Egyptian Arabic Grammar

Nouns

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

TypeEnglishArabic
personAhmed'ahmadaacHmad
أحمـَد
personmanraagilraagil
را َجـِل
personplayerlaaAiblaaAib
لا َعـِب
thingleathergildgild
جـِلد
conceptwisdomhikmaHikmao
حـِكمـَة
conceptappointmentmeeAaadmyAaad
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_ao ــَة are feminine. Egyptian spelling is somewhat whimsical: some people use -ah_ah ــَه at the end of feminine words.

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

Feminine nouns
EnglishArabic
ideafikrafikrao
فـِكر َة
womansittsitt
سـِتّ
daughterbintbint
بـِنت
firenaarnaar
نا َر
headraasraas
را َس
legriglrigl
ر ِجل
earwidnwidn
و ِدن
France
and all other countries
faransafaransaa
فـَر َنساَ
Tunis
and some other cities
ToonisTwnis
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_yn
ـين muhaasibmuHaasib
مـُحا َسـِب muhasbeenmuHaasib-yn
مـُحا َسـِبين
feminine -aat_aat
ـا َت muhasbamuHaasb-ao
مـُحا َسب َة muhasbaatmuHaasib-aat
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
manraagilraagil
را َجـِل rigaelarigaelaa
ر ِجا َلاَ
dogkalbkalb
كـَلب kilaebkilaeb
كـِلا َب
fingernailDufrDufr
ضـُفر DawaefirDawaefir
ضـَوا َفـِر
bookkitaebkitaeb
كـِتا َب kutubkutub
كـُتـُب
storyQiSSaQiSSao
قـِصّـَة QiSaSQiSaS
قـِصـَص
kingmalikmalik
مـَلـِك mulookmulwk
مـُلوك
typeSanfSanf
صـَنف 'aSnaafaacSnaaf
أصنا َف
brokersimsaarsimsaar
سـِمسا َر samasrasamasrao
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
dayyoomywm
يوم tiyaemtiyaem
تـِيا َم
monthshahrshahr
شـَهر tushhoortushhwr
تـُشهور
personnafarnafar
نـَفـَر tinfaartinfaar
تـِنفا َر
plateTaba'Tabaq
طـَبـَق tiTbaa'tiTbaaq
تـِطبا َق
thousand'alfaaclf
ألف talaaftalaaf
تـَلا َف

Occupations

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

English Singular Plural
carpenter naggaarnaggaar
نـَجّا َر naggareennaggaar-yn
نـَجّا َرين
greengrocer KuDariKuDary
خـُضـَري KuDariyyaKuDariy-yao
خـُضـَر ِييـَة
male teacher mudarrismudarris
مـُد َرّ ِس mudarriseenmudarris-yn
مـُد َرّ ِسين
female teacher mudarrisamudarris-ao
مـُد َرّ ِس َة mudarrisaatmudarris-aat
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_ao ــَة ending:


Englishcollectiveone
eggsbiyDbiyD
بـِيضbiyDa biyDao
بـِيض َة
fishsamaksamak
سـَمـَكsamaka samakao
سـَمـَك َة
fliesdibbaandibbaan
د ِبّا َنdibbaana dibbaanao
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_ao ــَة ending, for example flour is diQeeQdiQyQ د ِقيق and a grain of flour is diQeeQadiQyQao 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_ao ــَة to give the meaning a piece of...


Englishcollectivea piece
woodKashabKashab
خـَشـَبKashabaKashabao
خـَشـَب َة
soapSaboonSaabwn
صا َبونSaboonaSaabwnao
صا َبون َة

Pairs

The Egyptian word for shoes (gazmagazmao جـَزمـَة) relates to a pair. For a single shoe, it is necessary to say fardit gazmafardio gazmao 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
shoesgazmagazmao
جـَزمـَة
sockssharaabsharaab
شـَرا َب
glovesguwantiguwaanty
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_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_y ـي. Here are some examples:

EnglishEgyptianSuffixEnglishEgyptian
book (m)kitaabkitaab
كـِتا َب-yn_yn
ـينtwo bookskitabeenkitaabyn
كـِتا َبين
chair
(ends with y)
kursikursy
كـُرسي-iyyin_iyyin
ــِييـِنtwo chairskursiyyinkursiyyin
كـُرسـِييـِن
minute (f) di'ee'adiqyqao
د ِقيقـَة-teen_tyn
ـتينa couple of minutes di'i'teendiqiqtyn
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_ao ــَة, the ending changes to -it_io ــِة which is written the same but the t-marbuta at the end is pronounced as a t.

EnglishEgyptian
Ahmed's bookkitaab 'ahmadkitaab aacHmad
كـِتا َب أحمـَد
the book's coverGulaef ilkitaebGulaef iil-kitaeb
غـُلا َف ا ِلكـِتا َب
Sarah's toyliAbit saraliAbio sarao
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 mayyahiiczzazio mayyah
إزّ َز ِة مـَييـَه
a kilo of potatoeskeelw baTaaTiSkylw baTaaTiS
كيلو بـَطا َطـِص
a pack of cigarettesbakw seegaayarbaekw sygaayar
با َكو سيجا َيـَر
a box of matchesAilbit kabreetAilbio kabryt
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_ao ــَة is converted to a -it-_it_ ــِتـ, both in writing and speech. Here are some examples:

Englishon its ownwith pronoun
his bookkitaabkitaab
كـِتا َبkitaabuhkitaab-uh
كـِتا َب ُه
my wifedoes not exist on its ownmiraatimiraat-y
مـِرا َتي
your(m) ideafikrafikrao
فـِكر َةfikritakfikrit-ak
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-iil_ ا ِلـ the qualifying noun is also preceded by il-iil_ ا ِلـ. Note that adding il-iil_ ا ِلـ to a word affects the pronunciation if it begins with a sun letter.

EnglishArabic
a plastic bagkees blastikkys blaastik
كيس بلا َستـِك
the plastic bagilkees ilblastikiil-kys iil-blaastik
ا ِلكيس ا ِلبلا َستـِك
plastic bags'akyaas blastikaackyaas blaastik
أكيا َس بلا َستـِك
the plastic bagsil'akyaas ilblastikiil-aackyaas iil-blaastik
ا ِلأكيا َس ا ِلبلا َستـِك


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