Egyptian question words often sit where the answer would go, which is usually at the end of the sentence. That's different from English, where they jump to the front.
The question words
| English | Egyptian | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| what | إيه | eeh |
| where | فين | feen |
| when | إمتى | imta |
| why | ليه | leeh |
| how | إزاي | izzaay |
| who | مين | miin |
| how many / how much | كام | kaam |
| how much (price) | بكام | bikaam |
| which | أنهي | anhi |
Word order
- إنت بتعمل إيه؟inta bti3mil eeh?What are you (m) doing?
- إنتي ساكنة فين؟inti sakna feen?Where do you (f) live?
- الحفلة إمتى؟il-7afla imta?When is the party?
- ده مين؟da miin?Who's that?
leeh, izzaay and imta can also go at the start:
- ليه اتأخرت؟leeh it2akhkhart?Why were you late?
- إزايك؟izzayyak?How are you (m)?
kaam + singular
kaam takes a singular noun, just like numbers from 11 up.
- عندك كام أخ؟3andak kaam akh?How many brothers do you have?
- الساعة كام؟is-saa3a kaam?What time is it?
- ده بكام؟da bikaam?How much is this?
Yes/no questions
Just raise your voice at the end. No word order change is needed.
- إنت مصري؟inta masri?Are you Egyptian?