Prepositions
Prepositions define a relationship (in time, space,etc) between a noun and something else. In both English and Egyptian, the preposition goes before the noun that it defines the relationship to. Here are some examples:
Domain | English | Egyptian | Example | |
time | after | baAd | بـَعد | she came after dinner hiya gaat baAd ilAasha' هـِي َ جا َت بـَعد ا ِلعـَشا َء |
space | behind | wara | و َراَ | the garden is behind the house ilgineena wara ilbiyt ا ِلجـِنينـَة و َرا َ ا ِلبـِيت |
quality | like | zayi | ز َيي | I need another pen like this mihtaag 'alam thaani zayi dah مـِحتا َج قـَلـَم ثا َني ز َيي د َه |
reference | according to | hasab | حـَسـَب | according to the police, the riot started at 2am hasab kalaam ilboolees, ilshaGab 'ibtada ilsaaAa ithneen حـَسـَب كـَلا َم ا ِلبوليس، ا ِلشـَغـَب إبتـَدى ا ِلسا َعـَة ا ِثنين |
ownership | have | Aand | عـَند | I have a house in Cairo Aandi biyt fi il'ahra عـَندي بـِيت في ا ِلقا َهـِر َة |
The noun can be one of the following:
Element | Example | Sentence |
proper noun | Ahmed | she is with Ahmed hiya maAa 'ahmad هـِي َ مـَع َ أحمـَد |
simple noun | the house | the cat is inside the house il'uTTa guwwa ilbiyt ا ِلقـُطّـَة جـُوّا َ ا ِلبـِيت |
compound noun | a plastic bag | I don't want a plastic bag aana mish Aaayiz kees blastik ا َنا َ مـِش عا َيـِز كيس بلـَستـِك |
noun phrase | the man who... | I arrived after the man who delivered the carpet waSalt baAd ilraagil illi waSal ilsigaada و َصـَلت بـَعد ا ِلرا َجـِل ا ِلّي و َصـَل ا ِلسـِجا َد َة |
object pronoun | her | I arrived after her waSalt baAdaha و َصـَلت بـَعد َهـَ |
demonstrative pronoun | this | I need another pen like this mihtaag 'alam thaani zayi dah مـِحتا َج قـَلـَم ثا َني ز َيي د َه |
Be careful! If it's not a noun, but a complete clause (ie it has a verb), you have to use a conjunction. In English, it's confusing because the preposition and conjunction are often the same word: in Egyptian it is necessary to insert the word ma ماَ to convert a preposition ot a conjunction. See more about this below.
Prepositions of time
English | Egyptian | Example | |
after | baAd | بـَعد | we will start after the feast hanibtidi baAd ilAiyd هـَنـِبتـِدي بـَعد ا ِلعـِيد |
before | 'abl | قـَبل | I must paint the house before summer laazim 'adhin ilbiyt 'abl ilSeef لا َز ِم أدهـِن ا ِلبـِيت قـَبل ا ِلصيف |
during | athna' | ا َثنا َء | smoking is forbidden during dinner iltadKeen mamnooA 'athna' ilAasha' ا ِلتـَدخين مـَمنوع أثنا َء ا ِلعـَشا َء |
till | lihadd | لـِحـَدّ | I will be here till dinner 'ana mawgood lihadd ilAasha' أنا َ مـَوجود لـِحـَدّ ا ِلعـَشا َء |
till | liGaayit | لـِغا َيـِة | they are busy until 8pm humma mawgoodeen liGaayit saaAa tamanya هـُمّ َ مـَوجودين لـِغا َيـِة سا َعـَة تـَما َنيـَة |
Prepositions of space
English | Egyptian | Example | |
from | min | مـِن | he is from Cairo huwwa min ilQahra هـُوّ َ مـِن ا ِلقا َهـِر َة |
away from | Aan | عـَن | the dog ran away from me ilkalb garri minni ا ِلكـَلب جـَرّي مـِنني |
at/toward | Aala | عـَلى | that man is looking at us ilraagil dah baSS Aaleena ا ِلرا َجـِل د َه بـَصّ عـَليناَ |
at | fi | في | my husband is at home goozi fi ilbiyt جوزي في ا ِلبـِيت |
above | foo' | فوق | my apartment is above the laundry sha''ati foo' ilmaGsala شـَقّـَتي فوق ا ِلمـَغسـَلـَة |
below | taht | تـَحت | there are many many fish under the water fi samak kiteer taht ilmayaah في سـَمـَك كـِتير تـَحت ا ِلمـَيا َه |
opposite | 'uSaad | قـُصا َد | the restaurant is opposite the railway station ilmaTaAm 'uSaad mahaTTit il'aTaar ا ِلمـَطـَعم قـُصا َد مـَحـَطّـِة ا ِلقـَطا َر |
opposite | 'ubaal | قـُبا َل | |
facing | fi wishsh | في و ِشّ | the house is facing the desert ilbiyt fi wishsh ilSahara' ا ِلبـِيت في و ِشّ ا ِلصـَحـَرا َء |
at | Aand | عـَند | the customs office is at the airport maktab ilgamaarik Aand ilmaTaar مـَكتـَب ا ِلجـَما َر ِك عـَند ا ِلمـَطا َر |
at | Aand | عـَند | turn right at the pharmacy Kushsh yimeen Aand ilSayidaliya خـُشّ يـِمين عـَند ا ِلصـَيـِد َلـِيـَة |
behind | wara | و َراَ | the cat is behind you (f) il'uTTa waraaki ا ِلقـُطّـَة و َرا َكي |
beside | gamb | جـَمب | there was an accident beside the mosque kaan fi hadtha ganb ilgamAa كا َن في حا َدثـَة جـَنب ا ِلجا َمعَ |
in | fi | في | the dog is in the garden ilkalb fi ilgineena ا ِلكـَلب في ا ِلجـِنينـَة |
inside | guwa | جـُواَ | we must stay inside the house laazim ni'Aud guwa ilbiyt لا َز ِم نـِقعـُد جـُوا َ ا ِلبـِيت |
outside | bara | بـَراَ | do you want anything from outside? Aaayiz haga min baraa? عا َيـِز حـَجـَة مـِن بـَرا َ؟ |
on | Aala | عـَلى | the bread is on the table ilAeesh Aala iltarabeeza ا ِلعيش عـَلى ا ِلتـَر َبيز َة |
between | been | بين | Hurghada is between the desert and the sea ilGarda'a been ilSahara' wa ilbahr ا ِلغـَرد َقـَة بين ا ِلصـَحـَرا َء و َ ا ِلبـَحر |
along | biilTool | بـِا ِلطول | there are lamp posts all along the street fi Aawameed noor biilTool ilshaariA في عـَوا َميد نور بـِا ِلطول ا ِلشا َر ِع |
surrounding | hawaleen | حـَو َلين | The view surrounding the house is very beautiful ilmanZar hawaleen ilbiyt gameel 'awi ا ِلمـَنظـَر حـَو َلين ا ِلبـِيت جـَميل قـَوي |
Note that you don't need a prepositional to after words like raah را َح - go.
