Egyptian Gender

Welcome to the fifth Egyptian lesson about gender. This time we will view a list of people, feminine and masculine, followed by grammar rules, finally a list of expressions in Egyptian to help you practice your daily phrases. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

man راجـِل [ragel]

woman سِت [set]

husband زوج [zug]

wife زوجة [zuga]

boy ولد [walad]

girl بنت [bent]

father أب [ab]

mother أم [um]

Gender Grammar Rules

In general, gender is used to distinguish between male and female, sometimes referred to as masculine and feminine. For example: my son and daughter are students the noun [son] is masculine, while [daughter] is feminine. The following examples use gender in different ways and places to demonstrate their behavior.

Grammar + Rules - Egyptian + Pronunciation
my son is a student [masculine + noun] إبني طالِب [ebni taleb]
her daughter is a student [feminine + noun] بِنتَها طالِبَة [bentaha taliba]
he has a tall brother [adjective + masculine] هُوَّا عَندوه أخ طَويل [huwa 'andu akh taweel]
she has a tall sister [adjective + feminine] هِيَّا عَندَها أُخت طَويلَة [hiya 'andaha ukht taweela]
his brothers are young [plural masculine + adjective] إخواتُه صُغَيَّرين [ekhwatuh sughayareen]
his sisters are young [plural feminine + adjective] إخواتها صُغَيَّرين [ekhwat-ha sughayareen]

The list below will probably provide more clarification. These are family members (males and females). I think it would be wise to memorize them as part of your important vocabulary list.

son ابن [ebn]

daughter بنت [bent]

brother أخ [akh]

sister أخت [ukht]

grandfather جـِد [ged]

grandmother جِدة [gedda]

child طِفْل [tefl]

children أطْفال [atfaal]

Expressions in Egyptian

Now it's time to practice expressions used in daily conversations. If you're a beginner in learning Egyptian, then the phrases below are something you would want to know.

English - Egyptian - Pronunciation
What do you mean? أصْدَك إيه؟ [asdak eeh?]
I don't understand أنا مِش فاهِم [ana mesh fahem]
I don't know أنا مَعْرَفش [ana ma'rafsh]
What is that called in Egyptian? دا إسمُه إيه بالمَصري؟ [da esmu eeh belmasri?]
What is this? إيه دا؟ [eeh da?]
What does that word mean in English? الكِلمَة دي مَعْناها إيه بالإنجِليزي؟ [elkelma de ma'naha eeh belinglizi?]
Sorry (if you made a mistake) أسِف [asef]

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about the gender in Egyptian. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. To see the full menu, you can also click on the "Menu" icon on the left side.