Today we are back with Egyptian Arabic Conversation 21.
In each Conversations post, we will provide you with:
- a screenshot from an actual conversation between two Egyptians
- the translation of each line of text, including English, Franco and Arabic script
- context on the conversation and further explanation
We think learning Egyptian Arabic from actual, authentic conversations between Egyptians is both fun and effective. We hope you like it too!
Egyptian Arabic Conversation 21: Happy Birthday
As always, we will start out with a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation in Egyptian Arabic.
The conversation is in Franco, but we put the actual Arabic below.
Before getting started with this Conversations post, be sure to check out our post on writing in Franco Arabic.
Egyptian Arabic Conversation 21: Translation
This conversation is between two friends, Sarah and David.
Sarah is wishing David a Happy Birthday, and they have a brief conversation about David’s plans.
Sarah:
Happy birthday David, I wish you live until you are 100 years old. : Kol sana w enta tayb ya david, 3obal meet sana.
.كل سنة وانت طيب يا ديفيد، عقبال 100 سنة
David:
Saraaah, thanks thanks, God bless you. : Saraaah, skokran shokran, w enty tayba 🙂 rabna ykhaleki.
.سارة، شكرا شكرا، وانتي طيبة 🙂 ربنا يخليكي
Sarah:
Where are you going to celebrate this year? : Hat7tafel fen ba2a elsanadi?
هتحتفل فين بقى السنادي؟
David:
Probably with my family, I have work and at night we will celebrate at home. : Ghaleban ma3 ahli, ana 3andi shogl w belil han7tafel f elbeet.
.غالبا مع اهلي، انا عندي شغل وبليل هنحتفل في البيت
Sarah:
This sounds good, enjoy boss. : Tayb helw da, enjoy ya basha.
.طيب حلو ده، انجوي يا باشا
Egyptian Arabic Conversation 21: Important Vocabulary
Happy birthday: Kol sana w enta tayb.
.كل سنة وانت طيب
Kol sana w enta tayb is a greeting that is used for basically any occasion that happens annually.
It’s commonly used for birthdays, and basically means “I hope you are are great every year.”
In case you want to sign “Happy Birthday” to somebody, here is how you do it in Egyptian Arabic!
I wish you live until you are 100 years old. : 3obal meet sana.
.عقبال 100 سنة
This is a slightly longer / more formal way of saying “I hope you live a long life.”
You too. : w enty tayba.
.وانتي طيبة
This is the response to a woman who first wishes you Kol sana w enta tayb.
Literal translation: “And you are great.”
For the different answers and their pronunciations (it’s different if you are wishing it to a male vs. female vs. group):
The phrase kol sana w enta tayb in Egyptian Arabic.
God bless you. : rabna ykhaleki.
.ربنا يخليكي
This is basically a very polite and heartfelt way to say thank you in Egyptian Arabic.
Where will you celebrate this… : Hat7tafel fen…
…هتحتفل فين
Check out our post on the Egyptian Arabic future tense for more information on the letter hh / ه above.
You will also notice a random word ba2a / بقى above.
Here is a cool Reddit post about the word ba2a.
This sounds good… : Tayb helw da…
…طيب حلو ده
This literally means “Great sweet this.” The word helw / حلو is very versatile.
But then again, so is the word tayb /طيب!
Enjoy. : enjoy.
.انجوي.
Yup – a little bit of English here. This is pretty common you are a young and middle-to-upper class Egyptian.
And as for the last word here?
Boss. : Basha.
.باشا
One of the most common Egyptian Arabic nicknames. 🙂
Content + Further Explanation
A lot of Egyptians live with their family before they get married.
Because of that, it’s a perfectly normal thing to celebrate with parents / siblings on your birthday.
This is a bit different with other countries. When you get older you often live in your own place (even if you aren’t married) so sometimes you don’t see any of your family on your birthday.
The conversation above is actually quite realistic! 🙂
…
Happy learning,
Cleo Lingo
