Egyptian Arabic Grammar

Nouns

A noun represents a person, thing or concept. Here are some examples:

TypeEnglishArabic
personAhmed'ahmad
أحمـَد
personmanraagil
را َجـِل
personplayerlaaAib
لا َعـِب
thingleathergild
جـِلد
conceptwisdomhikma
حـِكمـَة
conceptappointmentmeeAaad
ميعا َد

Masculine and feminine

In arabic, nouns can be masculine or feminine. This does not necessarily mean that they belong to male and female persons. Most words that end with -a ــَة are feminine. Egyptian spelling is somewhat whimsical: some people use -ah ــَه at the end of feminine words.

In addition, there are a small number of words that do not end in -a ــَة that are also feminine. Some of these words are obvious: others less so. Here are some examples of feminine nouns:

Feminine nouns
EnglishArabic
ideafikra
فـِكر َة
womansitt
سـِتّ
daughterbint
بـِنت
firenaar
نا َر
headraas
را َس
legrigl
ر ِجل
earwidn
و ِدن
France
and all other countries
faransa
فـَر َنساَ
Tunis
and some other cities
Toonis
طونـِس

Plurals

If there is more than one of something, the noun becomes a plural. For the majority of English words, we make a small change to the ending - book/books, story/stories: there are a few exceptions, for example child/children. The same is true in Egyptian: for many nouns, only the ending changes, though for quite a few the volwels move around within the word. Here are some of the simple ones:

Gender Ending Singular Plural
masculine -yn
ـين muhaasib
مـُحا َسـِب muhasbeen
مـُحا َسـِبين
feminine -aat
ـا َت muhasba
مـُحا َسب َة muhasbaat
مـُحا َسـِبا َت

For the majority of masculine nouns and for a few feminine nouns, the plural is formed by re-arranging the vowels- usually converting short vowels for long: it's probably easiest just to remember the plural when you learn a new word, rather than trying to work out the rules. Here are some examples:

EnglishSingular Plural
manraagil
را َجـِل rigaela
ر ِجا َلاَ
dogkalb
كـَلب kilaeb
كـِلا َب
fingernailDufr
ضـُفر Dawaefir
ضـَوا َفـِر
bookkitaeb
كـِتا َب kutub
كـُتـُب
storyQiSSa
قـِصّـَة QiSaS
قـِصـَص
kingmalik
مـَلـِك mulook
مـُلوك
typeSanf
صـَنف 'aSnaaf
أصنا َف
brokersimsaar
سـِمسا َر samasra
سـَمـَسر َة

A very small number of nouns have a different plural when you are talking about between 3 and 10 of them. These are:

EnglishSingular Plural
dayyoom
يوم tiyaem
تـِيا َم
monthshahr
شـَهر tushhoor
تـُشهور
personnafar
نـَفـَر tinfaar
تـِنفا َر
plateTaba'
طـَبـَق tiTbaa'
تـِطبا َق
thousand'alf
ألف talaaf
تـَلا َف

Occupations

Generally speaking, the plural for trades ends with either -yn ـين or -aya ــَيـَة, but for professions there are different endings for men -yn ـين and women -aat ـا َت.

English Singular Plural
carpenter naggaar
نـَجّا َر naggareen
نـَجّا َرين
greengrocer KuDari
خـُضـَري KuDariyya
خـُضـَر ِييـَة
male teacher mudarris
مـُد َرّ ِس mudarriseen
مـُد َرّ ِسين
female teacher mudarrisa
مـُد َرّ ِس َة mudarrisaat
مـُد َرّ ِسا َت

Collective nouns and mass nouns

In English, deer can mean one deer or several: the latter is described as a collective noun. In Egyptian, many foods- and some other things- are usually referred to using a collective noun. You can talk about one item, for example one fish, by adding -a ــَة ending:


Englishcollectiveone
eggsbiyD
بـِيضbiyDa
بـِيض َة
fishsamak
سـَمـَكsamaka
سـَمـَك َة
fliesdibbaan
د ِبّا َنdibbaana
د ِبّا َن َة

In English, items that you can't easily count, like sugar and cheese, are referred to using a mass noun. In Egyptian, a collective noun is used, and you can refer to a tiny amount of it by adding the-a ــَة ending, for example flour is diQeeQ د ِقيق and a grain of flour is diQeeQa د ِقيقـَة.

