Egyptian Arabic for travellers: what changes from standard Arabic

The Arabic you learn from a textbook or hear on the news is Modern Standard Arabic. The Arabic you hear in a Cairo taxi is Egyptian Arabic, often called Masri. Egyptians understand the standard form perfectly well, but nobody speaks it at the market. The good news for travellers: a handful of differences cover most of what you will hear.

The sounds

• The letter ج is a hard "g". In Cairo, ج is said like the g in "go", where standard Arabic says "j". So جميل ("beautiful") is gamīl, not jamīl.
• The letter ق often disappears into a catch in the throat. Cairenes usually say ق as a glottal stop, the break in the middle of "uh-oh". قهوة ("coffee") sounds like 'ahwa.

Questions: the question word goes last

Standard Arabic puts the question word first. Egyptian Arabic usually puts it at the end, and the words themselves change:

• Where: standard ayna, Egyptian fēn. "Where is the bathroom?" is الحمّام فين؟ (el-ḥammām fēn?)
• What: standard mādhā or mā, Egyptian ēh
• How: standard kayfa, Egyptian izzāy
• Why: standard limādhā, Egyptian lēh
• When: standard matā, Egyptian imta
• How much: standard bikam hādhā?, Egyptian بكام ده؟ (bikām da?)

Everyday words that change

• "Not" becomes mish: مش فاهم (mish fāhim, "I don't understand"; a woman says mish fahma).
• "This" becomes da (and di for feminine words), instead of hādhā and hādhihi.
• "Yes" and "no" are usually aywa and la'.
• "I want" is 'āyez (a woman says 'ayza), instead of urīd.
• "Please" to get someone's attention or ask a favour is لو سمحت (law samaḥt; to a woman, law samaḥti).

Five phrases for your first day

• أهلاً (ahlan): hello
• شكراً (shukran): thank you
• بكام ده؟ (bikām da?): how much is this?
• الحساب لو سمحت (el-ḥisāb law samaḥt): the bill, please
• مش فاهم (mish fāhim): I don't understand

All 14 phrases, with audio, are in the Egyptian Arabic phrasebook, next to the standard Arabic versions.

When you need more than phrases

Most translator apps answer in standard Arabic. Parlo can answer in Egyptian Arabic, as Egyptians actually speak and type it, and read it aloud with the Egyptian "g". See the Arabic dialect translator, or open the hands-free interpreter for a two-way conversation.