English
'iyh r'ayak?
question what do you m think?

'iyh r'ayik?
question what do you f think?

tamaem?
question OK?

tamaem kidah?
question Ok like this?

'aywa
response yes

mashy It goes
response
ok
tamaem
response good

tayib
response fine

haadir
response right away

mayinfaAsh
response it's no use

mish mumkin
response not possible

laa'
response no

laa' 'abadaen
response never!

'aha
response offensive way of disagreeing

Aafwaen? Pardon?
response
if you didn't hear
'ana mish 'akyd
response I m/f am not sure

'ana mish Aaarif
response I m don't know

'ana mish Aaarifa
response I f don't know

'ana mish faehim
response I m don't understand

'ana mish faehima
response I f don't understand

Hassle
'imshy
go away!

chalaas kidah
stop this

haraam Aalyk
shame on you m!

haraam Aalyky
shame on you f!

chalyk muhtaram
be respectful!
if a man gets
'ihtirim nafsak over-friendly to a woman

Insults
humaar donkey
remark
offensive
'ibn marah your father is a woman
remark
very offensive
'ibn sharmuta son of a whore/bitch
PRO version
remark
remark
very offensive
'ifandim???
response 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 Arabic

Aandy sagaeyar
I have cigarettes

maAandysh sagaeyar
I don't have any cigarettes

Preposition
fy mayaeh
There is water

mafysh mayaeh
There is no water

'ana kunt hinaek
I was there

kaan
'ana makuntish hinaek
'ana makuntish hinaek
I was not there

'ana shuft 'ahmad
I saw Ahmed

perfect
'ana mashuftish 'ahmad
I did not see Ahmed

'ana Aaarif
I know

participle 'ana mish Aaarif
I do not know

aacnaa maAaarifsh
Aaeyiz yaekul
He wants to eat

mish Aaeyiz yaekul
imperfect He does not want to eat

mayaekulsh
he must not eat

bahibb ilkitaeb dah
I like this book

mabahibbsh ilkitaeb dah

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

]
hashtiry ilkitaeb
I will buy the book

Ha-imperfect
mish hashtiry ilkitaeb
I will not buy the book

go away! iimshy!
imperative use mish+you-imperfect

don't go! 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:
Digit English Egyptian
0 sifr
zero

1 waehid
one

2 'itnyn
two

3 talaeta
three

4 'arbaAa
four

5 chamsa
five

6 sitta
six

7 sabAa
seven

8 tamanya
eight

9 tisAa
nine

10 Aashara
ten

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 fifth used to describe the order, or position in sequence, of something
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
The following table gives an overview of the situation:
Quantities Things
People
Nationals weight books
Number Form men
Egyptians money chairs
women
tea minutes
sifr

wazn kutub
mafysh
rigala
zero
karasy
masriyyin filus
+plural
sittaet
noun
shaey
da'aeyi'

kylw
waehid

masry ginyh

+sing
noun
shaey

wahda
masriya
one

+sing
noun
kitaeb
raagil
kursy
ns
on its own
sitt

di'y'a

'itnyn rigala
masriyyin

sittaet
+plural
noun
kylw

'itnyn
gynyh
+sing

two noun
shaey

kitabyn

kursiyyin
noun-yn
di'i'tyn

kylw
masry

talaeta
gynyh
masrya

+sing
noun shaey

three
kutub
rigala

talat
talat rigala

karasy
+plural sittaet
noun da'aeyi'

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 Egyptian
sifr
zero

mafysh masriyyin
no egyptians (m/f)

wazn
no weight

filus
no money
no money

shaey
no tea

ragala
no men

sittaet
no women

kutub
no books

karasy
no chairs

da'aeyi'
no seconds

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
there is no word for a - the noun is simply used on its own.
English Egyptian
waehid
one

waehid masry
one egyptian (m)

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
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 Egyptian
'itnyn
two

'itnyn masryyin
two egyptians (m/f)

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
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 Egyptian

