القواعدGrammar
Egyptian colloquial Arabic has simpler grammar than Classical Arabic (fusha). No case endings, no dual in everyday speech — just a few key patterns to know.
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Personal pronouns — الضمائر
| English | Arabic | Romanization | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | أنا | ana | |
| you (m) | إنت | inta | Egypt: inta (not anta) |
| you (f) | إنتي | inti | |
| he | هو | huwwa | |
| she | هي | heyya | |
| we | إحنا | i7na | Egypt: i7na (not na7nu) |
| you (pl) | إنتو | intu | Egypt: intu (not antum) |
| they | هما | humma |
💡 In Egyptian Arabic, pronouns are used much more frequently than in MSA because verb endings are less distinctive.
Present tense — المضارع
The present tense is formed by adding the prefix بـ (b-) before the verb. This is a key difference between Egyptian Arabic and MSA.
Pattern: كتب (katab) — to write
| Person | Arabic | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | بكتب | baktib | I write |
| you (m) | بتكتب | biktib | you write (m) |
| you (f) | بتكتبي | biktíbi | you write (f) |
| he | بيكتب | biýktib | he writes |
| she | بتكتب | biktib | she writes |
| we | بنكتب | bniktib | we write |
| you (pl) | بتكتبوا | biktíbu | you write (pl) |
| they | بيكتبوا | biýktibu | they write |
Pattern: روح (raa7) — to go
| Person | Arabic | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | بروح | baruu7 | I go |
| you (m) | بتروح | bitruu7 | you go (m) |
| you (f) | بتروحي | bitruu7i | you go (f) |
| he | بيروح | biyruu7 | he goes |
| she | بتروح | bitruu7 | she goes |
| we | بنروح | bniruu7 | we go |
| you (pl) | بتروحوا | bitruu7u | you go (pl) |
| they | بيروحوا | biyruu7u | they go |
💡 Prefix بـ (b-) = present tense / habit. Without it (مضارع مجرد) = will / future: أروح (aruu7) = I'll go / I want to go.
Past tense — الماضي
The past tense is formed by adding suffixes to the verb root. The prefix بـ is not used.
Pattern: كتب (katab) — to write
| Person | Arabic | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | كتبت | katabt | I wrote |
| you (m/f) | كتبت | katabt | you wrote |
| you (f) — emphasis | كتبتي | katabti | you wrote (f, emphatic) |
| he | كتب | katab | he wrote |
| she | كتبت | katabet | she wrote |
| we | كتبنا | katabna | we wrote |
| you (pl) | كتبتوا | katabtuu | you wrote (pl) |
| they | كتبوا | katabu | they wrote |
💡 Past tense is the same for masculine and feminine in 1st and 2nd person (Egypt). Feminine 3rd person = adding ـت (-et).
Negation — النفي
Egyptian Arabic uses two forms of verbal negation:
| Form | Usage | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| مش (mish) | negation of nouns, adjectives, present state | أنا مش مصري | I'm not Egyptian |
| ما...ش (ma...sh) | negation of verbs (surrounds the verb) | ما رحتش | I didn't go |
Verb negation examples (ما...ش)
| Positive | Negative | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| بكتب | مابكتبش | I don't write |
| كتبت | ماكتبتش | I didn't write |
| عارف | مش عارف | I don't know |
| عندي | معنديش | I don't have |
| فاهم | مش فاهم | I don't understand |
💡 مش = simple negation (before nouns/adjectives). ما...ش = verb negation — ما before verb + ش after verb.
Questions — الأسئلة
| Question | Arabic | Romanization | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| what? | إيه | eih | ده إيه؟ — what is this? |
| who? | مين | meen | ده مين؟ — who is this? |
| where? | فين | feen | البيت فين؟ — where is the house? |
| when? | إمتى | imta | إمتى بتيجي؟ — when are you coming? |
| why? | ليه | leih | ليه؟ — why? |
| how? | إزاي | izzay | إزاي ده؟ — how so? |
| how much? | قد إيه / كام | 2add eih / kam | بكام؟ — how much does it cost? |
| which? | أنهي | anhi | أنهي واحد؟ — which one? |
| yes/no? | rising intonation ↗ | إنت مصري؟ — Are you Egyptian? | |
💡 In Egyptian Arabic, yes/no questions are formed only by rising intonation — no auxiliary verb like in English.
Adjectives — الصفات
Adjectives follow the noun and agree in gender.
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Romanization (m/f) |
|---|---|---|---|
| big | كبير | كبيرة | kibeer / kibeera |
| small | صغير | صغيرة | sughayyar / sughayyara |
| beautiful | حلو | حلوة | 7elw / 7elwa |
| good | كويس | كويسة | kuwayyes / kuwayyesa |
| new | جديد | جديدة | gideed / gideeda |
| old | قديم | قديمة | 2adeem / 2adeema |
| fast | سريع | سريعة | saree3 / saree3a |
| slow | بطيء | بطيئة | bati / batia |
💡 Feminine is formed by adding ـة (-a). The definite article الـ (el-) is added before both — noun and adjective: البيت الكبير = the big house.
Possessive suffixes — الإضافة
Possession is expressed by suffixes attached directly to the noun.
| Person | Suffix | Example (بيت = house) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | ـي (-i) | بيتي | my house |
| your (m) | ـك (-ak) | بيتك | your house |
| your (f) | ـك (-ik) | بيتك | your house |
| his | ـه (-u) | بيته | his house |
| her | ـها (-ha) | بيتها | her house |
| our | ـنا (-na) | بيتنا | our house |
| your (pl) | ـكو (-ku) | بيتكو | your house |
| their | ـهم (-hum) | بيتهم | their house |
💡 The same suffixes are used for verb objects: شفته (shuftu) = I saw him, بحبك (ba7ibbak) = I love you.
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