Questions
There are four main groups of questions.
- Direct- what, when, why
- Indirect- courteous question, whether
- Confirmation - isn't it so?
- Suggestions - Why don't you...?
- Rhetorical- you are making a point and don't expect an answer
English quirks
In English, it is possible to ask a question in many different ways. some of these translate easily into Egyptian: others require a little thought. The ones you need to watch out for are:
- sentences with 'do' where you are not doing anything
- sentences with 'got' where you are not getting anything
- sentences with how followed by an adverb or adjective (see adverbal question)
For all English verbs except is and have, you can turn a statement into a question by putting do in front of it.
In Egyptian, you can either add huwwa هـُوَّ at the start of the sentence or use inflection you know john?
The word have is somewhat overused in English, and British English speakers often reduce the risk of confusion by saying have you got rather than the older form, still used by many Americans, do you have...?. There is no equivalent in Egyptian, so inflection is used.
Direct questions
It is possible to frame a direct question in several ways:
- using a query word at the end of the sentence
- preceding a sentence with huwwa هـُوَّ
- by inflection
Query words
In English, a query word normally start the sentence: in Egyptian it is normally at the end of the sentence. For example
The following query words can be used:
| English | Egyptian | |
| what |  'ieeh | إيه |
| when | 'imta | إمتى |
| where | feen | فين |
| where from | mineen | مـِنين |
| how | 'izzai | إزّ َي |
| which | 'anhw | أنهو |
| how many | kaam | كا َم followed by singular noun |
| what (number) | kaam | كا َم |
| how much (of something) | 'add ieeh | قـَدّ ا ِيه |
| how much (money) | bikaam | بـِكا َم |
| why | leeh | ليه |
The simple imperfect ('aAamil, tiAooz, yirooh أعـَمـِل، تـِعوز، يـِروه) is often used in questions. Here are some examples:
| English | Egyptian |
| how are you? | 'izzayak? إزّ َي َك؟ |
| how are you? lit. what are you doing? | 'aAamil 'ieeh? أعـَمـِل إيه؟ |
| what are you doing? | bitaAamil 'ieeh? بـِتـَعـَمـِل إيه؟ |
| when will I see you? | 'ashoofak 'imta? أشوفـَك إمتى؟ |
| where is the station? | ilmahaTTa feen? ا ِلمـَحـَطّـَة فين؟ |
| where can I buy flowers from? | mumkin 'ashtiri ward min feen? مـُمكـِن أشتـِري و َرد مـِن فين؟ |
| where can I buy flowers from? | mineen mumkin 'ashtiri ward? مـِنين مـُمكـِن أشتـِري و َرد؟ |
| where are you from? | 'inta mineen? إنت َ مـِنين؟ |
| how do I charge this phone? | 'ashhan iltileefoon dah 'izzay? أشحـَن ا ِلتـِليفون د َه إزّ َي؟ |
| which book (m) do you(m) want? | Aaawiz ilkitaab 'anhw? عا َو ِز ا ِلكـِتا َب أنهو؟ |
| which glass (f) is yours(m)? | 'anhw ilkubaaya bitaAitak? أنهو ا ِلكـُبا َيـَة بـِتـَعـِتـَك؟ |
| how much milk would you like? | Aaawiz laban 'add ieeh? عا َو ِز لـَبـَن قـَدّ ا ِيه؟ |
| how much is this bag? | ilshanTa di bikaam? ا ِلشـَنطـَة دي بـِكا َم؟ |
| why is he going? | huwwa raayih leeh? هـُوّ َ را َيـِح ليه؟ |
Here are some common answers to questions
| English | Egyptian |
| How much? This much | 'add ieeh? 'add kidah قـَدّ ا ِيه؟ قـَدّ كـِد َه |
| Why? Because. | leeh? Aalashaan ليه؟ عـَلـَشا َن |
| Why? It's like that | leeh? kidah ليه؟ كـِد َه |
| Why? Better like this | leeh? 'ahsan kidah ليه؟ أحسـَن كـِد َه |
| Why? Why not? | leeh? leeh laa'? ليه؟ ليه لا َء؟ |
To ask how many people or things, you should use kaam كا َم before the noun. To ask for a sequence or reference number (what or which, you put the kaam كا َم after the noun. In all of these cases, the noun is singular.