3 talaeta talat kutub
three three books

4 'arbaAa 'arbaAa kutub
four four books

5 chamsa chamas kutub
five five books

6 sitta sitt kutub
six six books

7 sabAa sabaA kutub
seven seven books

8 tamanya taman kutub
eight eight books

9 tisAa tisAa kutub
nine nine books

10 Aashara Aashara kutub
ten ten books

Eleven to Ninety Nine
From 11 onwards, if the number is followed by a noun, the noun must be singular:

hidaeshar hidaeshar kitaeb
eleven eleven books

'itnaeshar 'itnaeshar kitaeb
twelve twelve books

talatshar talatshar kitaeb
thirteen thirteen books

'arbaAtashar 'arbatAshar kitaeb
fourteen fourteen books

chamastashar chamastashar kitaeb
fifteen fifteen books

sittashar sittashar kitaeb
sixteen sixteen books
sixteen sixteen books

sabaAtashar sabaAtashar kitaeb
seventeen seventeen books

tamantashar tamantashar kitaeb
eighteen eighteen books

tisAatashar tisAatashar kitaeb
nineteen nineteen books

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
Aasharyn
twenty

talatyn
talatyn
thirty

'arbaAyn
forty

chamsyn
fifty

sittyn
sixty

sabaAyn
seventy

tamanyn
eighty

tisAyn
ninety

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):
short form
English Egyptian
+ singular noun
miya myt kitaeb
one hundred

mityn mityn kitaeb
two hundred

tultumiya tultumyt kitaeb
three hundred

rubAumiya rubAumyt kitaeb
four hundred

chamsumiya chamsamyt kitaeb
five hundred

suttumiya suttumyt kitaeb
six hundred

subuAmiya subuAamyt kitaeb
seven hundred

tumunumiya tumunumyt kitaeb
eight hundred

tusAumiya tusAumyt kitaeb
nine hundred

Thousands
Here are the numbers from one to nine thousand. Five thousand should really be chamsaet 'alf
, but it is pronounced as below.
English Egyptian
alf
one thousand

alfyn
two thousand

talat talaef
three thousand

'arbaA talaef
four thousand

chamas talaef
five thousand

sit talaef
six thousand

sabaA talaef
seven thousand

taman talaef
eight thousand

tisaA talaef
nine thousand

Aashar talaef
ten thousand

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 Egyptian
ilyum ittaelit
the third day

taelit yum
third day

ilmarra ittalta
the third time

taelit marra
third time

ilyum ilAaeshir
PRO version
the tenth day
the tenth day

Aaeshir yum
tenth day

ilmarra ilAaeshira
the tenth time

Aaeshir marra
tenth time

ilyum ilhidaeshar
the eleventh day

ilmarra ilhidaeshar
eleventh time

ilyum ilAasharyn
the twentieth day

ilmarra ilAasharyn
twentieh time

Here are the first ten ordinals:

awwil ilkitaeb il'awwil
first the first book
first the first book

'uula il'utta il'uula
the first cat

tany ilkitaeb ittany
second the second book

tanya il'utta ittanya
the second cat

taelit ilkitaeb ittaelit
third the third book

talta il'utta ittalta
the third cat

rabAa ilkitaeb irrabAa
fourth the fourth book

rabAa il'utta irrabAa
the fourth cat

chams ilkitaeb ilchaamis
fifth the fifth book

chamsa il'utta ilchamsa
the fifth cat

saedis ilkitaeb issaedis
sixth the sixth book

saetit il'utta issaetit
the sixth cat

saebiA ilkitaeb issaebiA
seventh the seventh book

saebiAa il'utta issaebiAa
seventh the seventh cat

taemin ilkitaeb ittaemin
eighth the eighth book

tamna il'utta ittamna
eighth the eighth cat

ilkitaeb ittaesiA
taesiA
ninth
the ninth book

tasAa il'utta ittaesiAa
ninth the ninth cat

Aaeshir ilkitaeb ilAaeshir
tenth the tenth book

Aaeshira il'utta ilAaeshira
PRO version tenth
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API the tenth cat pdfcrowd.com
tenth the tenth cat

