Welcome to Cleo Lingo’s “Conversation 4.”
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 .
Let’s get started with Egyptian Arabic Conversation 3: Ba7bek.
Egyptian Arabic Conversation 3: Ba7bek
As usual, we recommend checking out our post on using Franco-Arabic. That will help you understand which Arabic words are being used in the conversation.
Egyptian Arabic Conversation 4: Translation
Man: I love you and Happy Valentine (literally: May you be blessed every year). : tab ana ba7bek w kol sana wenty tayba (kiss)
.طب انا بحبك وكل سنة وانتي طيبة
Woman: You too “my love” from deep inside! : w enta tayb habibi mn gwa.
.وانت طيب حبيبي من جوه
Man: Seriously, I will stay with you forever. : bgd ana hafdal ma3aki 3altool
.بجد انا هفضل معاكي علطول
Man: Good night (literally: May you wake up to good news). : tesba7y 3ala kheer
.تصبحي على خير
Man: I love you. : ba7bek
.بحبك
Egyptian Arabic Conversation 3: Important Vocabulary
I love you. : ba7bak / ba7bek.
.بحبك
This depends on who you are talking to. If you are talking to a male it becomes ba7ebak, while if you are talking to a female it become ba7bek.
Happy “annual” event. : kol sana w enta tayb / kol sana w enti tayba.
.كل سنة وانت طيب / كل سنة وانتي طيبة
Same thing here. The first one is saying the phrase to a male, while the second one is to a female.
As for the phrase itself? Well….it’s one of the most important Egyptian Arabic greetings! You would hear in just about any event as a greeting. It basically means “may you stay blessed this time of the year,” and you can use it for Ramadan, birthdays, Valentines Day, any aid of the year…and telling somebody you love them on your anniversary. 🙂
A common respond is w enta tayb / w enta tayba (“you too”).
Seriously / for real. : bgd.
.بجد
This word is basically used to express how serious you are about something, or that you’re not joking or faking about something.
With you. : ma3aki/ma3ak.
معاك / معاكي
This could also (weirdly) mean “you have,” which we cover in the two forms of “have” in Egyptian Arabic.
Inside. : gwa.
.جوه
My sweetheart / my love. : habibi/habibty.
حبيبي / حبيبتي
Potentially the most popular Egyptian Arabic word.
In case you didn’t know:
- habibi (حبيبي) = My male sweetheart
- habibty (حبيبتي) = My female sweetheart
While this word is used in a romantic way in Conversation 3, it can be used for basically anybody you like.
Context + Further Explanation
This one is easy and you don’t really need any further explanation. All you need to understand is the literal meaning of the conversation.
That said, here is some interesting cultural insight for you:
Notice that the last word of the conversation ba7bek is written in Arabic letters (بحبك). While until this point both the boyfriend and girlfriend have written in Franco-Arabic, this last word is written in Arabic letters.
It seems here that both chatters are more comfortable texting in franco arabic (common among young Egyptians). However, the word “love” is always stronger in its original script (whatever it is), and it probably means more when written as بحبك instead of ba7bek.
For more relevant information you might find useful, check out this post about Egyptian weddings.
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Happy learning,
Cleo Lingo
