Past Tense Verbs in Egyptian Arabic (1-10)

A Quick Explanation Of Past Tense in Egyptian Arabic

The past tense in Egyptian Arabic isn’t as simple as the present tense.

Thankfully, you just have to learn a few conjugations. Once you do, verbs (or at least most of them) will become much easier.

Here is a verb conjugation table. On the left you have pronouns. On the right, the letter /s you put at the end of a verb to conjugate it in the past tense.

Keep in mind that verb conjugation in Egyptian Arabic isn’t always so simple, as you will sometimes have irregular verbs. Still, this verb table is the system do remember for the majority of Egyptian Arabic conjugations.

1) I أنا	T ت
2) You (masculine) أنت	T ت
3) You (fem) أنتي	Ti تي
4) He هو	–
5) She 5 هي	Et يت
6) They هما	U و
7) You people  (You all) أنتو	Tu تو
8) We احنا	Na نا

Sometimes in Egyptian Arabic, you just conjugate the verb, sometimes you combine it with كان which means (was or were). For example, “shereb” vs. “kan byeshrab.” The difference is really simple
“Shereb” – شرب means: Drank 1

“Kan byshrab” – كان بيشرب means: Was drinking 2

Think about using it the same way you use it in English.

Example:

He drank the juice. : Hwa shereb el3aseer.

.هو شرب العصير

I saw him while he was drinking the juice. : Ana shofto lama kan byshrab el3aseer.

.انا شفته لما كان بيشرب العصير

Irregular verbs is a thing in Arabic. Like the verb  “عايز”. usually comes only in the form kan 3ayz, or kont 3ayz.  or if you want to say “I didn’t want to” it would be “makontsh 3ayz” – مكنتش عايز

The most common thing is getting rid of the alif in the middle.

For more information, check out this cool website.

Most Common Egyptian Arabic Verbs

Let’s move onto examples. Below you will see the 10 most common Egyptian Arabic verbs, as well as the “base form” of a conjugation.

You will then see a few examples of the verb in past tense with different pronouns.

Why didn’t you eat this morning? : ma-aklt-sh leh elsob7?

ماكلتش ليه الصبح؟

To negate the past tense in Egyptian Arabic, you simply add “Ma” – ما in the beginning of the verb and “Sh” – ش at the end after using the proper conjunction.

Check out our post on making mish sandwiches for more background.

For these examples, our posts on the summer and the cinema would be helpful.

شفت ايه لحد دلوقتي النهاردة؟

 

7) Want. : y3oz/3ayz.

انت شربت خمرة في الفرح؟ انت كنت بتشرب خمرة في الفرح؟

I didn’t drink beer in years. : ana ma-shrebt-sh beera ba2ali sneen.

.انا ماشربتش بيرة بقالي سنين

Have you ever smoked before? : 3omrak shrebt sagayer 2abl keda?

عمرك شربت سجاير قبل كده؟

Like these examples?

.انت فكرت في افكار كويسة كتير

I thought of many things last night. : ana fakkart f hagat kteer embare7 belil.

.انا فكرت في حاجات كتير امبارح بليل

That’s a very smart idea, I didn’t think about it before. : De fekra zakia gedan, ana ma-fakkart-sh feha abl keda.

.دي فكرة ذكية جدا, انا مافكرتش فيها قبل كده

Note that the use of the verb think in Egyptian Arabic is used only when talking about the process of thinking about something/idea or when you think about someone.

When it comes to expressing opinions, Egyptians don’t use the verb “think” like in English.

For example:

What do you think about her? : eh ra2yak f el3arbya bta3tha? 61

ايه رأيك في العربية بتاعتها؟

For more information, check out our post on how to express opinion in Egyptian Arabic.

That’s it for now!