Learn basic greetings
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson, we’ll cover basic greetings for the appropriate time of the day. As there are quite a few to cover, let's jump right in. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| We’re going to start with the more formal ones first. |
| ・ |
| The most common greeting, and the one you’ll hear most in Egypt is al-salāmu ʿalaykum. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) al-salāmu ʿalaykum. |
| Once more: |
| al-salāmu ʿalaykum. |
| al-salām means “peace” |
| (slow) al-salām |
| al-salām |
| And ʿalaykum means “on you” |
| (slow) ʿalaykum |
| ʿalaykum |
| Altogether it means “Peace be on you”. |
| al-salāmu ʿalaykum. |
| . |
| In Egyptian Arabic, “Good morning” is |
| ṣabāḥ ilḫīr. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ṣabāḥ ilḫīr. |
| Once more: |
| ṣabāḥ ilḫīr. |
| The first word, ṣabāḥ, means “the morning.” |
| (slow) ṣabāḥ. |
| ṣabāḥ. |
| The second word ilḫīr means “good”. Here it is again: |
| (slow) ilḫīr. |
| ilḫīr. |
| Literally it means “Morning of the good”. |
| Let’s hear it again: |
| (slow) ṣabāḥ ilḫīr. |
| ṣabāḥ ilḫīr. |
| ・ |
| In Egyptian Arabic, “Good afternoon” and “Good evening” is |
| masāʾ ilḫīr. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) masāʾ ilḫīr. |
| Once more: |
| masāʾ ilḫīr. |
| The first word, masāʾ, means “the evening.” |
| (slow) masāʾ. |
| masāʾ. |
| ilḫīr, as we saw before, means “good” |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) masāʾ ilḫīr. |
| masāʾ ilḫīr. |
| ・ |
| In Arabic, “good night” is |
| tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr. |
| This expression is a goodnight greeting, and just like in English is also said before going to sleep. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr. |
| Once more: |
| tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr. |
| The first word, tiṣbaḥ, means “to wake up” |
| (slow) tiṣbaḥ. |
| tiṣbaḥ. |
| Next we have ʿalā which literally means “on”, and ḫīr, that means “good”. |
| (slow) ʿalā ḫīr. |
| ʿalā ḫīr. |
| Once again, that’s: |
| (slow) tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr. |
| tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr. |
| tiṣbaḥ ʿalā ḫīr means “May you wake up in good shape”. |
| ・ |
| All of these expressions can be used in informal and formal situations as well. However, with friends, feel free to use other ways of greeting. Let’s take a look at them. |
| ・ |
| The most common way of saying “Hello” in Egyptian Arabic is |
| Hi! |
| (slow) Hi! |
| Hi! |
| هاي |
| Use this word with your friends and with young people. |
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