From the eleventh onwards, the cardinal and ordinal are the same. Here are some examples:
Number Ordinal English Egyptian

hidaeshar ilkitaeb ilhidaeshar
eleven the eleventh book

'itnaeshar ilkitaeb il'itnashar
twelve the twelfth book

talaetashar ilkitaeb ittalaetashar
thirteen the thirteenth book

Aasharyn ilkitaeb ilAasharyn
twenty the twentieth book

thalatyn ilkitaeb ittalatyn
thirty the thirtieth book

'arbaAyn ilkitaeb il'arbaAyn
forty the fortieth book

miya ilkitaeb ilmiya
one hundred the hundredth book

mityn ilkitaeb ilmityn
two hundred the two hundredth book
two hundred the two hundredth book

tultumiya ilkitaeb ittultumiya
three hundred the three hundredth book

'alf ilkitaeb il'alf
one thousand the thousandth book

Fractions
The following fractions are widely used:
English Egyptian
nus
half

tilt
a third

rubaA
a quarter

talaet 'arbaAa
three quarters

Questions
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 Egyptian

Aandak kam walad?
count How many children do you have?

kam yum hatinizil?
count How many days will you stay?

kam zibun bukrah?
count How many guests tomorrow?

nimritak kaem?
what What is your telephone number?

issaeAa kaem?
what What time is it?

il'igtimaeA issaeAa kaem?
what What time is the meeting?

sha''ytak raqam kaem?
what What is your apartment number?

Aaeyiz dur kaem?
which Which floor do you want?
which Which floor do you want?

Ownership
There are several different ways to indicate ownership and belonging. These are:
Egyptian Meaning Egyptian English

possessive 'ismuh
my/your/his his name
pronoun
simple ism ilwalad
of the name of the boy
genitive
ilbasbur bitaeAy
bitaeA
my passport
belonging

Aand Aandy biyt
ownership I have a house

maAa maAaek kabryt?
have with you Do you have matches (on you)?

ly having for a purpose fy busta lyk
intended for
attached
there is some post for you
milk ilbiyt dah milkuh
(my/your/his) property 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 Arabic
'ismy
my name

'ismak
your(m) name

'ismik
your(f) name

biyty
my house

biytuh
his house

'abwya
my father

'abuha
your(f) father

'abuh
his father

rabbina
our god

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

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 Egyptian
'ism ilwalad Garyb
the boy's name is strange

Aandy nimrit tilyfunha
I have her telephone number

mahatit il'atr fyn?
Where is the railway station?

'inta Aaarif 'ibn Aammy?
Do you know my cousin? (uncle's son)

tiAarif 'ibn Aammy?
Do you know my cousin? (uncle's son)

'inta shuft Aarabiyit ilmudyr ilgidyda?
Have you seen the boss's new car?

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

Aaeyiz 'izzaezit mayaeh
I want a bottle of water

iddyny 'izzaezit ilmayaeh
give me this bottle of water
dyh
Belonging- bitaA
bitaA is used in several ways:
noun + bitaA + possessive suffix, to indicate ownership

noun + bitaA + possessive suffix, as an alternative to a genitive
bitaA + product (milk, onions, tyres etc), to indicate somebody who sells the product
bitaA + 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 Egyptian
'ana daayAt ilbasbur bitaAy
I have lost my passport

Aandak kam 'uuda fy ilvyla bitaAtak?
how many rooms does your villa have?

fyn ilmudarrisyn bitwaAak?
Where are your teachers?

huwwa bitaeA chudaar
He is a vegetable seller

He is a milk seller huwwa bitaeA laban
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 m f pl
the book the bag the books
ilkitaeb bitaeA- ishshanta bitaAt- ilkutub bituA-

bitaAy bitaAty bituAy
belonging to me

bitaAna bitaeAitna bituAna pdfcrowd.com
bitaAna bitaeAitna bituAna
belonging to us

bitaeAak bitaAtak bituAak
belonging to you(m)

bitaeAik bitaAtik bituAik
belonging to you(f)

bitaAkum bitaeAitkum bituAkum
belonging to you(pl)

bitaeAuh bitaAtuh bituAuh
belonging to him

bitaAha bitaeAitha bituAha
belonging to her

bitaAhum bitaeAithum bituAhum
belonging to them

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 Egyptian
Aandy Aarabiya
I have a car

Aanduh waladyn
he has two children

Aandak kutub?
do you have any books?

Here are all of the possible forms.
English Arabic
Aandy
I have

Aandina
we have

Aandak
you(m) have

Aandik
you(f) have

Aandukum
you(pl) have

Aanduh pdfcrowd.com
Aanduh
he has

Aandaha
she has

Aanduhum
they have

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

maAak fakka?
Do you have any change?

