Egyptian Arabic

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Egyptian Arabic Phrases With Easy Pronunciation Guide

Here are some commonly used English phrases and their Egyptian Arabic equivalents. The pronunciation of the words is intended to be as easy as possible for English speakers. If you are going to visit Egypt make sure to study this page well. I hope you will find this helpful.

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EGYPTIAN ARABIC – USEFUL BLOG POSTS:

Egyptian Arabic – A Quick Introduction

Egyptian Arabic Quick Introduction Part 2: common phrases and words

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You will always need to use phrases like

  • How much is this ?

  • Thank you.

Now go on and teach yourself Egyptian Arabic. Note that this glossary is arranged thematically according to subject matter and not alphabetically.

English phrase (sentence or question) Arabic equivalent phrase description or comment

Numbers

one 1 waahid
two 2 it-nain Try to say it as one word. The first part (it) is pronounced just like the word “it” in Egnlish. The second part (nain) is said in the same way you say the word “nail” in english (of course, replacing the “l” with an “n”).
three 3 ta-laa-ta The “ta” is said as if you were saying “tab” or saying “taxi” and the “laa” part is said as if you were saying the word “lamb”.
four 4 are-ba-ah For the “ah” you need to squeeze your throat and make it sound more high-pitched than the normal “a” sound.
five 5 kham-sa The “kham” element is pronounced like the English “ham”, but with the “h” with much more “friction” from the back of the throat. Same sound as in the German word “Sprache” or at the start of the Spanish word “jamón”.

Buying

money full-loose
this da or dee The Egyptian word “da” is used in conjunction with masculine words and “dee” is used with female words.
how much is this ? bee cam dee orbee cam da the “cam” part is said as if you are saying camera. while you are asking this question, you should always point to the thing that you are asking about its price.
pound gan-neigh As if you are saying “gain” and “neigh” as in “neighbour”
one pound gainayih waahid
two pounds it-nain gainayih
three pounds ta-laa-ta gainayh
four pounds are-ba-ah gainayh
half (1/2) noss
half of a pound noss gainayh

Transportation

taxi taxi
bus auto-bees
train atr as if you are saying to “utter
micro bus micro bus sometimes it is said as “macro bus” but it means “micro bus”
underground metro metro
by taxi bill taxi
by train bill atr
by car bill are-a-bee-ya

Food

food akl as if you are saying “tackle”
water ma-ya the “ma” part is said as if you are saying “mark”
juice ah-seer
fruits fak-ha the “fak” part is said as if you are saying “fact” and the “ha” part is said like in “hand”
cup fin gaan
big cup kob baya
mug mug
big mug kooz
dish ta-bak
bowel sol-ta-nay-a
cake ca-ak
soup shorba
salad sa-la-ta
bean fool
potato ba-taa-tis
tomato ta-maa-tim
chocolate shoko-laa-ta sometimes said “shoka-la-ta”

Miscellaneous

big ke-beer
very ah-wee
very big ke-beer ah-wee
tall tow-wheel
short ou-sayar
may be yem-kin
yes ah
yes ay-wa
no la-ah
thank you shook-ran As in “he SHOOK and RAN”

Housing

room ouda
bed saw-rear
chair kor-see
table ta-raw-bee-za
key mof-tah
button zoo-raar
telephone telephoon
radio rad-you
book kee-taab
pin a-la-m
picture sew-ra
window shoe-baak people living in upper Egypt say “shobbaak” while other people also say “shibbaak”

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