The essentials
In many cases, Egyptian uses the same structure as English. Let's first take a 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:
'ahmad biyihibb saara| Element | English | Egyptian | |
| subject noun | Ahmed | 'ahmad | أحمـَد |
| verb | loves | biyihibb | بـِيـِحـِبّ |
| object noun | Sarah | saara | سا َر َة |
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:
saara bitihibb 'ahmad| Element | English | Egyptian | |
| subject noun | Sarah | saara | سا َر َة |
| verb | loves | bitihibb | بـِتـِحـِبّ |
| object noun | Ahmed | 'ahmad | أحمـَد |
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 proper noun- a name that begins with a capital letter- like Sarah, Ahmed, London, but there are some other possiblities as well. Here are some examples:
| Element | English | Egyptian | |
| proper noun | Sarah | saara | سا َر َة |
| noun (specific) | the man | ilraagil | ا ِلرا َجـِل |
| the woman | ilsitt | ا ِلسـِتّ | |
| the cat | il'uTTa | ا ِلقـُطّـَة | |
| the idea | ilfikra | ا ِلفـِكر َة | |
| noun (general) | a man | raagil | را َجـِل |
| a woman | sitt | سـِتّ | |
| a cat | 'uTTa | قـُطّـَة | |
| an idea | fikra | فـِكر َة | |
| noun (quantity) | some men | shwyit rigalaat | شويـِة ر ِجا َلا َة |
| five men | Kamas rigaala | خـَمـَس ر ِجا َلاَ | |
| any man | 'ai raagil | أي را َجـِل | |
| pronoun (subject) | he | huwwa | هـُوَّ |
| she | hiya | هـِيَ | |
| pronoun (object) | him | -uh | ــُه |
| her | -ha | ـهاَ | |
Determiners
Determiners help to identify the specific, the kind or the quantity of something that you are talking about. In English, determiners are words like the, a, some and his.
The Egyptian word il- ا ِلـ corresponds to the in English, but there is no equivalent to 'a'. The noun just appears on its own.
Note that adding il- ا ِلـ 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:
'ana bahibbaha| Element | English | Egyptian | |
| subject pronoun | I | 'ana | أناَ |
| verb | love | bahibb | بـَحـِبّ |
| object pronoun | her | -aha | ــَهاَ |
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:
hiya bitihibbni| Element | English | Egyptian | |
| subject pronoun | she | hiya | هـِيَ |
| verb | loves | bitihibb | بـِتـِحـِبّ |
| object pronoun | me | -ni | ـني |
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 (mine/his/yours/theirs/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 | ||
| I | 'ana | أناَ | me | -ni | ـني |
| we | 'ihna | إحناَ | us | -na | ـناَ |
| you(m) | 'inta | إنتَ | you(m) | -ak | ــَك |
| you(f) | 'inti | إنتِ | you(f) | -ik | ــِك |
| you(pl) | 'intu | إنتوا | you(pl) | -ukw | ــُكو |
| he/it(m) | huwwa | هـُوَّ | him/it(m) | -uh | ــُه |
| she/it(f) | hiya | هـِيَ | her/it(f) | -ha | ـهاَ |
| they | humma | هـُمَّ | them | -uhum | ــُهـُم |
Here are a few more examples:
| English | Egyptian | |
| I know him | 'ana Aarfuh | أنا َ عا َر ِف ُه |
| Ahmed knows him | 'ahmad Aarfuh | أحمـَد عا َر ِف ُه |
| Sarah knows him | saara Aarfituh | سا َر َة عا َر ِفـِت ُه |
| I smoke cigarettes | 'ana bashrab sagaayar | أنا َ با َشر َب سـَجا َيـَر |
| I write books | 'ana baktib kutoob | أنا َ با َكتـِب كـُتوب |
| Ahmed writes books | 'ahmad biyiktib kutoob | أحمـَد بـِيـِكتـِب كـُتوب |
| he writes books | huwwa biyiktib kutoob | هـُوّ َ بـِيـِكتـِب كـُتوب |
