Egyptian uses one small set of words for both "this" and "that". The tricky part is where they go: after the noun.
The forms
| Egyptian | Transliteration | |
|---|---|---|
| this/that (masculine) | ده | da |
| this/that (feminine) | دي | di |
| these/those (plural) | دول | dool |
After the noun: "this house"
When you mean "this book" or "that girl", the noun takes il- ("the") and the demonstrative comes after it.
- الكتاب ده حلوil-kitaab da 7ilwThis book is nice.
- البنت دي أختيil-bint di ukhtiThis girl is my sister.
- الناس دول جيرانّاin-naas dool girannaThese people are our neighbours.
Before the noun: "this is a house"
Put the demonstrative first and leave the noun without il-, and you've made a whole sentence ("this is…").
- ده كتابيda kitaabiThis is my book.
- دي عربية جديدةdi 3arabiyya gdiidaThis is a new car.
Compare il-beet da (this house) with da beet (this is a house).
"That" when you need it
There are longer forms for "that one over there": dukha (m), dikha (f), dukham (pl). Day to day, most people just use da, di and dool and point.