There are two ways to say "X's Y" or "the Y of X" in Egyptian: put the two nouns side by side, or use bitaa3.
Two nouns side by side (iḍāfa)
Put the thing owned first, then the owner. The first noun never takes il- ("the"), even though the meaning is "the".
- بيت أحمدbeet a7madAhmed's house
- باب البيتbaab il-beetthe door of the house
- مفتاح العربيةmuftaa7 il-3arabiyyathe car key
If the first noun is feminine, its -a becomes -it:
- عربية أبويا3arabiyyit abuuyamy father's car
- شنطة سارةshantit saaraSara's bag
bitaa3: "belonging to"
bitaa3 goes after the noun (which does take il-). It agrees with the thing owned:
| Form | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | بتاع bitaa3 | الكتاب بتاعي il-kitaab bitaa3i (my book) |
| feminine | بتاعة bitaa3it | العربية بتاعتي il-3arabiyya bita3ti (my car) |
| plural | بتوع bituu3 | الكتب بتوعي il-kutub bitu3i (my books) |
bitaa3 takes the same endings as other nouns: bitaa3ak (your), bitaa3ha (her), and so on.
When to use which
- Close, fixed relationships (family, parts of a whole) use the side-by-side form: ukht 3ali (Ali's sister).
- bitaa3 is common with borrowed words, long phrases and everyday objects: il-mubaayil bitaa3i (my mobile).
- With a pronoun, both work: kitaabi and il-kitaab bitaa3i both mean "my book".