Easy Egyptian Arabic Prepositions

This lesson is gonna be so simple and easy, we are gonna learn some easy prepositions in Egyptian Arabic. It’s so important to learn them, once you know the basic ones, your Egyptian Arabic will be  improved while expressing yourself

A preposition is a word which shows the relation of one word to another. For example, “….the chair is IN the house…” or “….the mobile phone is ON the table….”.

So lets get directly to it

Propositions: حروف الجر

There is only one rule here, the propositions comes before the noun and it never comes before the verb!

Basic Propositions in Egyptian Arabic

In – ف/في (fi)

On/Above – ع/على

(3ala – 3a)

From – م/من

(men – mae)

To /For – ل

(le)

Under تحت (also means downstairs)

(ta7t)

Above فوق (also means upstairs)

(foo2)

Behind  – ورا

(wara)

With – مع / ب

(ma3 – bae)

Examples

He is running in the street (in Egyptian Arabic, “Street” could also refer to “Streets” or generally “outdoors”)

هو بيجري ف الشارع/ هو بيجري في الشارع

(hwa bygry fi el share3) (hwa bygry fishare3)

My phone is on the table

موبايلي ع الترابيزة/ موبايلي على الترابيزة

(mobily 3atarabiza) / mobily 3ala el tarabiza)

I’m coming from home

انا جي من البيت / انا جي م البيت (Mel bait)

I bought this for mum

انا اشتريت ده ل ماما

(ana eshtaret da le mama)

The ball is under the bed

الكرة تحت السرير

(elkora ta7t el sreer)

My shoes are upstairs

جزمتي فوق

(gazmety foo2)

Behind the door

ورا الباب

(wara el bab)

I’m going with my girlfriend! (usually ma3 is used as “with” when talking about people)

انا رايح مع صاحبتي

(ana raye7 ma3 sa7bety)

I’m eating eggs with Pastrami (usually B is used as “with” when talking about stuff that are mixed together)

انا باكل بيض بالبسطرمة

(ana bakol beed bel basterma)

Pronunciation tip:

Notice that some of the prepositions could be summarized to just one letter, like:

In – F – ف

From – M – م

On – 3 – ع

With – B – ب

When you try to pronounce them attached to the following noun, you gonna attach them directly to the  article “AL” of the following noun, which will sound like saying the preposition letter then directly the “L” sound.

ف البيت = فل بيت (fel bait = At home)

م المحل = مل محل (mel mahal = from the shop)

ب البيض = بل بيض (Bel baid = with eggs)

ف الشارع = فشارع  (Fishare3 = in the street), here the L sound was dropped and “ف” was directly attached to the first letter of the word cause the article “AL” is followed by a solar letter.

We will cover lunar and solar letters in a different post

Advanced tips: 

1- To – ل

I’m going to the Coffee shop

انا رايح القهوة

(ana raye7 el ahwa)

Notice here that there is no preposition, that would translate literally to “I’m going the coffee shop”.

In Egyptian Arabic the preposition “To” could be dropped when used in the context of “someone is going/went To somewhere“, but it couldn’t be dropped if its used in the context of  “someone is going/went To someone”

Examples:

• I’m going to Ahwa / Home/ work/The garden/The Bank
• انا رايح القهوة/ البيت/ الشغل/الجنينة/البنك
• ana raye7 el ahwa/ elbeet/ elshoghl/elgnena/elbank

• I’m going to my sister (you don’t have to use an extra verb like “visit” or “see” here, “going” is enough)
• انا رايح ل أختي
• ana raye7 l okhty

2- On/Above – ع/فوق (foo2)/3a

“The charger is ABOVE the disk” (weird, right?) usually people would say “The charger in ON the disk”. but in Egyptian Arabic you might replace “on” with “above” as long as it delivers the meaning in a logical way, you can use ع or فوق 

The charger is on the disk (here “3al maktab” would fit better cause the disk is not that high, but both work)

الشاحن عل مكتب

elsha7en 3al maktab

الشاحن فوق المكتب

elsha7en fo2 elmaktab

The chair is on the roof  (here “Foa2 elsotoo7” would fit better cause the roof is literally upstairs, but both work)

الكرسي ع السطوح

elkorsi 3asoto7

الكرسي فوق السطوح

elkorsi fo2 elsoto7