Exclamations

Let's talk about exclamations. There are a lot of them in Egyptian Arabic.
For example, when you receive bad news you say:

يا خبر اسود
Ya khabar eswed
 
Oh black news!

-Bukra mush agaza. (Tomorrow isn't a holiday)
-Ya khabar eswed!

When you receive good news you say:

يا نهار أبيض
Ya nhar abyad!

Oh white day!

-Elmurattab nizil  ennaharda (the salary is today)
-Ya nhar abyad!

You can hear people say "ya nhar eswed (black) or sometimes even azra2 (2=ء) (blue) when they receive bad or good news.

يا راجل
Ya ragel! (if you are talking to a man)

Oh man
 
And

يا شيخة
Ya sheikha! (a woman)

Oh old woman! 
 
Are both exclamations of amazement and sometimes disbelief. Something like "really???"

- El-2ahwa bi 30 gineh. (the coffee is 30 pounds) -Ya ragel! -Ana mush geya bukra (I'm not coming tomorrow) - Ya sheikha!

When we are happy to see someone or something we say:

ايه الحلاوة دي
Eih el-7alawa di (7 stands for ح) or
ايه الجمال ده
Eih el-gamaal da
 
What is this beauty! How beautiful! 
 
You see someone you haven't seen for a long time.  Eih  el-7alawa di. -Ibni nigi7 (my son passed the exams) -eih el-gamal da!

الله الله
ايه الجمال ده
الحياة احلوت من امتى
Allah Allah
Eih el-gamaal da
El-7aya e7lowet min emta
God god
How wonderful!
Since when my life is so good?

At the supermarket

What if you want to buy something from a 

كشك
Koshk 
 
a kiosk. 

You will say:

أنا عايز/أنا عاوز
Ana 3ayez or Ana 3awez (3=ع)
(if you are a 👨 ) 

أنا عايزة/أنا عاوزة
Ana 3ayza or Ana 3awza
 
If you are a 👩
Which means "I want" and you will add 

لو سمحت
Low sama7t (7=ح) 

If you are addressing a man or

Low sama7ti 
 
If your are addressing a woman
Which means "please".

You will hear:

اتفضل
Itfaddal (👨 )
Or itfaddali (👩) 

"Here you are".

You will ask:

كم؟
Kam? 
 
How much? 
 
Don't be surprised when you hear the answer :

خلي
Khalli 
 
Which means "Keep it" (your money) 

Don't think that you can really walk away without paying. They don't actually mean it. Say:

شكرا
Shukran
 
Thank you
And you will be told how much you need to pay. Don't forget to take your 

باقي
Ba2i (2=٢)

Or 

فكة
Fakka 
 
Change

What's your job?

Here is what you need to say if you want to know what someone's job is. You can say either:

وظيفتك ايه؟
Waziftak eih?  (if you are addressing a man)
Waziftek eih? (a woman).

Or

بتشتغل ايه؟
بتشتغلي ايه؟
Beteshtaghal eih? 👨
Beteshtaghali eih? 👩 

 You can answer:

بشتغل
Bashtaghal 
 
I work as a... 
 
Or just 

 أنا
Ana
 
I am... 
 
Here are some professions. Hopefully you can find yours among them. (If not and you don't know what it is in Arabic feel free to ask)
(Note that if you are a lady you need to add "a"  ة  at the end. I'll just write the masculine form)

Mudarris or mu3allim - teacher
Doktour or tabib - doctor
Muhandis - engineer
Murshid siya7i - tourist guide (7=ح)
Beytari - vet
Muzikar - musician
Kateb - writer
Mekaniki - mechanic
Kahraba2i - electrician (2=ء)
Sabbak - plumber
Mugawharati - jeweller

Question words

Here are some question words and some examples of how to use them.  Question words can stand in the beginning or in the end of a sentence. Let's start with

ايه
Eih
 
That means "what"
We say for example: "Eih akhbarak?" or "Akhbarak eih? " both sentences mean "What's new?"
Eih da? - What is this?
Eih ra2yak? (2 stands for ء) - What's your opinion?
Shakluh eih? - What does it look like?

ليه
Leh

 Means "Why"
Ta2akhart leh? - Why did you come late?
Leh keda? - Why so?
Za3lan keda leh? - Why are you so upset?

فين
Fein
 
That means "Where"
Fein El ma7atta ? (7 stands for ح) - Where is the station?
Hua ra7 fein? - Where did he go?

مين
Min
 
Meaning "Who"
Enta min? - Who are you?
Min 3amal da? - Who did it?
Mumkin as2as min? - Whom can I ask?

منين
Mnein
 
Meaning "Where from"
Enti mnein? - Where are you from?
Enta gibt El kitab da mnein? - Where did you get this book from?

Eih elli  bya7sal da?
Eih elli  ana shayfuh da? (What is happening? What do I see?)

How to introduce yourself

Do you know how to introduce yourself in Arabic when you meet someone for the first time?
When someone asks you

اسمك يه؟
Ismak(for a man) ismek (for a woman) eih, which means "What's your name?" you answer:

اسمي... 
Ismi...  
My name is... +your name

Sometimes after hearing your name people say a strange phrase

عاشت الأسامي
3ashat el-asami
(3 stands for ع)  Which literally means "Names live", and not literally "Long live the name", "Let your name be remembered after you die" or just to make it simple let's say it means "Nice name".

