Egyptian Arabic Grammar

Determiners

A determiner introduces a noun. There are four types of determiner:

TypeEnglish Examples
articlethe, and
demonstrativethis, that
quantifiersome, any
possessivemy, his

Articles

In English, there are two articles. The definite article the indicates that we are referring to something we have already mentioned, or the listener will understand which one we are talking about. The indefinite article a/an indicates that we are not talking about any particular instance of something. In Egyptian, there is a definite article il- ا ِلـ but no indefinite article.

To talk about a particular man- the listener is expected to know which man we are referring to- we say 'the man' in English. In arabic, we attach il- ا ِلـ to the front of the noun.

the man is reading his book
ilraagil biyi'r'a kitaabuh
ا ِلرا َجـِل بـِيـِقرأ كـِتا َبـُه

Note that adding il- ا ِلـ to a word affects the pronunciation if it begins with a sun letter.

For compound nouns, where we use a noun to describe another noun, the is used before the compound noun. In Egyptian, it is used before each word in the compound noun:

the plastic bag
ilkees ilblastik
ا ِلكيس ا ِلبلا َستـِك

Note that, in Egyptian, il- ا ِلـ is used before nouns expressing abstract concepts. In English, it is not unless you are referring to a particular kind of whatever the noun relates to.

EnglishEgyptian
love is all you needilhubb huwwa kull illi 'inta mahtalKa
ا ِلحـُبّ هـُوّ َ كـُلّ ا ِلّي إنت َ مـَحتـَلخـَة
the love of God'allah ilhubb
ألّـَه ا ِلحـُبّ
give peace a chance'iddi ilsalaam furSa
إدّي ا ِلسـَلا َم فـُرصـَة
movement is blessedilharaka baraka
ا ِلحـَر َكـَة بـَر َكـَة

Demonstratives

Demonstratives are words that you generally use when you are pointing at something. In English, there are four demonstratives- this and that (singular) and these and those (plural). You generally use this/these to refer to something nearer to you, and that/those for something further away. They can be used either as pronouns (on their own) or as determiners (introducing a noun). In Arabic, there is just one demonstrative, but there are three forms- masculine, feminine and plural. It is used either as a pronoun (on its own) or as a demonstrative adjective (after a noun). Let's see how that works:

UsageEnglishEgyptian
pronounI like this (m)'ana baahibb dah
أنا َ با َحـِبّ د َه
pronounI like this (f)'ana baahibb dih
أنا َ با َحـِبّ د ِه
pronounI like these (pl)'ana baahibb dul
أنا َ با َحـِبّ د ُل
determiner/adjectiveI like this book(m)'ana bahibb ilkitab dah
أنا َ بـَحـِبّ ا ِلكـِتـَب د َه
determiner/adjectiveI like this garden(m)'ana bahibb ilgineena dih
أنا َ بـَحـِبّ ا ِلجـِنينـَة د ِه
determiner/adjectiveI like these book(m)'ana bahibb ilkutub dul
أنا َ بـَحـِبّ ا ِلكـُتـُب د ُل

Note that, when this is used as a demonstrative determiner, dah د َه is used as a demonstrative adjective: it goes after the noun, and il- ا ِلـ is used as a determiner before then noun.

Quantifiers

Quantifiers specify how much or how many of something we are talking about. Numbers give exact information, whereas quantifying determiners give an approximate idea. English examples are some, enough, any, many, few. Most English quantifiers do not have an equivalent in Egyptian: instead, quantifying adjectives (which follow the noun) are used. any does not have an equivalent: it is simply omitted.

UsageEnglishEgyptian
determinerI want some milk Aaayiz shuwayit laban
عا َيـِز شـُو َيـِة لـَبـَن
adjectiveI don't have enough money maAandeesh filoos kifaaya
مـَعـَنديش فـِلوس كـِفا َيـَة
-he has any money maAanduhsh filoos
مـَعـَند ُهش فـِلوس
adjectiveyou have many friends
formal
Aandak 'aShaab kiteer
عـَند َك أصحا َب كـِتير
adjectiveyou have a lot of friends
informal
Aandak 'aShaab yaama
عـَند َك أصحا َب يا َما َ
determinerI am tired of too much talk 'ana zahQaaen min kutr ilkalaem
أنا َ ز َهقا َ ۤن مـِن كـُتر ا ِلكـَلا َم

Possessive suffixes

Possessives indicate who owns something- in English, they are words like my, his and their. In both English and Egyptian, they are similar to the corresponding possessive pronouns (mine, his, theirs), but they introduce a noun rather than being used on their own. In Egyptian, they are suffixes attached to the noun that they relate to, or to the ownership word bitaA بـِتـَع the latter is used for most imported words.

what (is) your name?