Here are all of the possible forms:
English Egyptian
maAaeya
I have

maAana
we have

maAaek
you(m) have

maAaky
you(f) have

maAaekum
you(pl) have

maAaeh
he has

maAaha
she has

maAaehum
they have

intended for - ly-
ly can be used for parts of the body, members of your family, for something that is attached, and
for something that is intended for somebody or something. It is also used when an inanimate object
has something. Here are some examples:
English Egyptian
lyh rigl wahda bas
he has only one leg

lyha waladyn
she has two children

fy busta lyky
there is mail for you (f)

I owe you five pounds Aandy chamsa giny lyk
Lit: I have five founds for you(m)
ilhidaya dy lykum
this present is for (all of) you(pl)

I want a garden seat Aaeyiz kursy lilginiyna
A seat intended for the garden
ishsha''a lyha garaaj
the flat has a garage

the flat has two bedrooms ishsha''a fyhae'uudtyn
use fy because rooms are inside
Here are all of the possible forms:
English m
liya
I have

lyna
we have

lyk
you(m) have

lyky
you(f) have

lykum
you(pl) have

lyh
he has

lyha
she has

lyhum
they have

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

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

'ahmad tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy
Ahmed is 1m90 tall

ishshanta dih bi Aishryn ginyh
this bag is 20 pounds

'itnyn kylw bataatis, law samaht
2 kilos of potatoes, please

Aaeyiz myt garam salamy
I want a hundred grams of salami

mihtaeg rubaA kylw zibda
I need a quarter kilo of butter

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 .
laezim tachuz maAla'it dawaa'
you must take one spoonful of medicine

Aaeyiz Aalbit sagaeyar
I want a pack of cigarettes

'izzaezit maeya, law samaht
a bottle of water, please

Approximate measures
shaey myn Gyr sukkar

tea without sugar

normal tea shaey mazbut
(with three sugar)
shaey chafyf
weak tea

shaey ti'yl
strong tea

shuwayit laban
a little milk

maAandysh filus kifaeya
I don't have enough money
I don't have enough money

Aanduh filus kityr
he has a lot of money

you have a lot of friends Aandak 'ashaeb yama
informal
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
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?
The following query words can be used:
English Egyptian
'iyh
what

'imta
when

fyn
where

minyn
where from

'izzay
how

'anhw
which

kaem
how many
followed by singular noun
kaem
kaem
what (number)

'add iyh
how much (of something)

bikaem
how much (money)

lyh
why

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

how are you? 'aAamil 'iyh?
lit. what are you doing?
bitaAamil 'iyh?
what are you doing?

'ashufak 'imta?
'ashufak 'imta?
when will I see you?

ilmahatta fyn?
where is the station?

mumkin 'ashtiry ward min fyn?
where can I buy flowers from?

minyn mumkin 'ashtiry ward?
where can I buy flowers from?

'inta minyn?
where are you from?

'ashhan ittilyfun dah 'izzay?
how do I charge this phone?

Aaewiz ilkitaeb 'anhw?
which book (m) do you(m) want?

'anhw ilkubaeya bitaAitak?
which glass (f) is yours(m)?

Aaewiz laban 'add iyh?
how much milk would you like?

ishshanta dy bikaem?
how much is this bag?

huwwa raayih lyh?
why is he going?

Here are some common answers to questions
English Egyptian
'add iyh? 'add kidah
How much? This much

lyh? Aalashaen
Why? Because.

lyh? kidah
Why? It's like that

lyh? 'ahsan kidah
Why? Better like this

lyh? lyh laa'?
Why? Why not?

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
cases, the noun is singular.
English Egyptian
Aandak kaem walad?
How many children do you have?

hatinizil kaem yum?
How many days will you stay?

kaem zibun bukrah?
How many guests tomorrow?

nimritak kaem?
What is your telephone number?

issaeAa kaem?
What time is it?

il'igtimaeA issaeAa kaem?
What time is the meeting?

sha''itak ra'am kaem?
What is your apartment number?

sha''itak 'anhw?
Which is your apartment?

