Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In the last lesson, you learned how to get a table at a restaurant, but you have to know that sometimes it can be difficult to get a seat, especially on the weekends. The best thing to do, without a doubt, is to make a reservation for the time you want to eat.
GRAMMAR POINT
In this lesson, we'll cover making a reservation at a restaurant.
Normally you will make a phone call to reserve a table. You would say “I would like to make a reservation for tonight”.
ʿayez aḥgez tarabeeza lel naharda belleel law samaḥt.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ʿayez aḥgez tarabeeza lel naharda belleel law samaḥt.
Once more:
ʿayez aḥgez tarabeeza lel naharda belleel law samaḥt.
عايز أحجز ترابيزة لو سمحت
The first word, ʿayez, is translated as “I would like”. Literally it means “would like.” In Egyptian Arabic, the subject is not necessary in this sentence.
(slow) ʿayez.
ʿayez.
Next we have the word ahgez, which is translated in English as “to reserve”.
(slow) ahgez.
ahgez.
Next we have tarabeeza which means “table.”
(slow) tarabeeza.
tarabeeza.
Next we have lel naharda belleel which means “for tonight.”
(slow) lel naharda belleel.
lel naharda belleel.
The last word, law samaht, means “Please”:
(slow) law samaht.
law samaht.
Normally you’ll be asked “For how many people?” and “What time would you like a table?”
“For how many people?” in Egyptian Arabic is:
kam fard?
Let’s break it down:
kam fard?
Once more:
kam fard?
كام فرد؟
The first word, kam, means “How many/much”
(slow) kam
kam
This is followed by fard, meaning “person”
(slow) fard
fard
Let’s say you want to reserve a table for three. You’ll answer: “For three people, please.”
talaata.
(slow) talaata.
talaata.
تلاتة
talaata means “three”.
You might think that it’s too short, but that’s how we say it!
Finally, they will ask you the time of your reservation.
el saʿa kam?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) el saʿa kam?
Once more:
el saʿa kam?
الساعة كام؟
el saʿa means “hour”
(slow) el saʿa
el saʿa
And kam means “how much/many”
(slow) kam
kam
Altogether, it means “At what time?”
el saʿa kam?
Let’s say you want to reserve a table at eight o’clock. You will say “At eight o’clock, please.” In Egyptian Arabic that is:
tamanya.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) tamanya.
Once more:
tamanya.
تمانية
tamanya means “eight” or “eight o’clock”.

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