Learn how to ask the speaker to repeat themselves
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Usually Egyptians make an effort to speak English with foreigners. Even so, for different reasons, there might be many times when you will not catch all or any of their words. Either their English is not good enough or, if Egyptian Arabic is the language they use, their native speed might be a problem for you. |
| When this happens, asking the speaker to say it again can make the difference between understanding a crucial piece of information, and spending the rest of the day trying to figure out what it was. The following phrase will not only give you a better sense of the language, but it will also help you tune your ear! |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In Egyptian Arabic, "Excuse me, could you repeat it again?" is |
| maʿlesh, momken teʿeed elli olto tany? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) maʿlesh, momken teʿeed elli olto tany? |
| Once more: |
| maʿlesh, momken teʿeed elli olto tany? |
| معلش, ممكن تعيد إلّي قولته تاني؟ |
| The first word maʿlesh is translated as “Excuse me.” |
| (slow) maʿlesh. |
| maʿlesh. |
| After this comes momken, which means “Could you..” |
| (slow) momken. |
| momken. |
| Then comes the verb teʿeed, meaning “repeat” |
| (slow) teʿeed. |
| teʿeed. |
| Then comes elli olto, the phrase meaning “what you said” |
| (slow) elli olto. |
| elli olto. |
| Then comes tany meaning “again”. |
| (slow) tany. |
| tany. |
| All together, that’s “Excuse me, could you repeat what you said again?” |
| (slow) maʿlesh, momken teʿeed elli olto tany? |
| maʿlesh, momken teʿeed elli olto tany? |
| ・ |
| If you’re speaking to a person your age or to a friend, you can just say “What?”: |
| eih? |
| (slow) eih? |
| eih? |
| إيه؟ |
| eih? is especially used when you want someone to repeat one word you didn’t hear or understand, like the names of people or places. |
| . |
| You can also say “What did you say?” in some cases, but it might sound a bit aggressive, so use it wisely. |
| olt eih? |
| (slow) olt eih? |
| olt eih? |
| قولت إيه؟ |
| When the reason for not understanding is the speed, you may want to say “Can you speak a bit slower, please”. In Egyptian Arabic: |
| momken tetkallem abta’ shwayya? |
| (slow) momken tetkallem abta’ shwayya? |
| momken tetkallem abta’ shwayya? |
| ممكن تتكلم أبطأ شوية؟ |
| The first word, momken, means “Could you..”. |
| The second word, tetkallem, is a form of the verb that means “to talk.” |
| (slow) tetkallem |
| tetkallem |
| Next we have abta’, which means “slower”. |
| (slow) abta’ |
| abta’ |
| Finally we have shwayya, which means “a bit”. |
| (slow) shwayya |
| shwayya |
| So the whole phrase means “Can you speak a bit slower, please” |
| Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time: |
| momken tetkallem abta’ shwayya? |
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