Aaeyiz dur kaem?
Aaeyiz dur kaem?
Which floor do you want?

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.
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 Egyptian
mumkin ti'uly fyn ilmahatta?
Can you tell me where the station is?

'inta Aaarif issaeAa kaem?
Do you know what the time is?

'inta Aaarif 'iza huwwa gayy?
Do you know whether he is coming?

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

huwwa gaey, mish kidah?
he's coming, isn't that so?

huwwa gaey, sahh?
he's coming, right?

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 Arabic
mish tiskut 'ahsan?
wouldn't it be better if you(m) shut up?

bithazzar, mish kidah?
you(m) must be kidding!

'inta 'ahbal, sahh?
you(m) are an idiot, right?

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 many kilometers an kaem kylumitr fy issaeAa
How fast were you driving?
hour..
How often do you go to the kaem marra fy il'usbwaA...
how many times a week...
gym?
ilharraara kaem
How hot is the oven? what is the temperature?

huwwa il'imtihaen kaen
How difficult was the exam? was the exam difficult saAb?

Time
Time can be expressed in several different ways:
units of time - days, weeks etc

parts of the day - morning/afternoon
time of day - 6.30
relative time (before/after) - today/yesterday etc
days of the week
dates
Units of time
English Egyptian Plural

lahza lahzaet
moment

thanya thawany
second

di'y'a da'aeyi'
minute

saeAa saAaet
hour

yum 'ayaem
day

'usbuA 'asaebiyA
week

shahr shuhur
month
month

sana sinyn
year

Aumr 'aAmaar
lifetime

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 Arabic
illyl
last prayers till dawn

issubh
dawn until sunset

masaa'
after sunset

fagr
dawn

idduhr
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 Arabic
nus
half

tilt
a third

rubA
a quarter

wa
and

'ila
less

Here are all the times at five minute intervals:
English Arabic
sabAa
seven o'clock

sabAa wa chamsa
five past seven past

sabAa wa Aashara
ten past seven

sabAa wa rubA
quarter past seven

sabAa wa tilt
twenty past seven

sabAa wa nus 'ila chamsa
twenty five past seven

sabAa wa nus
half past seven

sabAa wa nus wa chamsa
twenty-five to eight

tamanya 'ila tilt
twenty to eight

quarter to eight tamaanyao iiclaa rubaA
tamanya 'ila Aashara
ten to eight

tamanya 'ila chamsa
five to eight

Relative time
English Arabic
'awil 'imbaarih
the day before yesterday

'imbaarih
yesterday

innahaarda
today
today

bukrah
tomorrow

baAd bukrah
the day after tomorrow

English Arabic
iluusbwaA 'ily faet
last week

iluusbwaA dih
this week

iluusbwaA 'ily gaey
next week

English Arabic
dilwa'ty
now

soon baAd shuwayao
baAdyn
later

lissah
not yet

badry
early

wachry
late (at night)

Days of week
English Arabic
yum ilaahad
Sunday

yum il'ithnyn
Monday

yum ittalaet
Tuesday

yum il'arbaAa
Wednesday

yum ilchamys
Thursday

yum ilgumaAa
Friday

yum issabt
Saturday

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
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.
English Egyptian
Aaeyiz kura hamra
describe I want a red ball

Aaeyiz ilkura ilhamra
specify I want the red ball

'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 Arabic
irraagil dah
this (man)

ilkitaeb dah
ilkitaeb dah
this (thing, m)

ilhaga dah
this (thing, f)

issitt dy
this (woman)

irragala dul
these (men)

irragala dy
these (men) nearer

issittaet dul
these (women)

ilkutub dy
these (things,m)

ilhagaet dy
these (things,f)

'ahw
over there (m)

'ahy
over there [f]

'ahum
over there (pl)

