Present Tense Verbs in Egyptian Arabic (1-10)

Today we are covering the most common present tense verbs in Egyptian Arabic.

10 of them, to be exact. We’ll be continuing with the most common 50 verbs in future posts.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it’s helpful to study to see how Egyptian Arabic verb conjugations work.

Let’s get started.

Most Common Egyptian Arabic Verbs: 1-10

We will start with a conjugation table of our first verb “eat.”

As you can see, the root verb (before it is conjugated) starts with the letter ي. After you conjugate it, the only verbs that keep the ي are “he” and “they.”

1) I أنا	B – Verb ب-اكل
2) You (masculine) أنت	Bt – verb بت-اكل
3) You (fem) أنتي	Bt  – verb – y بت-اكل-ي
4) He هو	By – verb بي-اكل
5) She 5 هي	Bt – verb بت-اكل
6) They هما	By -verb- o بي-اكل-و
7) You people  (You all) أنتو	Bt – verb – o بت-اكل-و
8) We احنا	Bn-verb بن-اكل

Let’s look at how these conjugations actually sound:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

Refer back to the list above for all these present tense verbs in Egyptian Arabic.

Let’s move onto our list:

1) Eat. : yakol.

.ياكل

We are eating pizza. : ehna bnakol pizza.

.احنا بناكل بيتزا

What do they eat after school? : homa beyakoloo ay eh ba3d el madarasa?

هما بياكلو ايه بعد المدرسة ؟

How to order at a restaurant in Egyptian Arabic.

 

2) Do. : ye3ml

.يعمل

What are you (masc.) doing? : bt3mel eh?

بتعمل ايه؟

They are doing something right now. : homa by3mlo 7aga dlwa2ti.

.هما بيعملو حاجة دلوقتي

 

3) Say. : y2ol.

.يقول

I am saying something important. : ana ba2ol 7aga mohema.

.انا بقول حاجة مهمة

What are you guys saying? : ento bt2olo eh ya gama3a?

انتو بتقولو ايه يا جماعة؟

 

4) Make. : ye3ml.

.يعمل

My mother is making dinner. : mamty bte3ml el ghada.

.مامتي بتعمل الغدا

Do you (masc.) make breakfast everyday? : enta bt3mel fetar kol yom?

انت بتعمل فطار كل يوم؟

 

5) Go. : yerou7/ray7.

.يروح

Quite a few examples of “go” today.

He goes to the supermarket everyday. : hwa byero7 el supermarket kol yom.

.هو بيروح السوبرماركت كل يوم

Where are you (masc.) going? : enta ray7 fen?

انت رايح فين؟

Where do you (fem.) go in summer? : btro7y fen fel seef?

بتروحي فين في الصيف؟

How to talk about the summer in Egyptian Arabic.

He is going to the bus station. : hwa ray7 ma7tet el autobees.

.هو رايح محطة الاتوبيس

He goes to the school everyday by bus. : hwa byro7 elmadrasa kol yom bel autobees.

.هو بيروح المدرسة كل يوم بالاتوبيس

 

6) See. : yshof/ shayf.

.يشوف/شايف

I see the cat outside. : ana shayf el otta bara.

.انا شايف القطة بره

Do you (masc.) see your friends from school? : btshoof sohabak mn elmadrasa?

بتشوف صحابك من المدرسة؟

 

7) Want. : y3oz/3ayz.

.عايز

I want a big family. : ana 3ayz 3ela kbera.

.انا عايز عيلة كبيرة

What do you (feminine) want? : enty 3ayza eh?

انتي عايزة ايه؟

Keep in mind that “want” is often pronounced OWizz when describing saying “I want…”

Also, check out how to talk about your family in Egyptian Arabic for more family vocab!

 

8) Work. : yshtaghal.

.يشتغل

I work every day, unfortunately. : ana bashtaghal kol yoom, lelasaf.

.انا بشتغل كل يوم للاسف

What does she do for work (what does she work)? : hya btshtaghal eh?

هي بتشتغل ايه؟

Check oow to talk about your job in Egyptian Arabic.

 

9) Drink. : yeshrab.

.يشرب

You (feminine) drink too much coffee. : enti btshrabi ahwa kter awy.

.انتي بتشربي قهوة كتير قوي

Does your father drink beer? : babak byshrab beera?

باباك بيشربيرة؟

Like these two examples?

Then go learn some more about ordering an ahwa and buying alcohol in Egyptian Arabic.

 

10) Think. : yefkar.

.يفكر

I think about my future. : ana bafkar f most2bali.

.انا بفكر في مستقبلي

The future tense in Egyptian Arabic.

They are thinking about coming with us. : homa byfakaro ygo ma3ana.

.هما بيفكرو يجو معانا

How to express opinion.

We’ll be back in two weeks with words 11-20.

Until then…good luck with your conjugations, you nerd! 🙂

…

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo