Introduction

We know that you have friends.

I mean, Cleo Lingo readers are all just super popular. No denying that.

But what about when you have to actually, like….talk about them?

And not just in vague terms to your mom every Sunday night when you guys Skype, but actually talk about friendship and what your friends are like and all that jazz?

Shit’s hard, yo.

Today, Cleo Lingo will be explaining….how to talk about your friends in Egyptian Arabic.

Vocabulary

As usual, here is some “need to know” vocabulary. Get these down before you move on to our much more applicable example phrases.

Friendship. : “elsuhDAWkaw.”

.الصداقة

Friends. : “awssHHAWB / sohHHAWB.”

.اصحاب/صحاب

Happiness. : “sawEHduh.”

.السعادة

 

And just because it’s an interesting topic in itself:

Family. : “eyeIHlluh / OSSraw / AWhill.”

.عيلة/اسرة /اهل

Usually we refer to the bigger family (including uncles, aunts, grandparents, nephews, ..etc as “Eela.” This word is more general and you can use it to refer to anybody who is kind of one of your relatives.

The smaller immediate family (immediate or “nuclear” family) is usually called “Osra” or “Ahl.” This refers to parents and siblings. In case you are the parent, “osrty” (my family) would refer to the wife/husband and the children. “Ahli” = (my family), meanwhile, refers to your parents and siblings.

Nothing is weird about Egyptian families. It’s just how Egyptians commonly use the words

Example Sentences

Let’s move onto the good stuff. This week we just threw 25+ example sentences at you that will help you talk about friends in Egyptian Arabic. Use what you can, save the rest for later, and get out there and speak.

My friends are very important to me. : “sowHHAWbee MOOhehMEEN GEHdin BELLnessBEHlee.”

.صحابي مهمين جدا بالنسبالي

I have a lot of friends. : “AWNdee sowHHAWB kiTEER.”

.عندي صحاب كتير

He / she is my best friend (he/she is my VERY friend, which means a close friend). : “HOOuh SAWhhbee OWee…HEEuh SAWhhuhBEHtee OWee.:”

.هو صاحبي قوي …هي صاحبتي قوي

We have been friends since 5 / 10 / 20 years. : “EHHnuh soHHAWB mehn KHUMsuh / AWshrr siNEEN / KHUHmihSTAWshrr sehnuh.”

.احنا صحاب من 5 / 10/ 15 سنين او سنة

Talking About Bad Friends

My friends are stupid. : “SohHHAWB EGHnuhBEEuh.”

.صحابي اغبياء

Here is out three-part series on insulting friends.

If your friends are lazy:

If your friends are cheap:

If you friends are stupid:

That should keep you busy for a while!

My friends always make plans (agree on doing things) and then never go out. : “SohHHAWbee DAWeemehn beeTIFFuhloo hhawGEHT wuh awmROHhume MAWbenZEHLoo.”

.صحابي دايما بيتفقو يعملو حاجات و عمرهم ما بينزلو

I wish I had better / more friends. : “Kehn NEHFsee AWNdee sohHHAWB AWHHsawn / AWKtar.”

.كان نفسي يكون عندي صحاب احسن / اكتر

This is super important to understand. …كان نفسي يكون essentially means “I wish it was that…”, followed by the verb that is connected to your wish.

Simply conjugate the verb as you normally would.

I need different friends. : “Ana mehhTAEG sohHAWB mokhTEHluhFEEN.”

.انا محتاج صحاب مختلفين

This is different than the “need to” (“LEHzim”) that is also “have to.”

Slang Idioms About Friendship

Here are some very funny slang idioms that Egyptians use in a sarcastic way. We hook you up with three today. The two more commonly-used ones we give you all the info you need. The third one isn’t so common, but we threw it in anyway.

These will help you talk about friends in Egyptian Arabic more poetically!

…

First idiom:

“الصحاب في اجازة”

This literally means: “Friends are taking a break”.”

It’s usually used as a way to express your disappointment in your friends when they bail on you or refuse to help/be there for you. This is something dramatic and funny that means, essentially: friends are taking a break of their duties as being good friends.

Example:

Tarek: “Ali, can you drive me to Dokki, because I’m late?”

علي, ممكن توصلني الدقي علشان متأخر؟

 

Ali: “(I swear) I don’t feel like driving, and I have to leave to meet my girlfriend right now.”

.مش قادر اسوق والله و لازم انزل أقابل صاحبتي دلوقتي

Tarek: “Ok, my friend…’Friends are taking a break.'”

. ماشي يا صاحبي…الصحاب في أجازة

…

Second idiom:

“انت هتعمل فيها صاحبي؟”

This literally means: “Are you acting like a friend of mine?”

Use it with your best friend (or someone who knows for sure that you guys are friends) when he or she is too demanding / trying to join you in an activity and you simply don’t want them to.

Don’t forget to add the right attitude to it. 😉

Example:

Mohammed talking to Eric: “Hey Eric, don’t forget about my birthday next week. I will be waiting for you. You can bring a friend.”

.ايريك, متنساش عيد ميلادي الاسبوع الجاي. هستناك.. ممكن تجيب حد معاك

Tarek interrupting and basically inviting himself to the party: “Ok, I’m coming with him.”

.تمام..انا هاجي معاه

Eric talking to Tarek: “Are you acting like a friend of mine? I will go with my girlfriend.”

.انت هتعمل فيها صاحبي؟؟ انا هروح مع صاحبتي

…

Third idiom:

صحابي دمهم تقيل

This literally means: “Heavy blooded.” = Not funny

It means silly or someone who is trying so hard to be funny when he or she is clearly not. Keep this in your back pocket if you ever meet Tarek – his jokes suck!

The opposite is quite straight forward – دمه خفيف-  (he is light blooded) = funny person

Describing Your Friends With More Detail

To talk about friends in Egyptian Arabic, it also helps to describe them:

My friends have a lot of money. : “SohHHAWbee awnDOHhome fuLOOZ kiTEER.”

.صحابي عندهم فلوس كتير

My friends are funny. : “SohHHAWbee beeZEHKroo.”

.صحابي بيزاكرو

My friends like parties (like to party). : “SohHHAWbee beeHHEHboo elHHAWfuhLEHT.”

.صحابي بيحبو الحفلات

And just in case you need to be the cool guy that can order at Drinkies in Egyptian Arabic?

You’re welcome. 🙂

Asking Questions

While it’s great to talk about your own friend group, at some point you want to ask questions. So here is what you might say:

Do you have a lot of friends? : “AWNduck SohHHAWkiTEER?”

عندك صحاب كتير؟

Who is your best friend? : “MEEN AWKtar hhud SAWHHUHbuck?”

مين اكتر حد صاحبك؟

Keep in mind that Arab culture (see today’s Culture Post) doesn’t take the idea of a “best friend” as seriously as others (looking at you, Germans).

While you can definitely say this, saying “best friend” in Egypt is not necessarily that common.

What do you do with your friends? : “BiTAW’MEHLoo AY ENtaw w suhHHAWbuck?”

بتعملو ايه انت وصحابك؟

Are you guys still friends? : “ENtoo LISSuh soHHAWB?”

انتو لسه صحاب؟

Are you just friends….or is it more than that? : “ENtoo soHHAWB AW’dee? Wawluh HHAWguh AWKtar mehn KEHduh?”

انتو صحاب عادي؟ ولا حاجة اكتر من كده؟

You know what we are talking about here. And just in case you needed some “love vocab”:

Is friendship important to you? : “ElsuhDAWkuh mooHEHmuh bellnessBEHluck?”

الصداقة مهمة بالنسبالك؟

Do you think you guys will always be friends? : “TiffTIHkrr hehtFUTDHloo TOOL AW’MROOkoo soHHAWB?”

تفتكر هتفضلو طول عمروكو صحاب؟

These all help you talk about friends in Egyptian Arabic…but we saved the best for last.

Are we friends? : “HOOuh EHHnuh sooHHAWB?”

هو احنا صحاب؟

We won’t ask what the answer was…

Culture Corner

We’ve got two “friend related” cultural insights for you.

The words Sa7by/sa7bty means male friend/female friend respectively. However, they could also be also used as boyfriend/girlfriend. This depends on the context.

This is a sensitive topic that people need to be clear about. Because of that, Egyptians usually refer to girlfriends/boyfriends with Sa7bty/sa7by, while when talking about normal friends they use “Wa7da sa7bty” or “wa7ed sa7by.” This literally means “A female friend / A male friend.”

Also, Egyptians (like most Middle Eastern nations, and maybe a tad more) have lots of friends/best friends. The problem is that they usually have too many friends and struggle with keeping a social connection with all of them. This can be awkward when an Egyptian guy calls everybody his “best friend” when he clearly doesn’t mean it. A true culture shock for foreigners that take friendship a bit more seriously.

Good luck explaining all of your friends to your mom!

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Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo