Egyptian Arabic Grammar

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
directionAhmed is going up (stairs)
'ahmad TaalaA foo'
أحمـَد طا َلـَع فوق
positionAhmed is coming here
'ahmad gayi hina
أحمـَد جـَيي هـِنا َ
timeAhmed will come tomorrow evening
'ahmad hayigi bukra biilleel
أحمـَد حـَيـِجي بـُكر َة بـِا ِلّيل
frequencyAhmed always walks
'ahmad biyimshi dayman
أحمـَد بـِيـِمشي د َيماً
qualityAhmed walks quickly
'ahmad biyimshi bisuraAa
أحمـَد بـِيـِمشي بـِسـُر َعـَة
degreeAhmed 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

EnglishEgyptianEnglish exampleEgyptian example
upfoo'
فوقI am going upstairs'ana TaalaA foo'
أنا َ طا َلـَع فوق
downtaht
تـَحتhe dived downGiTis taht
غـِطـِس تـَحت
leftshamaal
شـَما َلturn left!Kushsh shamaal
خـُشّ شـَما َل
rightyimeen
يـِمينlook right!buSS yimeen
بـُصّ يـِمين
straight aheadAala Tool
عـَلى طولgo(walk) straight ahead'imshi Aala Tool
إمشي عـَلى طول

location

Location adverbs can be used with verbs like go

EnglishEgyptianEnglish exampleEgyptian example
herehina
هـِناَ
come here!taAala hina
تـَعا َلى هـِنا َ
therehinaak
هـِنا َك
I have to go there tomorrowlaazim '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:

EnglishEgyptianExample
immediatelyhaalan
حا َلاًI will open it immediately
haftahuh haalan
هـَفتـَحـُه حا َلاً
nowdilwa'ti
د ِلو َقتيwe are ready now
'ihna gahzeen dilwa'ti
إحنا َ جا َهـِزين د ِلو َقتي
alreadyno equivalenthe (is) already here
huwwa mawgood
هـُوّ َ مـَوجود
todayilnaharda
ا ِلنـَها َرد َةthe party is this evening
ilhafla ilnaharda biilleel
ا ِلحـَفلـَة ا ِلنـَها َرد َة بـِا ِلّيل
tomorrowbukrah
بـُكر َهI will go to Alexandria tomorrow
haruwh il'iskandiraaya bukrah
هـَر ُوح ا ِلإسكـَند ِرا َيـَة بـُكر َه
the day after tomorrowbaAd bukrah
بـَعد بـُكر َهI will come back the day after tomorrow
'ana hargaA baAd bukrah
أنا َ هـَرجـَع بـَعد بـُكر َه
yesterday'imbaarih
إمبا َر ِحshe arrived yesterday
waSalt 'imbaarih
و َصـَلت إمبا َر ِح
day before yesterday'awil 'imbaarih
أو ِل إمبا َر ِحI bought it the day before yesterday
'ashtareetuh 'awil 'imbaarih
أشتـَريتـُه أو ِل إمبا َر ِح
next weekil'usbwaA illigaai
ا ِلأ ُسبو َع ا ِلّـِجا َيwe will go home next week
hanrawwah il'usbwaA illigaai
هـَنر َوّ َح ا ِلأ ُسبو َع ا ِلّـِجا َي
this weekil'usbwaA dih
ا ِلأ ُسبو َع د ِهwe are on holiday this week
ihna fi 'agaaza il'usbwaA dih
ا ِحنا َ في أجا َز َة ا ِلأ ُسبو َع د ِه
last weekil'usbwaA 'illi faat
ا ِلأ ُسبو َع إلّي فا َتI saw her last week
shuftaha il'usbwaA 'illi faat
شـُفتـَها َ ا ِلأ ُسبو َع إلّي فا َت
earlybadri
بـَدريwe must get up early tomorrow
laazim ni'oom badri bukrah
لا َز ِم نـِقوم بـَدري بـُكر َه
eveningbiilleel
بـِا ِلّيلthere 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
afterwardsbaAd kida
بـَعد كـِد َةwe 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:

<
EnglishEgyptianExample
usuallyAaadatan
عا َد َتاًI usually take a nap after lunch
baaKud Aadatan taAseella baAd ilGada'
با َخـُد عـَد َتاً تـَعسيلّـَة بـَعد ا ِلغـَدا َء
alwaysdayman
د َيماًhis office is always neat
maktabuh mitsattif dayman
مـَكتـَبـُه مـِتسـَتّـِف د َيماً
rarelynadran
نا َد ِراًI rarely see Ahmed
'ana bashoof ahmad nadran
أنا َ با َشوف ا َحمـَد نا َد ِراً
regularlybi'intiZaam
بـِإنتـِظا َمI go to the gym regularly
barooh ilgeem bi'intiZaam
بـَروح ا ِلجيم بـِإنتـِظا َم
recentlymin 'urayib
مـِن قـُر َيـِبsomebody asked me about that recently
hadd s'aalni Aanuh dih min 'urayib
حـَدّ سأ َلني عـَنـُه د ِه مـِن قـُر َيـِب
never'abadan
أبـَداًI will never speak to him again
'abadan mish hakallimuh thaeni
أبـَداً مـِش هـَكـَلّـِمـُه ثا َني
againthaani
ثا َنيI would like to go there again
Aaayiz 'arooh hinaak thaani
عا َيـِز أروح هـِنا َك ثا َني
oftenGaliban
غـَلـِباًshe is often tired
hiya taAbaana Galiban
هـِي َ تـَعبا َنـَة غـَلـِباً
foreverlil'abad
لـِلأبـَدnobody lives for ever
mahaddish biyiAish lil'abad
مـَحـَدّ ِش بـِيـِعـِش لـِلأبـَد
all dayTool ilyoom
طول ا ِليوم it rained all day
maTTar Tool ilyoom
مـَطّـَر طول ا ِليوم
all (my/his/her) lifeTool 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
أخيراًhe finally visited london
zaar lundun 'aKeeran
زا َر لـُند ُن أخيراً
occasionallymin wa't lilthaani
مـِن و َقت لـِلثا َنيI go to the park occasionally
barooh ilgineena min wa't lilthaani
بـَروح ا ِلجـِنينـَة مـِن و َقت لـِلثا َني
hourlybiilsaaAa
بـِا ِلسا َعـَةyou must check hourly
laazim titammim biilsaaAa
لا َز ِم تـِتـَمّـِم بـِا ِلسا َعـَة
sometimes'ahyaanan
أحيا َناًwe sometimes see sharks here
binishoof samak 'irsh 'ahyaanan hina
بـِنـِشوف سـَمـَك قـِرش أحيا َناً هـِناَ
sometimes'aoo'aat
أوقا َتit 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 ـاً

Englishadjectiveadverb
officiallyrasmi
ر َسميrasmyan
ر َسمياً
theoreticallynaZari
نـَظـَريnaZariyan
نـَظـَر ِياً
naturallyTabeeAi
طـَبيعيTabeeAyan
طـَبيعياً
literallyharfi
حـَرفيharfyan
حـَرفياً
generallyAumoomi
عـُموميAumooman
عـُموماً
normallyAaadi
عا َديAadatan
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.

EnglishEgyptianExample
with carebihazar
بـِحـَذ َرhe opened the box carefully
fatah ilAalba bihazar
فـَتـَح ا ِلعـَلبـَة بـِحـَذ َر
with speedbisurAa
بـِسـُرعـَةAhmed drives very fast
'ahmad biyisoo' bisurAa 'awi
أحمـَد بـِيـِسوق بـِسـُرعـَة قـَوي
with calmbiilraaha
بـِا ِلرا َحـَةplay (pl) quietly!
'ilaAbu biilraaha
إلـَعبو ا بـِا ِلرا َحـَة
with precisionbiilZabT
بـِا ِلظـَبطthe meeting took exactly one hour
il'igtimaaA 'aKad saaAa biilZabT
ا ِلإجتـِما َع أخـَد سا َعـَة بـِا ِلظـَبط
with moderationbi'iAatidaal
بـِإعـَتـِدا َلeat moderately
'akul bi'iAatidaal
أكـُل بـِإعـَتـِدا َل
in the eveningbiilleel
بـِا ِلّيلthere is a party this evening
fi hafla biilleel
في حـَفلـَة بـِا ِلّيل

Miscellaneous

EnglishEgyptianExample
together
(people)
sawa
سـَواَwe will travel together
'ihna misafreen sawa
إحنا َ مـِسا َفـِرين سـَوا َ
together
(people and things)
maAa baAD
مـَع َ بـَعضwe will travel together
'ihna misafreen maAa baAD
إحنا َ مـِسا َفـِرين مـَع َ بـَعض
alone
(people)
liwahda
لـِو َحد َةI live alone
'ana saakin liwahda
أنا َ سا َكـِن لـِو َحد َة
separatelykul wahid liwahduh
كـُل و َحـِد لـِو َحد ُهwe will travel separately
'ihna misafreen kul wahid liwahduh
إحنا َ مـِسا َفـِرين كـُل و َحـِد لـِو َحد ُه
wellkuwayis
كـُو َيـِسhe sings very well
huwwa biyiGanni kuwayis 'awi
هـُوّ َ بـِيـِغـَنّي كـُو َيـِس قـَوي

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