So now you want to say "nice to meet you" so you say :

فرصة سعيدة
Fursa sa3eeda

And the answer will be:

أنا أسعد
Ana as3ad
 

5 words you simply can't survive without in Egypt

5 words you simply can't survive without in Egypt:

1. يلا
Yalla
Which means "Let's go". Or just "Let's".
You can for example say "Yalla nitfarrag 3ala El film da". (Let's watch this film). Or "Yalla nakul" (let's eat). When you want to start moving or start doing something you say "yalla bina" (let's go, let's start). So yalla bina let's talk about the next word.
2. Which is 

معلهش
Also spelled
 معلش 

Or other ways.. There are no standards...
And pronounced ma3alesh (3 stands for ع).
You will definitely hear this word every now and then. This word means "don't worry ", "there, there".
For example:
- Ana makuntsh 3aref a3mel da (I couldn't do it).
- Ma3alesh, 7awel tani. (It's OK, try again).
We also use it in a sympathetic way:
- Ana ta3ban awi (I am very tired).
- Ma3lesh (there, there)
Ma3alesh can also be used as "excuse me".
- ma3lesh, mumkin a3addi (excuse me,  can I pass).
Or "sorry"
You stepped on someone's foot. Say "ma3alesh". 

3. الحمد لله
Al7amdulillah (7 stands for ح)

Mentioned in the previous post, means "Thank God". Egyptians thank God a lot! Both for good and bad things that happen. Don't be confused if you hear a person saying : "Kalbi mat. Alhamdulillah" (My dog died. Thank God). It doesn't mean he or she didn't love the dog. We should just be thankful to God no matter what happens. 

4. إن شاء الله
InshaAllah
 
Means "God willing". It's funny how often this expression is used. Here are just some examples: "Ashufak bukra inshaallah" (See you tomorrow God willing), "El-bas da raye7 Shubra inshaallah" (This bus is going to Shubra, God willing). "Heya geya inshaAllah" (She is coming, God willing). Just put Inshallah in any sentence in future tense.
 There isn't a single person who ever wrote about living in Egypt who wouldn't mention  "Bukra inshaAllah" (Tomorrow God willing) . I have to mention it too. That's the most common way to answer "When? " and it doesn't matter if tomorrow is actually tomorrow, after one month or never.
-When will we get paid?
-Bukra inshaAllah.
-When will my visa be ready?
-Bukra inshaallah.
Everyone who ever lived in Egypt knows what I am talking about... 😁 

5. حبيبي
7abibi (if you are addressing a man)
حبيبتي
7abibti (a woman) 

(However often in real life and almost always in songs we say 7abibi not 7abibti about a woman).
This word means "my dear", "my darling".Don't be surprised if you know a person for 1 second and you are already "7abibi" to him. Egyptians have big hearts.

It's very hard to find an Egyptian romantic song without word "7abibi" in it.  But this song by #amr_diab  breaks all the records. 

Good morning

Here are the ways you can wish somebody a good morning.
The most "traditional" way to do it is to say:

صباح الخير
Saba7 el-kheir
(7 stands for ح)

You can answer it by saying saba7 el-kheir too,  or by saying:

صباح النور
Saba7 en-nur
Which literally means morning of light.

However there are some much more "Egyptian" ways to say "good morning". You can say:

صباح الفل
Saba7 el-ful

Or morning of Arabian jasmine
(make sure that the u sound is short, otherwise "jasmine morning" will turn into "bean morning").
There is also

صباح الياسمين
Saba7 el-yasmin 

Morning of jasmine
Or:

صباح الورد
Saba7 el-ward

Morning of roses..
There are more flowery, fruity and sugary expressions like that. Egyptians sometimes just come up with new ways to say "Good morning" depending on their current mood.
Evening in Arabic is

 مساء
Masa2

Replace word saba7 with masa2 and you will know  how to say "good evening".

How are you?

Let's see how you can say "How are you?". There are several ways to do that. You can say:

ازيك؟
Ezzeyak (if you are talking to a man)  or ezzeyek (if you are talking to a woman).  

You can also ask:

عامل ايه؟
3amel eih?
(3 stands for ع)
If you are talking to a man or

عاملة ايه؟
3amla eih?
If you are talking to a woman. 

Another way is to say :

ايه الأخبار؟
Eih el-akhbar? 
 
That literally means "What's new?", but in fact means also "How are you? " so you just have to answer "Fine".

Now how do you say "fine"?
You can say 

تمام
Tamam
 
زي الفل
Zey el-ful
(the literal meaning is "like Arabian jasmine")

Or 

كويس
Kweyyis (if you are a man)
كويسة
Kweyyisa (if you are a woman). 

But no matter which answer you choose, to sound truly Egyptian you should add 

الحمد لله
Al7amdulillah
(7 stands for ح). 

Which means "Thank God" and which you simply can't survive without living in an Arab country.
Be prepared one question to ask how you and your family are is never enough for Egyptians even if the answer is always the same. They spend at least 2 minutes asking again and again: 3amel eih?  Ezzeyyak?  Eih el-akhbar? Tamam?  Kweyyis?  .....
Don't be confused, smile and answer al7amdulillah,  al7amdulillah,  tamam, al7amdulillah. W enta 3amel eih? Al7amdulillah.

 طب ازيك؟
Tab ezzeyyak?
So how are you?

As-salamu 3aleikum

Dear friends,
I have decided to start a new blog to share my sincere love to the Egyptian dialect of Arabic language. Those who are interested in learning it will hopefully find my posts useful.
So...  Let's start by saying hello. The most common expression we use to greet someone is 

السلام عليكم.

As-salamu 3aleikum

(3 stands for ع)
Which literally means "peace be upon you ". The proper answer is:

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله و بركاته
Wa 3aleikum assalam wa  ra7matuLLahi wabarakatu
 
(7 stands for ح)
Which means and upon you be peace and the mercy of God and His blessings.
What you actually get as an answer is "wa barakatu". The beginning of the phrase miraculously disappears or is said so fast that I personally cannot catch it.
You can use the same expressions to say goodbye.