Egyptian Arabic comparisons are one of the most important “grammar topics” you need to know in the language.
They allow you to compare things, give more details in your sentences, and speak with more eloquence.
Today we are covering comparisons in Egyptian Arabic.
We will go over the most important things to know, as well as give you some example sentences with the most common adjectives.
Comparisons In Egyptian Arabic: Explanation
In Arabic (and Egyptian Arabic as well), the elative forms of comparisons and superlatives are the same.
What this means:
The word for “better” (elative) and “best” (superlatives) are actually the same.
We won’t give too deep into this topic here (expect follow up posts), but here’s the most important rule to remember:
Comparison = Add the letter alif (ا) to the beginning of the adjective + subtract vowel letters (ي, for example) + use the word men (من).
This is basically how you say “adjective-er than…” (see our section on example sentences).
This is a simplified way of looking at it, but it’s (for the most part) exactly how you do Egyptian Arabic comparisons.
Comparisons In Egyptian Arabic: Words
Let’s take a look at this rule with some examples (words only).
Many. : Kteer.
كتير
More. : Aktar.
اكتر
Long. : Taweel.
طويل
Longer. : Atwal.
اطول
Small. : Soghyar.
ضغير
Smaller. : Asghar
اصغر
Bad. : We7esh.
وحش
Worse. : Aw7ash.
اوحش
Now – some full examples in action.
Comparisons in Egyptian Arabic: Example Sentences
The red car is smaller than the blue one. : el3arbia el7amra Asghar mn el zar2a.
.العربية الحمرا اصغر من الزرقا
This is the biggest problem. : de akbar moshkela.
.دي اكبر مشكلة
I think he is taller than me. : ana azon en hwa Atwal meni.
.انا اظن ان هو أطول مني
A good sentence if you want to talk about your family.
This cafe is quieter than the other one. : elcafe da ahda men eltani.
.الكافيه ده اهدى من التاني
Good to use if you are ordering an ahwa in Egyptian Arabic.
Which is better: chocolate or vanilla? : Eh a7san, shokolata wala vanillia?
ايه احسن – شوكولاتة ولا فانيليا؟
She always says that her last job was much worse than what she does now. : hya dayman bt2ol en shoghlaha el adeem kan aw7ash mn elhya feh dlwa2ti.
.هي دايما بتقول ان شغلها القديم كان اوحش من اللي هي فيه دلوقتي
Which one is newer? : anhy agdad?
انهي اجدد؟
My car is older than yours. : 3arbety a2dam mn 3arbetak.
.عربيتي اقدم من عربيتك
There are things that are more important than money. : fe hagat aham mn el flos.
.في حاجات اهم من الفلوس
Do you think that Ahmed is smarter than Mohammed? : Teftker ahmed azka men mohammed?
تفتكر مين اذكى ..احمد ولا محمد؟
Have any other not very nice things you want to say about your friends? 🙂
- How to Insult Your Friends in Egyptian Arabic, Part 1 : Laziness
- How to Insult Your Friends in Egyptian Arabic, Part 2 : Cheapness
- How to Insult Your Friend in Egyptian Arabic: Stupidity
…
Happy learning,
Cleo Lingo
