Egyptian Arabic Imperative: How to Give Commands

The imperative ("do it!") is built from the present stem. There are three forms: to a man, to a woman and to a group.

Making the imperative

Take the bare present for inta, inti or intu, drop the ti- prefix, and add i- at the front if the stem starts with two consonants.

Stems that start with a single consonant (like -shuuf) don't need the extra i-.

• اكتب اسمك هناiktib ismak hinaWrite your name here. (to a man)
• شوفي دهshuufi daLook at this. (to a woman)
• استنوا شويةistannu shwayyaWait a bit. (to a group)

Common irregular commands

Some of the most used commands are irregular:

Don't…

A negative command uses the full present form with ma-…-sh:

• ما تكتبشma tiktibshDon't write. (to a man)
• ما تنسيشma tinsiishDon't forget. (to a woman)
• ما تتأخروشma tit2akhkharuushDon't be late. (to a group)