Many materials- things that can be used to make something from, like leather or cloth, are treated in the same way: you add -a ــَة to give the meaning a piece of...


Englishcollectivea piece
woodKashab
خـَشـَبKashaba
خـَشـَب َة
soapSaboon
صا َبونSaboona
صا َبون َة

Pairs

The Egyptian word for shoes (gazma جـَزمـَة) relates to a pair. For a single shoe, it is necessary to say fardit gazma فـَرد ِة جـَزمـَة. Note that Egyptians do not consider trousers to be a pair. Here are some examples of words that work like this:


EnglishEgyptian
shoesgazma
جـَزمـَة
sockssharaab
شـَرا َب
glovesguwanti
جـُوا َنتي

Duals

If you want to talk about two people, or specify a quantity of two, see the section on two in numbers.

If you want to talk about two things (not people or quantities), you should use the dual suffix -yn ـين. This is equivalent to a couple which can mean exactly two, or approximately two. There are slightly different forms for feminine nouns and words ending in -i ـي. Here are some examples:

EnglishEgyptianSuffixEnglishEgyptian
book (m)kitaab
كـِتا َب-yn
ـينtwo bookskitabeen
كـِتا َبين
chair
(ends with y)
kursi
كـُرسي-iyyin
ــِييـِنtwo chairskursiyyin
كـُرسـِييـِن
minute (f) di'ee'a
د ِقيقـَة-teen
ـتينa couple of minutes di'i'teen
د ِقـِقتين

Genitive form

The genitive is used to express ownership. In English, the most common way is to put an apostrophe-s on the end of the owned noun, for example John's house. It is similar in Egyptian. For masculine nouns, the ending does not change: for feminine nouns that end with -a ــَة, the ending changes to -it ــِة which is written the same but the t-marbuta at the end is pronounced as a t.

EnglishEgyptian
Ahmed's bookkitaab 'ahmad
كـِتا َب أحمـَد
the book's coverGulaef ilkitaeb
غـُلا َف ا ِلكـِتا َب
Sarah's toyliAbit sara
لـِعبـِة سـَر َة

You can also express the genitive using the word of. For example, you could say the house of John, although the 's form is usually preferred when expressing ownership. of can also be used to express a quantity or a package of something: the genitive is also used in Egyptian.

EnglishEgyptian
a bottle of water'izzazit mayyah
إزّ َز ِة مـَييـَه
a kilo of potatoeskeelw baTaaTiS
كيلو بـَطا َطـِص
a pack of cigarettesbakw seegaayar
با َكو سيجا َيـَر
a box of matchesAilbit kabreet
عـِلبـِة كـَبريت

Possessive suffixes

In English, you can also express ownership with a possessive determiner, for example my, your, his. In Egyptian, you add a posessive suffix to the end of the owned noun. When you add a suffix to a feminine noun, the -a ــَة is converted to a -it- ــِتـ, both in writing and speech. Here are some examples:

Englishon its ownwith pronoun
his bookkitaab
كـِتا َبkitaabuh
كـِتا َب ُه
my wifedoes not exist on its ownmiraati
مـِرا َتي
your(m) ideafikra
فـِكر َةfikritak
فـِكر ِت َك

See determiners for more information about possessive suffixes, and ownership for information about other methods of expressing ownership.

Compound nouns

You can describe a noun using another noun, for example to say what material it is made from. The qualifying noun is placed after the main noun, and is always singular. If the main noun is preceded by il- ا ِلـ the qualifying noun is also preceded by il- ا ِلـ. Note that adding il- ا ِلـ to a word affects the pronunciation if it begins with a sun letter.

EnglishArabic
a plastic bagkees blastik
كيس بلا َستـِك
the plastic bagilkees ilblastik
ا ِلكيس ا ِلبلا َستـِك
plastic bags'akyaas blastik
أكيا َس بلا َستـِك
the plastic bagsil'akyaas ilblastik
ا ِلأكيا َس ا ِلبلا َستـِك


Copyright © 2007-2020 Mike GreenAbout...Contact us Next chapter...