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.
Example | |
direction | Ahmed is going up (stairs) 'ahmad TaalaA foo' أحمـَد طا َلـَع فوق |
position | Ahmed is coming here 'ahmad gayi hina أحمـَد جـَيي هـِنا َ |
time | Ahmed will come tomorrow evening 'ahmad hayigi bukra biilleel أحمـَد حـَيـِجي بـُكر َة بـِا ِلّيل |
frequency | Ahmed always walks 'ahmad biyimshi dayman أحمـَد بـِيـِمشي د َيماً |
quality | Ahmed walks quickly 'ahmad biyimshi bisuraAa أحمـَد بـِيـِمشي بـِسـُر َعـَة |
degree | Ahmed walks extremely quickly 'ahmad biyimshi bisuraAa giddan أحمـَد بـِيـِمشي بـِسـُر َعـَة جـِدّاً |
Ahmed always walks slowly upstairs in the evening 'ahmad biyiTaalaA ilsalaalim dayman bishweesh fi illeel أحمـَد بـِيـِطا َلـَع ا ِلسـَلا َلـِم د َيماً بـِشويش في ا ِلّيل |
direction
Direction adverbs can be used with verbs like go
English | Egyptian | English example | Egyptian example | |
up | foo' | فوق | I am going upstairs | 'ana TaalaA foo' أنا َ طا َلـَع فوق |
down | taht | تـَحت | he dived down | GiTis taht غـِطـِس تـَحت |
left | shamaal | شـَما َل | turn left! | Kushsh shamaal خـُشّ شـَما َل |
right | yimeen | يـِمين | look right! | buSS yimeen بـُصّ يـِمين |
straight ahead | Aala Tool | عـَلى طول | go(walk) straight ahead | 'imshi Aala Tool إمشي عـَلى طول |
location
Location adverbs can be used with verbs like go
English | Egyptian | English example | Egyptian example |
here | hina هـِناَ | come here! | taAala hina تـَعا َلى هـِنا َ |
there | hinaak هـِنا َك | I have to go there tomorrow | laazim 'aruwh hinaak bukrah لا َز ِم أر ُوح هـِنا َك بـُكر َه |
time
Time adverbs are used to specify when you do something: they can be used with almost any verb. Here are some examples:
English | Egyptian | Example | |
immediately | haalan | حا َلاً | I will open it immediately haftahuh haalan هـَفتـَحـُه حا َلاً |
now | dilwa'ti | د ِلو َقتي | we are ready now 'ihna gahzeen dilwa'ti إحنا َ جا َهـِزين د ِلو َقتي |
already | no equivalent | he (is) already here huwwa mawgood هـُوّ َ مـَوجود | |
today | ilnaharda | ا ِلنـَها َرد َة | the party is this evening ilhafla ilnaharda biilleel ا ِلحـَفلـَة ا ِلنـَها َرد َة بـِا ِلّيل |
tomorrow | bukrah | بـُكر َه | I will go to Alexandria tomorrow haruwh il'iskandiraaya bukrah هـَر ُوح ا ِلإسكـَند ِرا َيـَة بـُكر َه |
the day after tomorrow | baAd bukrah | بـَعد بـُكر َه | I will come back the day after tomorrow 'ana hargaA baAd bukrah أنا َ هـَرجـَع بـَعد بـُكر َه |
yesterday | 'imbaarih | إمبا َر ِح | she arrived yesterday waSalt 'imbaarih و َصـَلت إمبا َر ِح |
day before yesterday | 'awil 'imbaarih | أو ِل إمبا َر ِح | I bought it the day before yesterday 'ashtareetuh 'awil 'imbaarih أشتـَريتـُه أو ِل إمبا َر ِح |
next week | il'usbwaA illigaai | ا ِلأ ُسبو َع ا ِلّـِجا َي | we will go home next week hanrawwah il'usbwaA illigaai هـَنر َوّ َح ا ِلأ ُسبو َع ا ِلّـِجا َي |
