How To Flirt in Egyptian Arabic (Love in Egypt: Part 1)

Today we’re teaching you how to flirt in Egyptian Arabic.

It’s our first post in a three part series about “love in Egypt” and how to navigate it as a foreigner.

Flirting is a topic a lot of foreigners would like to know how to do. Unfortunately that info can be hard to come by.

And we think that’s a shame!

How To Flirt in Egyptian Arabic: Vocabulary

As usual, we’ll get started with the main vocabulary words you need to know.

After that we’ll use those words in example phrases.

It’s important to note here that Arabic is a gendered language. The spelling of a word will differ depending on if you are talking to a guy or a girl.

We’ve included both versions:

Talking to a guy: in red font.

Talking to a girl: normal.

 

Love. : El7ob.

.الحب

Pretty / beautiful. : Gameel / Gameela.

.جميل / جميلة

While the word “beautiful” is most literally gameel, many Egyptians also say 7eloo / 7elw (حلو ), as you will see.

Cute. : Lateef / lateefa.

.لطيف / لطيفة

Another word for “cute” is laziz / laziza, which we will cover in the phrases.

Smart. : Zaki / zakia.

.ذكي / ذكية

Funny. : Zareef / zareefa.

.ظريف / ظريفة

Eyes. : 3eneen.

.عينين

Hair. : Sha3r.

.شعر

We’ll show you how to compliment these specific things further down in the post.

How To Flirt in Egyptian Arabic: Example Phrases

Time for some phrases that you can use when flirting in Egyptian Arabic.

Of course, use these phrases with caution. Egypt isn’t exactly a liberal country, and flirting (especially for a woman) is sometimes not the best idea.

Check out our Cultural Insight at the bottom for more information.

Compliments To Use

We’ve covered compliments in Egyptian Arabic before.

But in case that post doesn’t cover flirting in Egyptian Arabic….here’s some more!

I like you. : Ana mo3gab beki / ana mo3gaba bek.

. انا معجب بيكي /  انا معجبة بيك 

I love you. : Ana ba7bek / Ana ba7bak.

.انا بحبك

You look great. : Shaklek helw / shaklak helw.

.شكلك حلو

She looks great. : Shaklaha 7elw.

.شكلها حلو

He looks great. : Shaklo 7elw.

.شكله حلو

You guys look great together. : Shakloko 7elw ma3 ba3d.

.شكلكو حلو مع بعض

The way you use “look” (in the last four examples) is kind of funny in Egyptian Arabic.

The word shakl literally means shape.

When you use it, you are basically saying “your shape is great / our shape is great together.”

You are smart. : Enta zaki / enty zakia.

.انت ذكي / انتي ذكية

You are so funny! : Enta zareef awy / enty zareefa awy!

!انت ظريف قوي / انتي ظريفة قوي

Your eyes are beautiful. : 3enek 7elwen / 3eneki 7elwen.

.عينيك حلوين/ عينيكي حلوين

Your hair is beautiful hair. : Sha3rek helw / sha3rak 7elw.

.شعرك حلو

Your smile is beautiful. : De7ketak 7elwa awy / de7ktek 7elwa awy.

.ضحكتك حلوة قوي

Your clothes are amazing. : Lebsak to7fa.

.لبسك تحفة

Your style is beautiful. : stylak helw / stylik helw.

.ستايلك حلو

Did you lose weight? : Enta khaseet? / enty khasety?

انت خسيت؟ / انتي خسيتي؟ 

Great pants. They look good on you. : Helw awy el pantalon da, shaklo 7elw 3alek / 3aleki.

.حلو قوي البنطلون ده. شكلو حلو عليك/عليكي

Cute shirt. : El tshirt da laziz.

.التيشيرت ده لذيذ

My favorite part about you is…your eyes (conjugated for saying to a guy) : Aktar 7aga ba7bha fek…3enek.

.اكتر حاجة بحبها فيك… عينيك

Now we will add some other things you could say to a guy.

Just say the first part of the sentence above, and then fill it in with one of these words instead. 🙂

These are all pronounced as you would say them to a man.