Miscellaneous Prepositions
English | Egyptian | Example | |
concerning | 'amaa... fa... | أما َ٫٫٫ فـَ٫٫٫ | |
like | zayi | ز َيي | do you have something like this? Aandak haaga zayi dih? عـَند َك حا َجـَة ز َيي د ِه؟ |
there is | fi | في | there is a stain on this shirt fi bu'Aa Aala il'ameeS dih في بـُقعـَة عـَلى ا ِلقـَميص د ِه |
about | Aan | عـَن | I am reading a book about the revolution ba'ra kitaab Aan ilthoora بـَقرا َ كـِتا َب عـَن ا ِلثور َة |
according to | hasab | حـَسـَب | according to Ahmed, it will be windy tomorrow hasab kalaam 'ahmad, haykoon fi hawa' kiteer bukrah حـَسـَب كـَلا َم أحمـَد، حـَيكون في هـَوا َء كـِتير بـُكر َه |
contrary | Aaks | عـَكس | my opinion is contrary to yours r'ayi Aaks r'ayak رأيي عـَكس رأيـَك |
except | 'ila | إلاَ | there is no food except this bread mafish akl 'ila ilAayshsh dah مـَفـِش ا َكل إلا َ ا ِلعـَيشّ د َه |
except | maAada | مـَعـَداَ | |
instead of | baddal | بـَدّ َل | give us chicken instead of beef 'ideena firaaK baddal illahma إدينا َ فـِرا َخ بـَدّ َل ا ِلّـَحمـَة |
despite | biilraGm min | بـِا ِلر َغم مـِن | he succeeded despite his injuries nigih biilraGm min ziraaAuh ilmaksoor نـِجـِح بـِا ِلر َغم مـِن ذ ِرا َعـُه ا ِلمـَكسور |
plus | zaa'id | زا َئـِد | there are ten guests plus two staff fi Aashara Duyoof zaa'id 'ithneen muwaZafeen في عـَشـَر َة ضـُيوف زا َئـِد إثنين مـُو َظـَفين |
Prepositions of ownership
This important group is discussed in more detail in the section on ownership.
English | Egyptian | Example | |
own | Aand | عـَند | I own a car Aandi Aarabiya عـَندي عـَر َبـِيـَة |
have with you | maAa | مـَعَ | I have a cigarette lighter maAayah walaaAa مـَعـَيـَه و َلا َعـَة |
have got | li | لي | I have two legs li rigleen لي ر ِجلين |
for | Aalashaen | عـَلـَشا َن | there was a phone call for you kaan fi mukalma Aalashaenak كا َن في مـُكـَلمـَة عـَلـَشا َن َك |
Subordinate clauses: maa
A preposition connects a noun to a sentence. If you want to connect a clause (something with a verb) to a sentence, you need to use a conjunction.
In English, many conjunctions are the same as prepositions: In Egyptian, some prepositions can be converted to a conjunction by adding the word ma ماَ. Here are some examples:
Preposition | Conjunction |
wash your hands before dinner 'iGsil ieedeek 'abl ilAasha' إغسـِل ا ِيديك قـَبل ا ِلعـَشا َء |
wash your hands before you eat 'iGsil ieedeek 'abl ma taakul إغسـِل ا ِيديك قـَبل ما َ تا َكـُل |
she arrived after the bus hiya waSalit baAd ilmasarahiya هـِي َ و َصـَلـِت بـَعد ا ِلمـَسـَر َحـِيـَة |
she arrived after the bus had gone hiya waSalit baAd ma ilmasrahiya 'ibtadit هـِي َ و َصـَلـِت بـَعد ما َ ا ِلمـَسر َحـِيـَة إبتـَد ِت |
he acts like the owner biyitSarraf zayi ilmaalik بـِيـِتصـَرّ َف ز َيي ا ِلما َلـِك |
he acts as if he owns the place biyitSarraf zayi ma yikoon ilmakaan bitaaAuh بـِيـِتصـَرّ َف ز َيي ما َ يـِكون ا ِلمـَكا َن بـِتا َعـُه |
yikoon يـِكون is added in the last example because it is something that is unlikely to happen. See kaan for more details.