Comparatives
You can use a comparative in the same was as an adjective to specify which one you mean:
English Egyptian
muhammad 'atwal taalib
mohammed is the tallest student

huwwa 'asGar walad
he is the youngest boy

ittaalib il'atwal tuluh mitr 1 wa 90 santy
the tallest student is 1m90

ilmashrab il'aGla 20 ginyh
the most expensive drink is 20 pounds

dih 'ahla fustaen fy ilmahal
this is the prettiest dress in the shop

kaen 'ahsan yum fy hayaty
it was the best day in my life

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
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

aeiu
short vowel a [e] i u

a 'e i uu
long vowel (alif) aa ee ii uu

'a 'i 'u
alif with hamza aac iic uuc

yw
yw
other long vowels yw

'y 'w
other long vowels with hamza yc wc

'
gluttal stop qaf q

q
voiced qaf Q

dhstz
soft consonant dhstz

dhstz
hard consonant DHSTZ

z sh th
double-letter consonants dh sh th

-a
t-marbuta o

-a
alif-layena Y

It is readable if you ignore hamza ' and tee-marbuta - , and read atif-layena a as a.
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.
trans
name arabic pronounced examples Notes
literated
'aywa

alif mas'ala
aac 'a
hamza above
bad'a

'intaeg

ae as in luGaet
after soft consonant
aeroplane
makaen

alif
aa
fatha hamraa'

faar after hard consonant
aa as in hard
before r
Gata

alif ilwalad
ii i
kasra
'ism

alif 'istanna
iic 'i
hamza below
'itfaehim

'umm
alif
uuc 'u

damma 'ustaez

'esif

alif mut'ekil
ee ee
ee ee
madda
'echir

baAd

kibyr
by b b

gawaeb

taht

'aktar
ty t t

kursaet

thabbit

mathal
thy th th

bahth

gaeb

magmuAa
gyn g g

churraag

jaekit

'ajinda not arabic
jyn j j
borrowed from farsi
byj

haedith

'ihna
ha H h

yiruh

chaaf

ch achaz
kha K
as in loch
taarych

daem

nady
dal d d

zaed

zaekar

z kizb
thal dh
th as in there
'ustaez

raah

tary'
ray r r

'iftakar

zayy

gazar
zyn z z

gahhiz

sitt

masaa'
syn s s

dars

shaef

rashwa
shyn sh sh

mish

sanf

'asad
saad S s

chaalis

dahr

hadritak
hadritak
daad D d

'abyad

taba'a

batal
taa T t

Galat

zarf

yizhar
zaa Z z

hazz

Aala

baAd
ain A A - nasal a

taebiA

Galab

suGayar
gin G G - gargling noise

baeliG

fiAlaen

mifalis
fah f f

nidyf

vyla

not arabic
veh v v
borrowed from farsi
nuvimbir

'udaem

' nu'ta
q as in cockney bottle
(bo'le)
sadda'

cannot tell from arabic
qaf whether qaf is pronounced
qana
qana upper egyptians say g

k raqam
q
sounds swallowed
sadyq

kaen

'aktar
kef k k

hadritak

lakin

Aala
lem l l

ful

mumkin

Aaemil
mym m m

naem

nashaat

'ihna
nwn n n

sinyn

hina
hey

h h

zahar

sura
_ah a

tee-marbuta
'izzaezit zyt genitive
_it it
bottle of oil
wishsh

yum
wow w w

Audw

s'wael
wow-hamza wc 'w

mas'wliya

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

taarych
yeh y y

zayy

ra'yys

yeh-hamza yc 'y
daf'y

Aala
alif-layena

Y a
used at end of words
nada

alif-layena muthannae
Ye e
madda
short vowels
dawla

basal

fatha a a 'inta

'arbaAa

madda e e short e rarely used
min

kibyr
kasra i i

'inti

sufrah

tulaeb
damma u u

'anhuh

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

fathatan daeymaen used on alif
N n
tanwyn at end of word
tatwyl used for spacing
'ana

aac
r'ya
yc small above alif, yeh, wow
wc

' s'wael
hamza as in cockney bottle
(bo'le)
hawaa'
C
full size, on its own
laa'

Copyright Mike Green 2010-2012
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

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
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
'ana kunt hakun
I

'ihna kunna hankun
we

'inta kunt hatkun
you (m)

'inti kunty hatkuny
you (f)

