Today we are talking about how to give commands in Egyptian Arabic. This is a normal part of any language if you want to basically just tell somebody to do something.
In this post we will go over a few quick rules about giving commands in Egyptian Arabic. We also give you some examples so you have a bit of context.
Commands In Egyptian Arabic: Rules
There are three main types of people you will give commands to: “you” for a man, “you” for a woman, and plural “you” for groups of people. Here are the different ways to give commands to each of them:
- Giving a command to a man: the verb is in its root form
- Giving a command to a woman: add the suffix i / ي to make it feminine
- Giving a command to a group of people : add the suffix u / وا to make it plural
This will all make more sense with the example sentences below.
How To Give Commands In Egyptian Arabic: 5 Examples
Below you will see five different verbs + how to command men / women / groups to do them. For each example sentence (15 in total) we have included:
- What the verb looks like in its “base form command”
- Three example sentences for each command (“you” man, “you” woman, “you” groups)
Keep in mind that in Egyptian Arabic, commands are often paired with suffixes added to the verb
Look at #2 (To Tell) as an example. Commanding a woman to simply “tell” would be 2oli / قولي . However, because the example sentence is a more common command of “tell me”, it becomes 2olili / قوليلي.
That’s because you add lee / لي to verbs to mean “to me.”
1) To Speak
To a man: etkallem / اتكلم
Speak more quietly! : Etkallem behdo2 aktar!
!اتكلّم بهدوء أكتر
To a woman: etkallemi / اتكلّمي
Speak more quietly! : Etkallemi behdo2 aktar!
!اتكلّمي بهدوء أكتر
To a group of people: etkallemu / اتكلّموا
Speak more quietly! : Etkallemu behdo2 aktar!
!اتكلّموا بهدوء أكتر
2) To Tell
To a man: 2ol / قولّ
Tell me if you are coming late. : 2oli law hategi met2khar.
.قولّي لو هتيجي متأخر
To a woman: 2oli / قولي
Tell me if you are coming late. : 2olili law hategi met2khar.
.قوليلي لو هتيجي متأخر
To a group of people: 2olu / قولو
Tell me if you are coming late. : 2oluli law hategu met2khar.
.قولولي لو هتيجوا متأخر
.Notice in the first two examples (speaking to a man + speaking to a woman) that the word for “late” is the same: met2khar / متأخرة.
“Late” is always met2khar / متأخر if you are simply referring to a time. However, if you are using it to describe a woman as being late, it turns into met2khara / متأخرة.
Here is what I mean:
She will come late. : hia hategi met2khar.
.هي هتيجي متأخر
She is late. : hia met2khara.
.هي متأخرة
Subtle difference here.
3) To Drive
To a man: soo2 / سوق
Drive quickly! : Soo2 besor3a!
!سوق بسرعة
To a woman: soo2i / سوقي
Drive quickly! : Soo2i besor3a!
!سوقي بسرعة
To a group of people: soo2o / سوقوا
Drive quickly! : Soo2u besor3a!
!سوقوا بسرعة
4) To Pay
To a man: edfa3 / ادفع
Pay me the 20 guinea from yesterday. : Edfa3li el 3shreen gneeh bta3t embare7.
.ادفعلي العشرين جنية بتاعت امبارح
To a woman: edfa3i / ادفعي
Pay me the 20 guinea from yesterday. : Edfa3ili el 3shreen gneeh bta3t embare7.
.ادفعيلي العشرين جنية بتاعت امبارح
To a group of people: edfa3u / ادفعو
Pay me the 20 guinea from yesterday. : Edfa3uli el 3shreen gneeh bta3t embare7.
.ادفعولي العشرين جنية بتاعت امبارح
5) To Go
To a man: roo7 / رُوح
Go to my (fem.) friend’s party, please! : roo7 7aflet sa7beti, law sama7t!
!رُوح حفلة صحبتي ,لو سمحت
To a woman: roo7i / رُوحي
Go to my (fem.) friend’s party, please! : roo7i 7aflet sa7beti, law sama7ti!
!رُوحي حفلة صحبتي ,لو سمحتي
To a group of people: roo7u / رُوحوا
Go to my (fem.) friend’s party, please! : roo7u 7aflet sa7beti, law sama7tu!
!رُوحوا حفلة صحبتي ,لو سمحتوا
Notice that these sentences all include the phrase “please.” This leads us to our last section on giving commands in Egyptian Arabic…
Commands In Egyptian Arabic: How To Make Them Polite
Commands can sound harsh or impolite. Because of that, you can add “please” in Egyptian Arabic to make them sound softer (just like many languages).
Here are some options:
When speaking to a man:
- law sama7t / لو سمحت
- men fadlak / من فَضلَك
When speaking to a woman:
- law sama7ti / لو سمحتي
- men fadlek / من فَضلِك
And lastly, when speaking to a group:
- law sama7tu / لو سمحتوا
You can also use the word moomkin / ممكن in any situation, which basically means “may you.”
Lastly, just be sure to pay attention to tone when giving commands in Egyptian Arabic. The way you deliver the command can change its meaning or politeness. In casual settings, it’s fine to be more direct. But in formal or new interactions, it’s good to add softening words like “please.”
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Happy learning,
Cleo Lingo
