Egyptian Arabic Phrases
Updated: Feb 4, 2022
When travelling it is always useful to learn some important phrases of the local language. Some times especially with Arabic there are different variations of the language for instance the people in Egypt speak very differently to the people in Jordon and the people in Libya!
Having said that each Arabic speaking country sticks to the same classical Arabic when i comes to the written word this can sometimes get very confusing!
So as a start I have listed some of the commonly used phrases to get you started on your Arabic speaking journey.
Need a little more help? we also offer Arabic speaking lessons ;-) Just send us a message for more details
Enjoy!
English Arabic (transliteration) عربي
Hello (basic greeting) salaam ‘aleikum سلام عليكم
Goodbye ma’a salaameh مع سلامة
How’s it going? 3aamil eh? عامل ايه؟ izzayak? ازيك؟ eh akhbaar? ايه اخبار؟ akhbaarak eh? اخبارك ايه؟
Fine Everything’s good kwayyis, kullu tamaam كويس،كله تمام alHamdulillah الحمد لله
Excuse me! ba3d iznak (or iznik to a female) بعد اذنك
Pardon me law samaHt لو سمحت
Excuse me, 3yiiz a’ool lak ba3d iznak عيز اقول لك بعد اذنك
I want to tell you
something
Hey, driver! ya usTa! يى اسطى
Officer/sir! HaDritak حضرتك
What’s this, please? eh dah min faDlak? اية دة من فضلك
How much is this? bikam dah? بكم دة
I want… ana 3ayiiz… انا عيز
It’s too expensive! ghaali ‘awwi! غالي اوي It’s so much! ktiir awwi! كتير اوي I will pay… ana badfa3… انا بدفع
OK maashi ماسي Tayyib طيب tamaam تمام Okey اوكي
Yes, of course aywa, tab3an/shukran ايوى، تبعن\سكر
/thank you
No, sorry la, aasif/shukran لا، اسف\سكرا
/thank you
You’re welcome ‘afwan عفواً
May I [please]? mumken [min faDlak]? ممكن؟
May I take a mumken akhud Surah hina? ممكن اخد
photo here? صورة؟
May I look, please? mumken ashuuf min faDlak? ممكن اشوف من فضلك؟
May I go in from here? momken adkhul min hina? ممكن ادخل من حنا؟
I just want to look ana 3ayiiz ashuuf bas انا عيز اشوف بس
Thanks shukran شكرا
A thousand thank alf shokr الف شكر
Where is this? fayn dah/il Hammaam, min faDlak? فين ده؟
I go this way? baruuH zayy kida? بروح زي كدا؟
straight ahead 3ala Tuul على طول
Finished! khallaS! !خلص It’s over! I’m done!
I don’t need this la, ana mish miHtaag dah لا، انا مش محتاج ده
I don’t know. ana mish 3aarif/3aarfa. انا مش عارف\عارفة
Please go ahead! itfaDDal/itfaDDali إتفضّـل Please sit! Please take this!