this week | il'usbwaA dih | ا ِلأ ُسبو َع د ِه | we are on holiday this week ihna fi 'agaaza il'usbwaA dih ا ِحنا َ في أجا َز َة ا ِلأ ُسبو َع د ِه |
last week | il'usbwaA 'illi faat | ا ِلأ ُسبو َع إلّي فا َت | I saw her last week shuftaha il'usbwaA 'illi faat شـُفتـَها َ ا ِلأ ُسبو َع إلّي فا َت |
early | badri | بـَدري | we must get up early tomorrow laazim ni'oom badri bukrah لا َز ِم نـِقوم بـَدري بـُكر َه |
evening | biilleel | بـِا ِلّيل | there is a party this evening fi hafla biilleel في حـَفلـَة بـِا ِلّيل |
later | baAdeen | بـَعدين | see you later hashoofak baAdeen حـَشوفـَك بـَعدين |
again | kamaan marrah | كـَما َن مـَرّ َه | play that song again Ganni il'aGniya dih kamaan marrah غـَنّي ا ِلأغنـِيـَة د ِه كـَما َن مـَرّ َه |
afterwards | baAd kida | بـَعد كـِد َة | we will eat and afterwards we will sit in the garden hanaakul wa baAd kida hani'Aad fyilgineena هـَنا َكـُل و َ بـَعد كـِد َة هـَنـِقعـَد فيا ِلجـِنينـَة |
ago | min | مـِن | I have lived here for a long time (lit. since a long time ago sikint hina min zamaan سـِكـِنت هـِنا َ مـِن ز َما َن |
frequency
This group of adverbs specifies how frequently you do something. Here are some examples:
<English | Egyptian | Example | ||
usually | Aaadatan | عا َد َتاً | I usually take a nap after lunch baaKud Aadatan taAseella baAd ilGada' با َخـُد عـَد َتاً تـَعسيلّـَة بـَعد ا ِلغـَدا َء | |
always | dayman | د َيماً | his office is always neat maktabuh mitsattif dayman مـَكتـَبـُه مـِتسـَتّـِف د َيماً | |
rarely | nadran | نا َد ِراً | I rarely see Ahmed 'ana bashoof ahmad nadran أنا َ با َشوف ا َحمـَد نا َد ِراً | |
regularly | bi'intiZaam | بـِإنتـِظا َم | I go to the gym regularly barooh ilgeem bi'intiZaam بـَروح ا ِلجيم بـِإنتـِظا َم | |
recently | min 'urayib | مـِن قـُر َيـِب | somebody asked me about that recently hadd s'aalni Aanuh dih min 'urayib حـَدّ سأ َلني عـَنـُه د ِه مـِن قـُر َيـِب | |
never | 'abadan | أبـَداً | I will never speak to him again 'abadan mish hakallimuh thaeni أبـَداً مـِش هـَكـَلّـِمـُه ثا َني | |
again | thaani | ثا َني | I would like to go there again Aaayiz 'arooh hinaak thaani عا َيـِز أروح هـِنا َك ثا َني | |
often | Galiban | غـَلـِباً | she is often tired hiya taAbaana Galiban هـِي َ تـَعبا َنـَة غـَلـِباً | |
forever | lil'abad | لـِلأبـَد | nobody lives for ever mahaddish biyiAish lil'abad مـَحـَدّ ِش بـِيـِعـِش لـِلأبـَد | |
all day | Tool ilyoom | طول ا ِليوم | it rained all day maTTar Tool ilyoom مـَطّـَر طول ا ِليوم | |
all (my/his/her) life | Tool ilAumr | طول ا ِلعـُمر | he smoked cigarettes all his life kaan biyishrib sagaayar Tool Aumruh كا َن بـِيـِشر ِب سـَجا َيـَر طول عـُمر ُه | |
firstly | 'awilan | أو ِلاً | ||
finally | 'aKeeran | أخيراً | he finally visited london zaar lundun 'aKeeran زا َر لـُند ُن أخيراً | |
occasionally | min wa't lilthaani | مـِن و َقت لـِلثا َني | I go to the park occasionally barooh ilgineena min wa't lilthaani بـَروح ا ِلجـِنينـَة مـِن و َقت لـِلثا َني | |
