Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In this lesson, we'll cover phrases used for apologizing. Since you haven’t quite mastered Egyptian Arabic, it's probably a good idea to go over the phrases for apologizing, as they’ll likely come in handy.
GRAMMAR POINT・
One of the most common ways of saying “I’m sorry,” in Egyptian Arabic is
ana aasef
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ana aasef.
Once more:
ana aasef.
The first word, ana, means “I”. As you’ve probably noticed, Arabic does not need the verb “to be”.
The second word, aasef, is an adjective that means “sorry”.
(slow) aasef
aasef
Altogether, we have
(slow) ana aasef.
ana aasef.
If you are a woman, you have to replace aasef with aasefa.
ana aasefa.
(slow) ana aasefa.
ana aasefa.
You can also omit ana and just say aasef or aasefa. This works the way “excuse me” does in English.
Let’s hear it once again:
(slow) aasef
aasef
If you are a women, you have to replace aasef with aasefa.
(slow) aasefa
aasefa
If you are in the city, you will hear many people use the English “sorry” as it is, with a little bit of an Egyptian accent.
Lets hear it one more time:
(slow) sorry
sorry
It is polite, yet it is used for minor apologies.
ana aasef giddan! is another way to say you're sorry. It is used only for deeper apologies, meaning “I am very sorry.”
Let’s read it one more time:
(slow) ana aasef giddan.
ana aasef giddan.
As we learned at the beginning of this lesson, ana aasef means “I’m sorry”. Adding the word giddan, which means “so” or “very”, emphasizes the apology.
(slow) giddan
giddan
Let’s hear the whole expression one more time:
(slow) ana aasef giddan.
ana aasef giddan.

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