Note that, in Egyptian, the subject pronoun can be omitted if the meaning is still clear:
| English | Egyptian | |
| I know him | 'ana Aarfuh | أنا َ عا َر ِف ُه |
| Aarfuh | عا َر ِف ُه | |
| Do you (m) know him | huwwa 'inta Aarfuh? | هـُوّ َ إنتـَ عا َر ِف ُه؟ |
| huwwa Aarfuh? | هـُوّ َ عا َر ِف ُه؟ | |
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 | |
| I am tired | 'ana taAbaan | أنا َ تـَعبا َن |
| Ahmed is Egyptian | 'ahmad maSri | أحمـَد مـَصري |
| the cats are in the garden | il'uTaT fi ilgineena | ا ِلقـُطـَط في ا ِلجـِنينـَة |
| Sarah is available | saara mawgooda | سا َر َة مـَوجود َة |
| today is Friday | ilnaharda ilgumAa | ا ِلنـَها َرد َة ا ِلجـُمعـَة |
| this is my wife | di miraati | دي مـِرا َتي |
| my husband is at home | goozi fi ilbiyt | جوزي في ا ِلبـِيت |
When you are talking about a past or future situation, the Egyptian words kaan كا َن - was and haykoon هـَيكون - will be are used. This will be covered in more detail later under verbs. Here are some simple examples:
| English | Egyptian | |
| I am tired | 'ana taAbaan | أنا َ تـَعبا َن |
| Ahmed is tired | 'ahmad taAbaan | أحمـَد تـَعبا َن |
| I was tired | 'ana kunt taAbaan | أنا َ كـُنت تـَعبا َن |
| Ahmed was tired | 'ahmad kaan taAbaan | أحمـَد كا َن تـَعبا َن |
| I will be tired | 'ana hakoon taAbaan | أنا َ هـَكون تـَعبا َن |
| Ahmed will be tired | 'ahmad hayikoon taAbaan | أحمـَد هـَيـِكون تـَعبا َن |
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... and none of them are verbs.
| Meaning | English | Egyptian | |
| have with me | I have matches | maAaya kabreet | مـَعـَيا َ كـَبريت |
| own | I have a house | Aandi biyt | عـَندي بـِيت |
| must | I have to go | laazim 'aruwh | لا َز ِم أر ُوح |
| eat, etc | I will have dinner (I will dine) | hatAashsha | هـَتعـَشّا َ |
| take | I will have a nap (I will take a nap) | haaKuz taAseela | ها َخـُذ تـَعسيلـَة |
Masculine, feminine, plural
Like many european languages, all Egyptian nouns are either masculine or feminine. Here are some examples:
| Gender | English | Arabic | |
| masculine | book | kitaab | كـِتا َب |
| dog | kalb | كـَلب | |
| man | raagil | را َجـِل | |
| house | biyt | بـِيت | |
| milk | laban | لـَبـَن | |
| peace | salaam | سـَلا َم | |
| teacher | mudarris | مـُد َرّ ِس | |
| feminine | teacher | mudarrisa | مـُد َرّ ِسـَة |
| idea | fikra | فـِكر َة | |
| table | tarabeeza | تـَرا َبيز َة | |
| workshop | warsha | و َرشـَة | |
| woman | sitt | سـِتّ | |
| daughter girl | bint | بـِنت | |
| fire | naar | نا َر | |
| head | raas | را َس | |
As you can see, the majority of feminine nouns end in -a ــَة. 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, the majority of nouns have singular and plural forms: in Egyptian, a very small number of plural nouns are also divided by gender (masculine and feminine). Here are some examples of plurals:
| English | Arabic | ||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
| book | books | kitaab | كـِتا َب | kutub | كـُتـُب |
| dog | dogs | kalb | كـَلب | kilaab | كـِلا َب |
| man | men | raagil | را َجـِل | riggaala | ر ِجّا َلاَ |
| child | children | Tifl | طـِفل | 'aTfaal | أطفا َل |
| house | houses | biyt | بـِيت | buyoot | بـُيوت |
| milk | laban | لـَبـَن | |||
| peace | salaam | سـَلا َم | |||