hourly | biilsaaAa | بـِا ِلسا َعـَة | you must check hourly laazim titammim biilsaaAa لا َز ِم تـِتـَمّـِم بـِا ِلسا َعـَة | |
sometimes | 'ahyaanan | أحيا َناً | we sometimes see sharks here binishoof samak 'irsh 'ahyaanan hina بـِنـِشوف سـَمـَك قـِرش أحيا َناً هـِناَ | |
sometimes | 'aoo'aat | أوقا َت | it sometimes rains in Egypt 'aoo'aat bitmaTTar fi maSr أوقا َت بـِتمـَطّـَر في مـَصر Note: always goes at beginning of sentence |
Degree
The following adverbs can be placed after an adjective or another adverb to indicate the degree:
English | Egyptian | |
slightly | shuwaya | شـُو َيـَة |
reasonably | maA'oola | مـَعقولـَة |
very | 'awi | قـَوي |
extremely | KaaliS | خا َلـِص |
giddan | جـِدّاً | |
Aail'aKir | عـَا ِلأخـِر | |
too | 'awi | قـَوي |
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, "I like you too much"" when they mean "I like you very much".
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 ـاًEnglish | adjective | adverb | ||
officially | rasmi | ر َسمي | rasmyan | ر َسمياً |
theoretically | naZari | نـَظـَري | naZariyan | نـَظـَر ِياً |
naturally | TabeeAi | طـَبيعي | TabeeAyan | طـَبيعياً |
literally | harfi | حـَرفي | harfyan | حـَرفياً |
generally | Aumoomi | عـُمومي | Aumooman | عـُموماً |
normally | Aaadi | عا َدي | Aadatan | عـَد َتاً |
slightly | 'ulayil | قـُلـَيـِل | 'alayalan | قـَلـَيـَلاً |
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- بـِ at the start of the word.
English | Egyptian | Example | |
with care | bihazar | بـِحـَذ َر | he opened the box carefully fatah ilAalba bihazar فـَتـَح ا ِلعـَلبـَة بـِحـَذ َر |
with speed | bisurAa | بـِسـُرعـَة | Ahmed drives very fast 'ahmad biyisoo' bisurAa 'awi أحمـَد بـِيـِسوق بـِسـُرعـَة قـَوي |
with calm | biilraaha | بـِا ِلرا َحـَة | play (pl) quietly! 'ilaAbu biilraaha إلـَعبو ا بـِا ِلرا َحـَة |
with precision | biilZabT | بـِا ِلظـَبط | the meeting took exactly one hour il'igtimaaA 'aKad saaAa biilZabT ا ِلإجتـِما َع أخـَد سا َعـَة بـِا ِلظـَبط |
with moderation | bi'iAatidaal | بـِإعـَتـِدا َل | eat moderately 'akul bi'iAatidaal أكـُل بـِإعـَتـِدا َل |
in the evening | biilleel | بـِا ِلّيل | there is a party this evening fi hafla biilleel في حـَفلـَة بـِا ِلّيل |
Miscellaneous
English | Egyptian | Example | |
together (people) | sawa | سـَواَ | we will travel together 'ihna misafreen sawa إحنا َ مـِسا َفـِرين سـَوا َ |
together (people and things) | maAa baAD | مـَع َ بـَعض | we will travel together 'ihna misafreen maAa baAD إحنا َ مـِسا َفـِرين مـَع َ بـَعض |
alone (people) | liwahda | لـِو َحد َة | I live alone 'ana saakin liwahda أنا َ سا َكـِن لـِو َحد َة |
separately | kul wahid liwahduh | كـُل و َحـِد لـِو َحد ُه | we will travel separately 'ihna misafreen kul wahid liwahduh إحنا َ مـِسا َفـِرين كـُل و َحـِد لـِو َحد ُه |
well | kuwayis | كـُو َيـِس | he sings very well huwwa biyiGanni kuwayis 'awi هـُوّ َ بـِيـِغـَنّي كـُو َيـِس قـَوي |