| English | Egyptian |
| How many children do you have? | Aandak kaam walad? عـَند َك كا َم و َلـَد؟ |
| How many days will you stay? | hatinizil kaam yoom? هـَتـِنـِز ِل كا َم يوم؟ |
| How many guests tomorrow? | kaam ziboon bukrah? كا َم ز ِبون بـُكر َه؟ |
| What is your telephone number? | nimritak kaam? نـِمر ِتـَك كا َم؟ |
| What time is it? | ilsaaAa kaam? ا ِلسا َعـَة كا َم؟ |
| What time is the meeting? | il'igtimaaA ilsaaAa kaam? ا ِلإجتـِما َع ا ِلسا َعـَة كا َم؟ |
| What is your apartment number? | sha''itak ra'am kaam? شـَقّـِتـَك ر َقـَم كا َم؟ |
| Which is your apartment? | sha''itak 'anhw? شـَقّـِتـَك أنهو؟ |
| Which floor do you want? | Aaayiz door kaam? عا َيـِز دور كا َم؟ |
Pronoun questions
In English, it is possible to make a question by swapping the subject and verb. For example,
The equivalent in Egyptian arabic is to put the query pronoun huwwa هـُوَّ or, less frequently, hall هـَلّ at the start of the sentence. You should think of this as "Is it so that..."
huwwa 'inta gaai maAanaa?hall 'inta raaDi Aan 'afaAelak?Inflection
In English, you can make a statement by saying she is coming. or turn it into a question, she is coming? just by the tone of your voice: the pitch rises a little at the end of the sentence to indicate a question. You can do exactly the same thing in Arabic. hiya gayya هـِي َ جـَييـَة is a statement and hiya gayya? هـِي َ جـَييـَة؟, with a rising pitch on the last syllable, is a question.
Indirect questions (whether)
An indirect question is made up of two clauses: the first clause is often a courtesy clause "Could you possibly..." and the second clause is the real question. Here are some examples of direct and indirect questions.
| Direct | Indirect |
| where is the station? | Can you tell me where the station is? |
| what is the time? | Do you know what the time is? |
| is he coming? | Do you know whether he is coming? |
| English | Egyptian |
| Could I have a lemon juice? | mumkin Aaseer laymoon? مـُمكـِن عـَسير لـَيمون؟ |
| Can you tell me where the station is? | mumkin ti'uli feen ilmahaTTa? مـُمكـِن تـِقـُلي فين ا ِلمـَحـَطّـَة؟ |
| Do you know what the time is? | 'inta Aaarif ilsaaAa kaam? إنت َ عا َر ِف ا ِلسا َعـَة كا َم؟ |
| Do you know whether he is coming? | 'inta Aaarif 'iza huwwa gayy? إنت َ عا َر ِف إذا َ هـُوّ َ جـَيي؟ |
Confirmation questions
If you are pretty sure about something but want to check, you can use one of the following methods:
| English | Arabic |
| he's coming, isn't he? | huwwa mish gaay? هـُوّ َ مـِش جا َي؟ |
| he's coming, isn't that so? | huwwa gaay, mish kidah? هـُوّ َ جا َي، مـِش كـِد َه؟ |
| he's coming, right? | huwwa gaay, Sahh? هـُوّ َ جا َي، صـَحّ؟ |
Suggestions
In English, you can suggest something by saying "Why don't you..." in Egyptian, you can get the same effect by putting mi- مـِ on the front of a verb. For example:
Rhetorical questions
A rhetorical question is used to make a point: you don't expect an answer. Any of the above methods can be used to ask rhetorical questions.
| English | Arabic |
| wouldn't it be better if you(m) shut up? | mish tiskut 'ahsan? مـِش تـِسكـُت أحسـَن؟ |
| you(m) must be kidding! | bithazzar, mish kidah? بـِتهـَزّ َر، مـِش كـِد َه؟ |
| you(m) are an idiot, right? | 'inta 'ahbal, Sahh? إنت َ أهبـَل، صـَحّ؟ |
Adverbal and adjectival questions
In English, it is possible to ask a question using how followed by an adjective or adverb. There is no similar construction in Egyptian, so it is necessary to re-phrase the question, usually so that you are asking for a number. Here are some examples:
| English | re-phrased | Egyptian |
| How fast were you driving? | how many kilometers an hour.. | kaam keeloomitr fi ilsaaAa كا َم كيلومـِتر في ا ِلسا َعـَة |
| How often do you go to the gym? | how many times a week... | kaam marra fi il'usbwaA... كا َم مـَرّ َة في ا ِلأ ُسبو َع٫٫٫ |
| How hot is the oven? | what is the temperature? | ilharraara kaam ا ِلحـَرّا َر َة كا َم |
| How difficult was the exam? | was the exam difficult | huwwa il'imtihaan kaan SaAb? هـُوّ َ ا ِلإمتـِحا َن كا َن صـَعب؟ |