Ownership
There are several different ways to indicate ownership and belonging. These are:
| Egyptian | Meaning | Egyptian | English |
| possessive pronoun | my/your/his |  'ismuhإسم ُه | his name |
| simple genitive | of | ism ilwalad ا ِسم ا ِلو َلـَد | the name of the boy |
| bitaaA بـِتا َع | belonging | ilbasboor bitaaAi ا ِلبـَسبور بـِتا َعي | my passport |
| Aand عـَند | ownership | Aandi biyt عـَندي بـِيت | I have a house |
| maAa مـَعَ | have with you | maAaak kabreet? مـَعا َك كـَبريت؟ | Do you have matches (on you)? |
| li لي | having for a purpose intended for attached | fi boosTa leek في بوسطـَة ليك | there is some post for you |
| milk مـِلك | (my/your/his) property | ilbiyt dah milkuh ا ِلبـِيت د َه مـِلكـُه | that house is his property |
possessive pronoun
In both English and Egyptian, the most common way of expressing ownership is with a posessive pronoun (my, your... etc). In Egyptian, this is a suffix attached to the noun. Here are some examples:
| English | Arabic |
| my name | 'ismi إسمي |
| your(m) name | 'ismak إسم َك |
| your(f) name | 'ismik إسم ِك |
| my house | biyti بـِيتي |
| his house | biytuh بـِيت ُه |
| my father | 'abwya أبويا َ |
| your(f) father | 'abooha أبوها َ |
| his father | 'abooh أبوه |
| our god | rabbina ر َبّ ِنا َ |
The posessive pronouns themselves are pretty easy to learn, but when the pronouns are attached to nouns, the vowels do a little dance to make sure that you don't get three consonants in a row. See pronouns for more information.
simple genitive
In English, the simple genitive can take two forms: both are expressed in the same way in arabic.
| English | Egyptian |
| the man's name | 'ism ilraagil إسم ا ِلرا َجـِل |
| the name of the man | 'ism ilraagil إسم ا ِلرا َجـِل |
il- ا ِلـ can be attached to the second noun if required, but must never be attached to the first noun. If the first noun is feminine, the -a ــَة ending changes to -it ــِت. Nothing must be placed between the two nouns. Adjectives go after the second noun, but must agree in gender and number with the first noun. If a possessive suffix is required, it must go on the second word (or use bitaaA بـِتا َع). Here are some examples:
| English | Egyptian |
| the boy's name is strange | 'ism ilwalad Gareeb إسم ا ِلو َلـَد غـَريب |
| I have her telephone number | Aandi nimrit tileefoonha عـَندي نـِمر ِة تـِليفونها َ |
| Where is the railway station? | mahaTit il'aTr feen? مـَحـَطـِة ا ِلقـَطر فين؟ |
| Do you know my cousin? (uncle's son) | 'inta Aaarif 'ibn Aammy? إنت َ عا َر ِف إبن عـَمّي؟ |
| Do you know my cousin? (uncle's son) | tiAarif 'ibn Aammy? تـِعـَر ِف إبن عـَمّي؟ |
| Have you seen the boss's new car? | 'inta shooft Aarabiyit ilmudeer ilgideeda? إنت َ شوفت عـَر َبـِي ِة ا ِلمـُدير ا ِلجـِديد َة؟ |
| Have you seen the new boss's car? | 'inta shooft ilAarabiya 'illi maAa ilmudeer ilgideed? إنت َ شوفت ا ِلعـَر َبـِيـَة إلّي مـَعـَ ا ِلمـُدير ا ِلجـِديد؟ |
| I want a bottle of water | Aaayiz 'izzaazit mayaah عا َيـِز إزّا َز ِة مـَيا َه |
| give me this bottle of water | iddeeni 'izzaazit ilmayaah ا ِدّيني إزّا َز ِة ا ِلمـَيا َه dyh |
Belonging- bitaA بـِتـَع
bitaA بـِتـَع is used in several ways:
- noun + bitaA + possessive suffix, to indicate ownership
- noun + bitaA + possessive suffix, as an alternative to a genitive
- bitaA + product (milk, onions, tyres etc), to indicate somebody who sells the product
- bitaA + possessive suffix, to refer to a man's or woman's private parts
bitaA بـِتـَع is always used for ownership when the noun ends in -yn ـين and for imported words (my villa). It is not used for parts of the body (my leg).
| English | Egyptian |
| I have lost my passport | 'ana DayAt ilbasboor bitaaAi أنا َ ضا َيعت ا ِلبـَسبور بـِتا َعي |
| how many rooms does your villa have? | Aandak kam 'uooDa fi ilveela bitaAtak? عـَند َك كـَم أ ُوضـَة في ا ِلڤيلا َ بـِتا َعتـَك؟ |
| Where are your teachers? | feen ilmudarriseen bitwaAak? فين ا ِلمـُد َرّ ِسين بـِتو َعـَك؟ |
| He is a vegetable seller | huwwa bitaaA KuDaar هـُوّ َ بـِتا َع خـُضا َر |
| He is a milk seller means he's a ladies' man | huwwa bitaaA laban هـُوّ َ بـِتا َع لـَبـَن |
| Stop scratching yourself! | baTTal tuhrush fi bitaaAak بـَطّـَل تـُهر ُش في بـِتا َعـَك |
bitaaA بـِتا َع is like a participle, so it has to agree in gender and number with the noun. Here are all of the possible endings:
| English | m | f | pl |
| the book | the bag | the books | |
| ilkitaab bitaaA- ا ِلكـِتا َب بـِتا َعـ | ilshanTa bitaAt- ا ِلشـَنطـَة بـِتا َعتـ | ilkutoob bitooA- ا ِلكـُتوب بـِتوعـ | |
| belonging to me | bitaaAi بـِتا َعي | bitaAti بـِتا َعتي | bitooAi بـِتوعي |
| belonging to us | bitaAna بـِتا َعناَ | bitaaAitna بـِتا َعـِتناَ | bitooAna بـِتوعناَ |
| belonging to you(m) | bitaaAak بـِتا َعـَك | bitaAtak بـِتا َعتـَك | bitooAak بـِتوعـَك |
| belonging to you(f) | bitaaAik بـِتا َعـِك | bitaAtik بـِتا َعتـِك | bitooAik بـِتوعـِك |
| belonging to you(pl) | bitaAkum بـِتا َعكـُم | bitaaAitkum بـِتا َعـِتكـُم | bitooAkum بـِتوعكـُم |
| belonging to him | bitaaAuh بـِتا َعـُه | bitaAtuh بـِتا َعتـُه | bitooAuh بـِتوعـُه |
| belonging to her | bitaAha بـِتا َعهاَ | bitaaAitha بـِتا َعـِتهاَ | bitooAha بـِتوعهاَ |
| belonging to them | bitaAhum بـِتا َعهـُم | bitaaAithum بـِتا َعـِتهـُم | bitooAhum بـِتوعهـُم |
Ownership - Aand عـَند
Aand عـَند means that you own something but don't necessarily have with you. It can also be used about members of your family. An object pronoun can be added to indicate who owns something. Here are some examples:
| English | Egyptian |
| I have a car | Aandi Aarabiya عـَندي عـَر َبـِيـَة |
| he has two children | Aanduh waladeen عـَند ُه و َلـَدين |
| do you have any books? | Aandak kutub? عـَند َك كـُتـُب؟ |
Here are all of the possible forms.
| English | Arabic |
| I have | Aandi عـَندي |
| we have | Aandina عـَند ِناَ |
| you(m) have | Aandak عـَند َك |
| you(f) have | Aandik عـَند ِك |
| you(pl) have | Aandukum عـَند ُكـُم |
| he has | Aanduh عـَند ُه |
| she has | Aandaha عـَند َهاَ |
| they have | Aanduhum عـَند ُهـُم |
Having with you maAa مـَعَ
maAa مـَعَ means that you have something or somebody with you. It takes an object suffix to say who it is with.
| English | Egyptian |
| Do you have the keys? | maAak ilmafateeh? مـَعـَك ا ِلمـَفا َتيح؟ |
| I will go with you | 'ana harooh maAaak أنا َ ها َروح مـَعـَـَك |
| Do you have any change? | maAak fakka? مـَعـَك فـَكّـَة؟ |
Here are all of the possible forms:
| English | Egyptian |
| I have | maAaaya مـَعا َياَ |
| we have | maAaana مـَعا َناَ |
| you(m) have | maAaak مـَعا َك |
| you(f) have | maAaaki مـَعا َكي |
| you(pl) have | maAaakum مـَعا َكـُم |
| he has | maAaah مـَعا َه |
| she has | maAaaha مـَعا َهاَ |
| they have | maAaahum مـَعا َهـُم |
intended for - ly- ليـ
li لي can be used for parts of the body, members of your family, for something that is attached, and for something that is intended for somebody or something. It is also used when an inanimate object has something. Here are some examples:
| English | Egyptian |
| he has only one leg | leeh rigl wahda bas ليه ر ِجل وا َحد َة بـَس |
| she has two children | leeha waladeen ليها َ و َلـَدين |
| there is mail for you (f) | fi boosTa leeki في بوسطـَة ليكي |
| I owe you five pounds Lit: I have five founds for you(m) | Aandi Kamsa gineet leek عـَندي خـَمسـَة جـِنية ليك |
| this present is for (all of) you(pl) | ilhidaya di leekum ا ِلهـِد َيـَة دي ليكـُم |
| I want a garden seat A seat intended for the garden | Aaayiz kursi lilginiyna عا َيـِز كـُرسي لـِلجـِنـِينـَة |
| the flat has a garage | ilsha''a leeha garaaj ا ِلشـَقّـَة ليها َ جـَرا َچ |
| the flat has two bedrooms use fi في because rooms are inside | ilsha''a feeha'uooDteen ا ِلشـَقّـَة فيها َأ ُوضتين |
Here are all of the possible forms:
| English | m |
| I have | liya لـِيَ |
| we have | leena ليناَ |
| you(m) have | leek ليك |
| you(f) have | leeki ليكي |
| you(pl) have | leekum ليكـُم |
| he has | leeh ليه |
| she has | leeha ليهاَ |
| they have | leehum ليهـُم |
Possession property milk مـِلك
Ownership of real estate - houses, land etc, can be expressed with milk- مـِلكـ plus a suffix.
| English | Egyptian |
| He has his own house | Aanduh biyt milkuh عـَند ُه بـِيت مـِلكـُه |
| I own land in Hurghada | Aandi 'arD milk fi ilGarda'a عـَندي أرض مـِلك في ا ِلغـَرد َقـَة |