Introduction
Grammar.
It’s pesky, everybody hates it, and it’s never fun to learn.
Thankfully, most of Egyptian Arabic grammar is quite straight-forward.
Like the future tense.
Lesson
Basically, to say that somebody will do something in the future, just add the letter ” هـ” to an already conjugated verb.
He/She/They/We/I + هـ + “Verb” that is conjugated correctly according to the pronoun
That’s it (although we have just a little bit of extra information for you, to make you a “future pro”).
Let’s go to some examples:
I will go. : “hawROOH”
.هروح
I will leave (it literally means I will walk, think about as “walking away”). : “HEHMshee”
.همشي
Extra information #1:
As you notice here, the pronoun “I” (ana) is the only pronoun that slightly alters the spelling of the verb.
You won’t see the letter “alif” at the beginning.
All others pronouns keep the “present tense” form.
As you see below:
They will travel. : “heyeSEHfroo”
.هيسافرو
He will sleep. : “heyeNEHM”
.هينام
She will eat. : “huhTEHkole”
.هتاكل
He will eat. : “heyeYEHkole”
.هـ يأكل
She will ask. : “huhTEHsoll”
.هتسأل
Extra information #2:
Sometimes (as here with “we” (ehna)), Egyptians might conjugate the “yawrooh” verb for future, followed by a present tense conjugation of the second verb.
Here, Egyptians basically mean “I/he/we am/is/are going to…” plus the conjugated verb.
There is a slight difference.
“I will play” would imply it was more immediate.
Example: Are you going to play?
Yes, I will play.
“I am going to play,” however, is a bit more distant.
Example: What are you going to do next weekend?
I am going to play.
See the difference?
It’s subtle, but in real life, Egyptians throw them both around without really caring about the difference.
So don’t worry if you don’t quite “get it”: using the first version we covered (add “h” to conjugated verb) is always a safe bet.
Some more examples:
We are going to pay. : “hawnROOH NEHDfaw’a”
.هنروح ندفع
We are going to sit here. : “huhNAW’ode HEHnuh”
.هنقعد هنا
We are going to buy some stuff. : “hawnROOH nehshTEHree hawGEHT”
.هنروح نشتري حاجات
We are going to play / We will play. : “hawnROOH NEHLawb / huhNEHLawb”
.هنروح نلعب / هنلعب
Extra Information #3:
No surprise here, but often speaking in the future tense will combine verb conjugations with time phrases for the future.
Here are some of those phrases:
Tomorrow. : “BOKEraw”
.بكرة
Next year. : “SEHnuh EHLee GUY”
.سنة الي جي
Next week. : “ehssBOOuh EHLee GUY”
.الإسبوع الي جي
The week after next week. : “ehlehssBOOuh EHlee BAW’d EHlee GUY”
.الاسبوع الي بعد اللي جي
Next month. : “SHAWhrr’ GUY'”
.شهر الي جي
Extra Information #4:
With Arabic (as many languages), you don’t actually have to say or write down the subject pronoun.
You need just to conjugate the verb correctly.
As you can see in all of our examples, the pronoun (“ana,” “heeuh,” “ehnuh”) is never actually written.
It might be confusing at first, but just make sure you are paying attention to the conjugation of the verb.
This will show you which pronoun the speaker is actually referencing, and thus which person they are talking about!
Cultural Insight
Usually, Egyptians will use the term “In shaa Allah” ان شاء الله. when talking about the future.
This means “If God wills.”
Because, you know, who can guarantee what will happen in the future?
However, despite the actual meaning of the word, that term is now understood as a straight out “No” when talking about future plans.
Egyptians usually use it when they don’t want to agree on a future plan or make a promise, but also don’t want to say a clear “No”.
“Will you join us tomorrow night at the felucca?”
- Inshallah = 90-100% NO
- Yes I will, Inshallah = Yes
A bit tricky…..but helpful to see if you need to include them in your verb conjugations for Friday night!
…
Happy learning,
Cleo Lingo