'ismak 'ieeh?
إسم َك إيه؟

The posessive suffixes themselves are pretty easy to learn, but when they 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
Englishafter -Cafter -CC
suffix Saahib
صا َحـِب suffix kalb
كـَلب
my -i
ـي Sahbi
صا َحـِبي -i
ـي kalbi
كـَلبي
our -na
ـناَ Saahibna
صا َحـِبناَ -ina
ــِناَ kalbina
كـَلبـِناَ
your(m) -ak
ــَك Sahbak
صا َحـِبـَك -ak
ــَك kalbak
كـَلبـَك
your(f) -ik
ــِك Sahbik
صا َحـِبـِك -ik
ــِك kalbik
كـَلبـِك
your(pl)-kum
ـكـُم Saahibkum
صا َحـِبكـُم -ukum
ــُكـُم kalbukum
كـَلبـُكـُم
his/its(m) -uh
ــُه Sahbuh
صا َحـِبـُه -uh
ــُه kalbuh
كـَلبـُه
her/its(f) -ha
ـهاَ Saahibha
صا َحـِبهاَ -aha
ــَهاَ kalbaha
كـَلبـَهاَ
their -hum
ـهـُم Saahibhum
صا َحـِبهـُم -uhum
ــُهـُم kalbuhum
كـَلبـُهـُم

For nouns ending in -a ــَة, the -a ــَة is replaced by -t ـت or -it ــِت and then the ending is added.

Nouns ending in -a ــَة
English after -Cafter -CC
suffix koora
كور َةsuffixshanTa
شـَنطـَة
my -ti
ـتي koorti
كورتي -iti
ــِتي shanTiti
شـَنطـِتي
our -itna
ــِتناَ kooritna
كور ِتناَ -itna
ــِتناَ shanTitna
شـَنطـِتناَ
your(m) -tak
ـتـَك koortak
كورتـَك -itak
ــِتـَك shanTitak
شـَنطـِتـَك
your(f) -tik
ـتـِك koortik
كورتـِك -itik
ــِتـِك shanTitik
شـَنطـِتـِك
your(pl)-itkum
ــِتكـُم kooritkum
كور ِتكـُم -itkum
ــِتكـُم shanTitkum
شـَنطـِتكـُم
his/its(m) -tuh
ـتـُه koortuh
كورتـُه -ituh
ــِتـُه shanTituh
شـَنطـِتـُه
her/its(f) -itha
ــِتهاَ kooritha
كور ِتهاَ -itha
ــِتهاَ shanTitha
شـَنطـِتهاَ
their -ithum
ــِتهـُم koorithum
كور ِتهـُم -ithum
ــِتهـُم shanTithum
شـَنطـِتهـُم

Nouns that end in alif -a ـاَ are treated almost like feminine nouns, ie the alif is replaced by -it ـا ِت and then the ending is added.

Nouns ending in -i ـي or -w ـو are listed below.

Note that for most words ending in -w ـو, for example baltw بـَلتو, one would normally use bitaA بـِتـَع rather than a posessive suffix.

Nouns ending in a vowel
English -a
ـاَ -i
ـي -w
ـو
suffix veela
ڤيلاَ koorsi
كورسي Aadw
عـَدو
my -ya
ـيَ veeliti
ڤيلا ِتي koorsya
كورسياَ Aadwi
عـَدوي
our -na
ـناَ veelitna
ڤيلا ِتناَ koorseena
كورسيناَ Aadoona
عـَدوناَ
your(m) -k
ـك veelitak
ڤيلا ِتـَك koorseek
كورسيك Aadook
عـَدوك
your(f) -ki
ـكِ veelitik
ڤيلا ِتـِك koorseeki
كورسيكي Aadwik
عـَدو ِك
your(pl)-kum
ـكـُم veelitkum
ڤيلا ِتكـُم koorseekum
كورسيكـُم Aadookum
عـَدوكـُم
his/its(m) -h
ـه veelituh
ڤيلا ِتـُه koorseeh
كورسيه Aadooh
عـَدوه
her/its(f) -ha
ـهاَ veelitha
ڤيلا ِتهاَ koorseeha
كورسيهاَ Aadooha
عـَدوهاَ
their -hum
ـهـُم veelithum
ڤيلا ِتهـُم koorseehum
كورسيهـُم Aadoohum
عـَدوهـُم

Father and brother 'abb أبّ and brother 'aKK أخّ become 'abw- أبوـ and brother 'aKw- أخوـ when a possessive is added.

English fatherbrother
'abb
أبّ'aKK
أخّ
my 'abwya
أبوياَ 'aKwya
أخوياَ
our 'aboona
أبوناَ 'aKoona
أخوناَ
your(m) 'abook
أبوك 'aKook
أخوك
your(f) 'abooki
أبوكي 'aKooki
أخوكي
your(pl)'abookum
أبوكـُم 'aKookum
أخوكـُم
his/its(m) 'abooh
أبوه 'aKooh
أخوه
her/its(f) 'abooha
أبوهاَ 'aKooha
أخوهاَ
their 'aboohum
أبوهـُم 'aKoohum
أخوهـُم

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