'intu kuntuh hatkunuh
you (pl)

huwwa kaen haykun
he

hiya kaenit hatkun
she

humma kanuh haykunuh
they

Eat- kul
kul has irregular imperfect froms
Active
Pronoun Perfect Imperfect Imperative
Participle
'ana kalt akul

ihna kalna naekul

'inta kalt taekul kul

'inty kalty takly kuly

'intu kaltu kalu kulw

huwa kal yaekul

hiya kalit taekul

humma kalw yakluh

Take- chud
Kud has irregular imperfect froms
Active
Participle
'ana chudt achud

ihna chadna naechud

'inta chudt taechud chud

'inty chady tachdy chudty

'intu chadtw chadtw chudw

huwa achad yaechud

hiya chadit taechud

humma achadu yachduh

Come- gih
Active
Participle
'ana gyt 'egy

ihna gyna nygy

'inta gyt tygy taAaela gaey

'inty gyty tygy taAaly gaeya

'intu gytu tygu taAalu gayyin

huwa gih yigy

hiya gaet tigy

humma gum yigu

Give- idda
Active
Participle
'ana 'idyt addy

ihna 'iddyna niddy

'inta 'iddyt tiddy 'iddy

'inty 'iddyty tiddy 'iddit

'intu 'iddytu tiddu 'iddu

huwa 'idda yiddy

hiya 'iddyt tiddy

humma 'iddu yiddu

fall- wi'iA
Active
Participle
'ana wi'iAt a'aA

ihna wi'iAna nu'aA

'inta wi'iAt tu'aA wae'iA

'inty wi'iAty tu'aAy wa'Ait

'intu wi'iAtu tu'aAu wa'Ayn

huwa wi'iA yu'aA

hiya wi'Ait tu'aA

humma wi'Au yu'aAu

stand- wi'if
Active
Participle
'ana wi'ift a'af

ihna wi'ifna nu'af

'inta wi'ift tu'af uu'af wae'if

wi'ifty wae'ifty
'inty tu'afy uu'afy

wi'iftu
'intu tu'afu uu'afu wae'ifyn

huwa wi'if yu'af

hiya wi'fit tu'af

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 B C D E
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
some examples:
Prefix Main stem Derived stem Meaning

iitKvTvB passive (be *-ed)
iit- KvTvB
yitKvTvB reflexive (* oneself)
iitKaTTaB passive (be *-ed)
iit- KvTTvB
yitKvTTvB reflexive (* oneself)
KaaTiB iitKaaTiB
iit- each other
yiKTvB yitKaaTiB
iiKtvTvB
iiKt- KvTvB as iit-
yiKtvTvB
iinKvTvB
iin- KvTvB as iit-
yinKvTvB
iistaKvTvB
iista- KvTvB consider or seek
yistaKvTvB
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.
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

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

Section III - Usage

Section IV - How to say...

This section will be coming soon...

Arabic writing and pronunciation

This document is made up of three main sections:

A word about arabic writing

The essentials- Same same but different

Ahmed loves sarah

Element English Egyptian

Sarah loves Ahmed

Subject and Object

Element English Egyptian

Element English Egyptian

Here are a few more examples:

Meaning English Egyptian

Masculine, feminine, plural

Gender English Arabic

describing English Egyptian

English Egyptian English Egyptian

I want to make bread but I don't have enough flour

Part English Egyptian

Element English Egyptian

Type English Arabic

Masculine and feminine

Gender Ending Singular Plural

English Singular Plural

English Collective one

English Collective a piece

English on its own with pronoun

There are four main groups of pronoun:

personal pronouns - I, you, he, etc

English Egyptian Form

The subject pronouns are:

Object pronoun suffixes

give me the knife

possessive pronoun suffix

what (is) your name?

Nouns ending in two consonants

Nouns ending in a vowel

Father and brother 'abb

reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself)

Reflexive pronouns can be used after a noun or a verb.

demonstrative English Egyptian

the left turn that is coming (ie the next left)

Masculine, feminine, plural

English Country m f collective noun

Slightly, Very... Extremely...

The following adverbs can be placed after the adjective:

Here are some examples:

We can compare two things using min :

English adjective comparative

English adjective comparative

Group English Egyptian

tense - when something happens (past, present, future)

subject - I, we, you, he, she, it, they

Pronoun English Arabic

The subject pronoun appears before the verb or participle.

Here are some examples:

Some verbs require two objects- for example:

Tense English Egyptian

The imperfect has no meaning on its own: it is used in four ways:

with kaen for things that happened in the past