| teacher(m) | teachers | mudarris | مـُد َرّ ِس | mudarriseen | مـُد َرّ ِسين |
| teacher(f) | teachers | mudarrisa | مـُد َرّ ِسـَة | mudarrisaat | مـُد َرّ ِسا َت |
| idea | ideas | fikra | فـِكر َة | 'afkaar | أفكا َر |
| table | tables | tarabeeza | تـَرا َبيز َة | tarabeezaat | تـَرا َبيزا َت |
| workshop | workshops | warsha | و َرشـَة | wirash | و ِر َش |
| woman | women | sitt | سـِتّ | sattaat | سـَتّا َت |
| fire | fires | naar | نا َر | neeraan | نيرا َن |
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 ــَة usually have a very straightforward plural- -aat ـا َت. 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 | |
| he is tired | huwwa taAbaan | هـُوّ َ تـَعبا َن |
| she is tired | hiya taAbaana | هـِي َ تـَعبا َن َة |
| they are tired | humma taAbaneen | هـُمّ َ تـَعبا َنين |
| he is good | huwwa kuwayis | هـُوّ َ كـُو َيـِس |
| she is good | hiya kuwayisa | هـِي َ كـُو َيـِس َة |
| they are good | humma kuwayiseen | هـُمّ َ كـُو َيـِسين |
The good news is that the majority of adjectives require just a different ending for feminine- -a ــَة and plural -yn ـين 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, though adverbs usually go after adjectives: here are some examples
| describing | English | Egyptian |
| verb | I will come back soon | 'ana hargaA baAd shuwaya أنا َ هـَرجـَع بـَعد شـُو َيـَة |
| verb | Ahmed walks quickly | 'ahmad biyimshi bisuraAa أحمـَد بـِيـِمشي بـِسـُر َعـَة |
| adjective | Ahmed is extremely clever | 'ahmad shaaTir giddan أحمـَد شا َطـِر جـِدّاً |
| adverb | Ahmed drives reasonably fast | 'ahmad biyisoo' bisuraAa maA'oola أحمـَد بـِيـِسوق بـِسـُر َعـَة مـَعقولـَة |
Prepositions
In English, prepositions link an additional noun to a verb. This is possible in Egyptian, but prepositions are also commonly used in place of verbs, for example have is usually expressed using the prepositions Aand عـَند (own) and maAa مـَعَ (have with you): see ownership for more information. Here are some examples of prepositions:
| English | Egyptian | English | Egyptian |
| after | baAd بـَعد | she came after dinner | hiya gaat baAd ilAasha' هـِي َ جا َت بـَعد ا ِلعـَشا َء |
| behind | wara و َراَ | the garden is behind the house | ilgineena wara ilbiyt ا ِلجـِنينـَة و َرا َ ا ِلبـِيت |
| have | Aand عـَند | I have a house in Cairo | Aandi biyt fi il'ahra عـَندي بـِيت في ا ِلقا َهـِر َة |
| there is | fi في | there is water | fi mayaat في مـَيا َة |
Conjunctions
A conjunction joins two clauses to make a much more complex sentence. Here is an example:
Aaayiz 'aAamil Aiysh lakin maAandeesh di'ee' kifaaya| Part | English | Egyptian |
| Main clause | I want to make bread | Aaayiz 'aAamil Aiysh عا َيـِز أعـَمـِل عـِيش |
| Conjunction | but | laakin لا َكـِن |
| Second clause | I don't have enough flour | maAandeesh di'ee' kifaaya مـَعـَنديش د ِقيق كـِفا َيـَة |
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 ماَ to convert a preposition to a conjunction.
| Element | English | Egyptian |
| preposition (dinner is a noun) | wash your hands before dinner | 'iGsil ieedeek 'abl ilAasha' إغسـِل ا ِيديك قـَبل ا ِلعـَشا َء |
| conjunction (you eat is a clause- it contains a verb) | wash your hands before you eat | 'iGsil ieedeek 'abl ma taakul إغسـِل ا ِيديك قـَبل ما َ تا َكـُل |