| INTRODUCTION | 
                                                                
                                                                            | In the previous lesson, we covered how to ask, “How do you say this in Egyptian Arabic?” “azzai btʾol deh/dah bellmaṣri” Do you remember? We don’t want you to be caught off guard while in Egypt, So we’re going to introduce a very important phrase. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | GRAMMAR POINT | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Let’s start this new lesson. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | In Egyptian Arabic, “Can you write it, please?” is | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken tektebha lo samaḥit? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Let’s break it down: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) mom-ken tekte-bha lo sama-ḥit? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Once more: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken tektebha lo samaḥit? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | ممكن تكتبها لو سمحت؟ | 
                                                                
                                                                            | The first word, momken, is translated in this case as “to be able to”. Momken also makes the phrase formal. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) mom-ken. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | ممكن | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Next we have tekteb, which is translated as “you write it” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow)tiktbha . | 
                                                                
                                                                            | tektebha . | 
                                                                
                                                                            | تكتبها | 
                                                                
                                                                            | lo samaḥit  is “please”, as you may remember from our previous lessons. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | All together: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken tektebha lo samaḥit? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | This means, "Can you write it, please?” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Now, the previous phrase is not very specific. To make yourself more clear, you can say: “Can you write this phrase?” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken tekteb algomla deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | ممكن تكتب الجملة ده؟ | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Let’s break it down: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) momken tekteb algomla deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Once more: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | mom-ken tekteb algom-la deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | The new word in this question is algomla, which means “phrase” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) algomla | 
                                                                
                                                                            | aolgomla . | 
                                                                
                                                                            | الجملة | 
                                                                
                                                                            | algomla deh means “this phrase.” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow)  algom-la deh. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | algomla deh. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | الجملة ده | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow)mom-ken tekteb algom-la deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken tekteb algomla deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Also, you can say momken tekteb  alklmah deh? In English that means “Can you write down this word?” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Let’s break it down. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) mom-ken tekteb  alklmah deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | momken tekteb  alklmah deh? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | ممكن تكتب الكلمة ده؟ | 
                                                                
                                                                            | It might happen that people are not carrying a piece of paper or a pen. So before asking: momken tekteb algomla deh? try asking ,maʿak warʾa wi ʾalam? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | “Do you have paper and a pen?” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Let’s break it down: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow)ma-ʿak warʾa wi ʾa-lam? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Once more: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | maʿak warʾa wi ʾalam? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | معك ورقة و قلم؟ | 
                                                                
                                                                            | The first word, maʿak, is translated in our case as “do you have” | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow)maʿak. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | maʿak. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | معك | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Then you have warʾa, which in English is “a paper”. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) warʾa. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | warʾa. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | ورقة | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Then you have wi, which means “and”. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) wi. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | wi. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Finally we have ʾalam, which means “a pen”. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow)ʾalam. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | ʾalam. | 
                                                                
                                                                            | قلم | 
                                                                
                                                                            | Here’s the whole sentence: | 
                                                                
                                                                            | (slow) ma-ʿak warʾa wi ʾa-lam? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | maʿak warʾa wi ʾa-lam? | 
                                                                
                                                                            | As usual, before asking about someone else’s stationery supplies, it’s a good idea to say “excuse me”, which is lo samaḥit, at the beginning of the sentence. | 
                                                        
                     
Comments
Hide