…smile / hair / sense of humor / intelligence. : …de7ktek / sha3rak / khefet damak / zka2ek.

.ضحكتك/  شعرك/  خفة دمك/  ذكائك…

Now let’s say all the same things, but this time to a girl!

Slight changes in pronunciation.

You can learn more about the in our post on showing possession in Egyptian Arabic.

My favorite part about you is…your eyes / smile / hair / sense of humor / intelligence (conjugated for saying to a girl) : Aktar 7aga ba7bha feki…. 3eneki / de7ktik / sha3rik / khefet damik /zka2ik

.اكتر حاجة بحبها فيكي … عينيكي / ضحكتك / شعرك/ خفة دمك / ذكائك

You are as pretty as the full moon. : Amar arba3tashar (enti zay el amar = you are like the moon).

.قمر ١٤

Like we said, Egypt can be tricky a place to flirt with people.

It’s quite conservative, and especially as a woman, you don’t want people to get the wrong idea.

Read this article on flirting in the Muslim world for more information.

Important Questions To Ask

Here are a few of the most important questions to ask when flirting in Egyptian Arabic.

Are you in a relationship? : Enta mortabet? / enty mortabeta?

انت مرتبط / انتي مرتبطة؟

The word mortabet / mortabeta actually means pretty much everything.

It can mean dating casually, dating seriously, engaged, or even married.

Pretty misleading!

Would you like yo go out with me? : T7by tkhrogi ma3ia? / t7eb tkhrog ma3ia?

تحبي تخرجي معايا؟ /  تحب تخرج معايا؟

Want to meet up? : T7eby net2abel? / t7eb net2abel?

تحبي نتقابل؟ / تحب نتقابل؟

Can I have (take) your phone number? : Momken akhod raqmek? / momken akhod raqamak?

ممكن اخد رقمك؟

I want to see you again. : 3ayz ashofik tany (specifically a guy talking to a girl) / 3ayza ashofuk tani (specifically a girl talking to a guy).

.عايز/عايزة اشوفك تاني

Pet Names 

Yes, I know: you’re trying not to throw up now.

But pet names can be cute, and pretty much every language has them.

If you want to flirt in Egyptian Arabic like a pro, here are two you can use!

My life. : Hyaty.

.حياتي

My Love. : Habiby / habibty.

.حبيبي/ حبيبتي

This last one is so famous that it’s even been borrowed by western cultures!

Other Things You Might Say When You Flirt in Egyptian Arabic

I want to meet your father. : 3ayz a2abel babaki!

.عايز اقابل باباكي

 

I want to meet your mother. : 3ayz a2abel mamtek!

.عايز اقابل مامتك

While these two phrases are not specifically flirting, still good to know.

This is in case what we taught you above is really working for you! 🙂

I miss you. : Wa7shteeeni / wa7shteni.

.وحشتيني/ وحشتني

This literally means “you make me bad.”

I like spending time with you. : Ana ba7b a2adi wa2t ma3ak / ana ba7b a2adi wa2t ma3aki.

.انا بحب اقضي وقت معاك / معاكي

I like it when you are around. : Ana batbset w enta mawgod / ana batbset w enti mawgoda.

.انا بتبسط وانت موجود / انتي موجودة

After learning how to flirt in Egyptian Arabic, we hope this last one is true!

Cultural Insight

Alright, we knew you were waiting for it.

Yes, Egypt is Muslim country. Yes, it’s a conservative society. And yes, it’s a culture that if you’ve never experienced something similar, can really feel quite restricting. 

But people are people, and (especially young ones) like to get their flirt on. Trust me that I have my fair share of good (and sometimes not so good) dating stories in Egypt.

But it’s true: I’m a guy. My experience is likely to be very different than women living in Egypt.

That’s why Cleo Lingo wants women especially to be careful with the whole “flirting in Egypt” thing. Flirting can be fun (and it’s a great skill to have), but you want to be safe. Use common sense – probably best in Egypt to get to know a guy before you start flirting with them.

Check out our post on how to deal with sexual harassment for more information.

Stay safe. And happy flirting. 🙂

…

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo