How To Talk About the Egyptian Economy in Egyptian Arabic

This is Part Four in our series “Talk About Egypt.” And today is everybody’s favorite topic: the Egyptian economy!

While the Egyptian economy is definitely not an easy topic to talk about, it’s certainly an important one.

That’s why we included it in our series.

So stick with it today. 🙂

Today, Cleo Lingo will be discussing….how to talk about the Egyptian economy in Egyptian Arabic.

Egyptian Economy Vocabulary

We will start with some main Egyptian economy vocabulary.

After that, we will use the words in basic and advanced phrases.

The economy. : el ektsad.

.الاقتصاد

The Egyptian economy. : elektsad elmasry.

.الاقتصاد المصري

Money. : elfloos.

.الفلوس

Work. : elshoghl.

.الشغل

Prices. : elas3ar.

.الاسعار

Currency. : el3omla.

.العملة

Egyptian Pound. : elgneh elmasry.

.جنيه مصري

Devaluation. : elta3weem.

.التعويم

Devaluation was one of the worst things to happen in recent Egyptian history.

We talk about it in today’s cultural insight.

Egyptian Economy Phrases

As usual, we will now show you how to use these vocabulary words in different phrases about the Egyptian economy.

We start with basic, easier phrases. Then we’ll move onto more advanced phrases.

Basic Egyptian Economy Phrases

If you want to talk about the Egyptian economy in Egyptian Arabic, here are some easier phrases to get you started.

The economy here is not good. : elektsad hena mesh qawy.

.الاقتصاد هنا مش قوي

The economy is weak. : elektsad da3eef.

.الاقتصاد ضعيف

The economy could be better. : el ektsad momken yb2a a7san.

.الاقتصاد ممكن يبقى احسن

The Egyptian economy is worse than the past. : elektsad elmasry aw7ash men zaman.

.الاقتصاد المصري اوحش من زمان

The Egyptian economy gets worse every year. : elektsad elmasry byb2a aw7ash kol sana.

.الاقتصاد المصري بيبقى اوحش كل سنة

The word yeb2a يبقى is an important one to know.

It basically means “to become.”

The Egyptian economy makes life hard. : elektsad elmasry bykhali el7yah sa3ba.

.الاقتصاد المصري بيخلي الحياة صعبة

It is hard to make money here. : sa3b te3ml floos hena.

.صعب تعمل فلوس هنا

In Egyptian Arabic, the “noun of a verb” (in this case, “the making of”) usually starts with a ت.

And now that we mentioned it, check out how to talk about your job in Egyptian Arabic.

It covers some of the same themes as today.

There is no money in Egypt. : mafeesh floos fi masr.

.مفيش فلوس في مصر

Money is a big issue in Egypt. : elfloos moshkela kbera fi masr.

.الفلوس مشكلة كبيرة في مصر

This has always been a big problem – not just since the Egyptian economy started to get worse.

Egyptians typically don’t make too much money, and prices throughout Egypt have continued to rise the last few years.

It is difficult to find work here. : sa3b tla2i shoghl fi masr.

.صعب تلاقي شغل في مصر

Working in Egypt is hard. : elshoghl sa3b fi masr.

.الشغل صعب في مصر

Prices are higher every year. : elas3ar btzeed kol sana.

.الاسعار بتزيد كل سنة

We did a post awhile ago about how to insult your friends in Egyptian Arabic.

Check it out, but especially the “cultural insight” at the end.

That might help put the Egyptian economy in context.

Prices we doubled after the devaluation. : elas3ar etda3fet ba3d elta3weem.

.الاسعار اتضاعفت بعد التعويم

The Egyptain pound is going down! : elgneh elmasry bynzel.

.الجنية المصري بينزل

The verb yenzel is quite versatile.

Check out how to ride the Cairo metro for more examples. 🙂

Advanced Egyptian Economy Phrases

Time for some more advanced phrases on the Egyptian economy.

These are for advanced speakers of Egyptian Arabic, so son’t worry too much if you find them difficult!

The economy here is very weak, and make everything much more difficult. : elektsad hena da3eef awy, w bykhali kol 7aga as3ab.

.الاقتصاد هنا ضعيف قوي. وبيخلي كل حاجة اصعب

The Egyptian economy used to be (Lit. was) good. : elektsad elmasry kan kwaiss.

.الاقتصاد المصري كان كويس

The Egyptian economy has gotten worse since the Revolution. : elektsad elmasry ba2a aw7ash mn sa3et elsawra.

.الاقتصاد المصري بقى اوحش من ساعة الثور

This is a very intense topic.

While we wrote a post about how to talk about the Egyptian Revolution in Egyptian Arabic, we don’t recommend bringing this up with anybody.

The Guinea is getting weak.  Even things at a koshk became much more expensive! : elgneh ba2a da3eef. Hata el 7agat f elkoshk ba2et aghla bker.

.الجنية بقى ضعيف. حتى الحاجات في الكشك بقيت اغلى بكتير

I like to work here….but I don’t make very good money. : ana ba7b elshoghl hena…bas mesh ba3mel floos kwaissa.

.انا بحب الشغل هنا… بس مش بعمل فلوس كويسة

The prices are good for a foreigner. But for Egyptians they are expensive. : Elas3ar kwaissa lel aganeb. Bas belnsba lel masryeen ghalia.

.الاسعار كويسة للاجانب.بس بالنسبة للمصريين غالية

Common Questions to Ask About the Egyptian Economy

If you are talking about the Egyptian economy with Egyptians, these are some common questions you might ask.

Be prepared for a long conversation!

What is yorur opinion about living here? : ra2yak eh f el3esha hena?.

رأيك ايه في العيشة هنا؟

What do you do for work? : btshtaghal eh?

بتشتغل ايه؟

Why is everything more expensive now? : leh kol 7aga ba2et aghla dlwa2ti?

ليه كل حاجة اغلى دلوقتي؟

Is it easy to open a business here? : sahl tfta7 shoghl khas hena?

سهل تفتح شغل خاص هنا؟

Example Conversation

And finally, an example conversation.

What do you think about the Egyptian economy? : eh ra2yak fi elektsad elmasry?

ايه رأيك في الاقتصاد المصري؟

It used to be good. Now things are worse. : kan kwaiss bas ba2a da3eef.

.كان كويس بس بقى ضعيف

Why is that? : leh keda?

ليه كدة؟

Prices are higher, people don’t have money, and the quality of life is low. : elas3ar ghlyet w elnas ma3hasha floos w mostawa el ma3esha 2olail.

.الاسعار غليت الناس معاهاش فلوس ومستوى المعيشة قليل

The two forms of “have” and how to use them would be a helpful read now.

What is the solution to these problems? : eh el7al lel mashkel de?

ايه الحل للمشاكل دي؟

Difficult to find! : sa3b a2ali!

!صعب الاقي

Cultural Insight

The Egyptian currency was devalued in late 2016.

Pretty much overnight, prices started to rise as inflation hit the country hard.

And one of the most obvious ways this affected your average Egyptian?

The Cairo metro.

This had for years cost 1 Egyptian pound for any ride throughout the city, and quickly inflated to as high as 7 Egyptian pounds.

This is a huge difference, especially if you aren’t making more money.

Keep your fingers crossed that that changes!

…

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo