Prepositions

Prepositions define a relationship (in time, space,etc) between a noun and something else. In both English and Egyptian, the preposition goes before the noun that it defines the relationship to. Here are some examples:

Domain	English	Egyptian		Example
time	after	baAdbaAd	بـَعد	she came after dinner hiya gaat baAd ilAasha'hiya gaat baAd iil-AashaaC هـِي َ جا َت بـَعد ا ِلعـَشا َء
space	behind	warawaraa	و َراَ	the garden is behind the house ilgineena wara ilbiytiil-ginynao waraa iil-biyt ا ِلجـِنينـَة و َرا َ ا ِلبـِيت
quality	like	zayizayy	ز َيي	I need another pen like this mihtaag 'alam thaani zayi dahmiHtaag qalam thaany zayy dah مـِحتا َج قـَلـَم ثا َني ز َيي د َه
reference	according to	hasabHasab	حـَسـَب	according to the police, the riot started at 2am hasab kalaam ilboolees, ilshaGab 'ibtada ilsaaAa ithneenHasab kalaam iil-bwlys, iil-shaGab iicbtadY iil-saaAao iithnyn حـَسـَب كـَلا َم ا ِلبوليس، ا ِلشـَغـَب إبتـَدى ا ِلسا َعـَة ا ِثنين
ownership	have	AandAand	عـَند	I have a house in Cairo Aandi biyt fi il'ahraAandy biyt fy iil-qaahirao عـَندي بـِيت في ا ِلقا َهـِر َة

The noun can be one of the following:

Element	Example	Sentence
proper noun	Ahmed	she is with Ahmed hiya maAa 'ahmadhiya maAa aacHmad هـِي َ مـَع َ أحمـَد
simple noun	the house	the cat is inside the house il'uTTa guwwa ilbiytiil-quTTao guwwaa iil-biyt ا ِلقـُطّـَة جـُوّا َ ا ِلبـِيت
compound noun	a plastic bag	I don't want a plastic bag aana mish Aaayiz kees blastikaancaa mish Aaayiz kys blastik ا َنا َ مـِش عا َيـِز كيس بلـَستـِك
noun phrase	the man who...	I arrived after the man who delivered the carpet waSalt baAd ilraagil illi waSal ilsigaadawaSalt baAd iil-raagil iil-ly waSal iil-sigaadao و َصـَلت بـَعد ا ِلرا َجـِل ا ِلّي و َصـَل ا ِلسـِجا َد َة
object pronoun	her	I arrived after her waSalt baAdahawaSalt baAd-aha و َصـَلت بـَعد َهـَ
demonstrative pronoun	this	I need another pen like this mihtaag 'alam thaani zayi dahmiHtaag qalam thaany zayy dah مـِحتا َج قـَلـَم ثا َني ز َيي د َه

Be careful! If it's not a noun, but a complete clause (ie it has a verb), you have to use a conjunction. In English, it's confusing because the preposition and conjunction are often the same word: in Egyptian it is necessary to insert the word mamaa ماَ to convert a preposition ot a conjunction. See more about this below.

Prepositions of time

English	Egyptian		Example
after	baAdbaAd	بـَعد	we will start after the feast hanibtidi baAd ilAiydhanibtidy baAd iil-Aiyd هـَنـِبتـِدي بـَعد ا ِلعـِيد
before	'ablqabl	قـَبل	I must paint the house before summer laazim 'adhin ilbiyt 'abl ilSeeflaazim aacd-hin iil-biyt qabl iil-Syf لا َز ِم أدهـِن ا ِلبـِيت قـَبل ا ِلصيف
during	athna'aathnaaC	ا َثنا َء	smoking is forbidden during dinner iltadKeen mamnooA 'athna' ilAasha'iil-tadKyn mamnwA aacthnaaC iil-AashaaC ا ِلتـَدخين مـَمنوع أثنا َء ا ِلعـَشا َء
till	lihaddliHadd	لـِحـَدّ	I will be here till dinner 'ana mawgood lihadd ilAasha'aacnaa mawgwd liHadd iil-AashaaC أنا َ مـَوجود لـِحـَدّ ا ِلعـَشا َء
till	liGaayitliGaayio	لـِغا َيـِة	they are busy until 8pm humma mawgoodeen liGaayit saaAa tamanyahumma mawgwdyn liGaayio saaAao tamaanyao هـُمّ َ مـَوجودين لـِغا َيـِة سا َعـَة تـَما َنيـَة

Prepositions of space

English	Egyptian		Example
from	minmin	مـِن	he is from Cairo huwwa min ilQahrahuwwa min iil-Qaahirao هـُوّ َ مـِن ا ِلقا َهـِر َة
away from	AanAan	عـَن	the dog ran away from me ilkalb garri minniiil-kalb garry min-ny ا ِلكـَلب جـَرّي مـِنني
at/toward	AalaAalY	عـَلى	that man is looking at us ilraagil dah baSS Aaleenaiil-raagil dah baSS Aaly-naa ا ِلرا َجـِل د َه بـَصّ عـَليناَ
at	fify	في	my husband is at home goozi fi ilbiytgwzy fy iil-biyt جوزي في ا ِلبـِيت
above	foo'fwq	فوق	my apartment is above the laundry sha''ati foo' ilmaGsalashaqqat-y fwq iil-maGsalao شـَقّـَتي فوق ا ِلمـَغسـَلـَة
below	tahttaHt	تـَحت	there are many many fish under the water fi samak kiteer taht ilmayaahfy samak kityr taHt iil-mayaah في سـَمـَك كـِتير تـَحت ا ِلمـَيا َه
opposite	'uSaadquSaad	قـُصا َد	the restaurant is opposite the railway station ilmaTaAm 'uSaad mahaTTit il'aTaariil-maTaAm quSaad maHaTTio iil-qaTaar ا ِلمـَطـَعم قـُصا َد مـَحـَطّـِة ا ِلقـَطا َر
opposite	'ubaalqubaal	قـُبا َل
facing	fi wishshfy wishsh	في و ِشّ	the house is facing the desert ilbiyt fi wishsh ilSahara'iil-biyt fy wishsh iil-SaHaraaC ا ِلبـِيت في و ِشّ ا ِلصـَحـَرا َء
at	AandAand	عـَند	the customs office is at the airport maktab ilgamaarik Aand ilmaTaarmaktab iil-gamaarik Aand iil-maTaar مـَكتـَب ا ِلجـَما َر ِك عـَند ا ِلمـَطا َر
at	AandAand	عـَند	turn right at the pharmacy Kushsh yimeen Aand ilSayidaliyaKushsh yimyn Aand iil-Sayidaliyao خـُشّ يـِمين عـَند ا ِلصـَيـِد َلـِيـَة
behind	warawaraa	و َراَ	the cat is behind you (f) il'uTTa waraakiiil-quTTao waraa-ky ا ِلقـُطّـَة و َرا َكي
beside	gambgamb	جـَمب	there was an accident beside the mosque kaan fi hadtha ganb ilgamAakaan fy Haadthao ganb iil-gaamAa كا َن في حا َدثـَة جـَنب ا ِلجا َمعَ
in	fify	في	the dog is in the garden ilkalb fi ilgineenaiil-kalb fy iil-ginynao ا ِلكـَلب في ا ِلجـِنينـَة
inside	guwaguwaa	جـُواَ	we must stay inside the house laazim ni'Aud guwa ilbiytlaazim niqAud guwaa iil-biyt لا َز ِم نـِقعـُد جـُوا َ ا ِلبـِيت
outside	barabaraa	بـَراَ	do you want anything from outside? Aaayiz haga min baraa?Aaayiz Hagao min baraa? عا َيـِز حـَجـَة مـِن بـَرا َ؟
on	AalaAalY	عـَلى	the bread is on the table ilAeesh Aala iltarabeezaiil-Aysh AalY iil-tarabyzao ا ِلعيش عـَلى ا ِلتـَر َبيز َة
between	beenbyn	بين	Hurghada is between the desert and the sea ilGarda'a been ilSahara' wa ilbahriil-Gardaqao byn iil-SaHaraaC wa iil-baHr ا ِلغـَرد َقـَة بين ا ِلصـَحـَرا َء و َ ا ِلبـَحر
along	biilToolbi-iil-Twl	بـِا ِلطول	there are lamp posts all along the street fi Aawameed noor biilTool ilshaariAfy Aawaamyd nwr bi-iil-Twl iil-shaariA في عـَوا َميد نور بـِا ِلطول ا ِلشا َر ِع
surrounding	hawaleenHawalyn	حـَو َلين	The view surrounding the house is very beautiful ilmanZar hawaleen ilbiyt gameel 'awiiil-manZar Hawalyn iil-biyt gamyl qawy ا ِلمـَنظـَر حـَو َلين ا ِلبـِيت جـَميل قـَوي

Note that you don't need a prepositional to after words like raahraaH را َح - go.

I am going to Cairo aacnaa raayiH iil-Qaahirao

Miscellaneous Prepositions

English	Egyptian		Example
concerning	'amaa... fa...aacmaa... fa...	أما َ٫٫٫ فـَ٫٫٫
like	zayizayy	ز َيي	do you have something like this? Aandak haaga zayi dih?Aandak Haagao zayy dih? عـَند َك حا َجـَة ز َيي د ِه؟
there is	fify	في	there is a stain on this shirt fi bu'Aa Aala il'ameeS dihfy buqAao AalY iil-qamyS dih في بـُقعـَة عـَلى ا ِلقـَميص د ِه
about	AanAan	عـَن	I am reading a book about the revolution ba'ra kitaab Aan ilthoorabaqraa kitaab Aan iil-thwrao بـَقرا َ كـِتا َب عـَن ا ِلثور َة
according to	hasabHasab	حـَسـَب	according to Ahmed, it will be windy tomorrow hasab kalaam 'ahmad, haykoon fi hawa' kiteer bukrahHasab kalaam aacHmad, Haykwn fy hawaaC kityr bukrah حـَسـَب كـَلا َم أحمـَد، حـَيكون في هـَوا َء كـِتير بـُكر َه
contrary	AaksAaks	عـَكس	my opinion is contrary to yours r'ayi Aaks r'ayakraacy-y Aaks raacy-ak رأيي عـَكس رأيـَك
except	'ilaiiclaa	إلاَ	there is no food except this bread mafish akl 'ila ilAayshsh dahmafish aakl iiclaa iil-Aayshsh dah مـَفـِش ا َكل إلا َ ا ِلعـَيشّ د َه
except	maAadamaAadaa	مـَعـَداَ
instead of	baddalbaddal	بـَدّ َل	give us chicken instead of beef 'ideena firaaK baddal illahmaiicdy-naa firaaK baddal iil-laHmao إدينا َ فـِرا َخ بـَدّ َل ا ِلّـَحمـَة
despite	biilraGm minbi-iil-raGm min	بـِا ِلر َغم مـِن	he succeeded despite his injuries nigih biilraGm min ziraaAuh ilmaksoornigiH bi-iil-raGm min dhiraaA-uh iil-makswr نـِجـِح بـِا ِلر َغم مـِن ذ ِرا َعـُه ا ِلمـَكسور
plus	zaa'idzaaycid	زا َئـِد	there are ten guests plus two staff fi Aashara Duyoof zaa'id 'ithneen muwaZafeenfy Aasharao Duywf zaaycid iicthnyn muwaZafyn في عـَشـَر َة ضـُيوف زا َئـِد إثنين مـُو َظـَفين

Prepositions of ownership

This important group is discussed in more detail in the section on ownership.

English	Egyptian		Example
own	AandAand	عـَند	I own a car Aandi AarabiyaAandy Aarabiyao عـَندي عـَر َبـِيـَة
have with you	maAamaAa	مـَعَ	I have a cigarette lighter maAayah walaaAamaAayah walaaAao مـَعـَيـَه و َلا َعـَة
have got	lily	لي	I have two legs li rigleenly riglyn لي ر ِجلين
for	AalashaenAalashaen	عـَلـَشا َن	there was a phone call for you kaan fi mukalma Aalashaenakkaan fy mukalmao Aalashaenak كا َن في مـُكـَلمـَة عـَلـَشا َن َك

Subordinate clauses: maa

A preposition connects a noun to a sentence. If you want to connect a clause (something with a verb) to a sentence, you need to use a conjunction.

In English, many conjunctions are the same as prepositions: In Egyptian, some prepositions can be converted to a conjunction by adding the word mamaa ماَ. Here are some examples:

Preposition	Conjunction
wash your hands before dinner 'iGsil ieedeek 'abl ilAasha'iicGsil iiydy-k qabl iil-AashaaC إغسـِل ا ِيديك قـَبل ا ِلعـَشا َء	wash your hands before you eat 'iGsil ieedeek 'abl ma taakuliicGsil iiydy-k qabl maa taakul إغسـِل ا ِيديك قـَبل ما َ تا َكـُل
she arrived after the bus hiya waSalit baAd ilmasarahiyahiya waSalit baAd iil-masaraHiyao هـِي َ و َصـَلـِت بـَعد ا ِلمـَسـَر َحـِيـَة	she arrived after the bus had gone hiya waSalit baAd ma ilmasrahiya 'ibtadithiya waSalit baAd maa iil-masraHiyao iicbtadit هـِي َ و َصـَلـِت بـَعد ما َ ا ِلمـَسر َحـِيـَة إبتـَد ِت
he acts like the owner biyitSarraf zayi ilmaalikbiyitSarraf zayy iil-maalik بـِيـِتصـَرّ َف ز َيي ا ِلما َلـِك	he acts as if he owns the place biyitSarraf zayi ma yikoon ilmakaan bitaaAuhbiyitSarraf zayy maa yikwn iil-makaan bitaaAuh بـِيـِتصـَرّ َف ز َيي ما َ يـِكون ا ِلمـَكا َن بـِتا َعـُه

yikoonyikwn يـِكون is added in the last example because it is something that is unlikely to happen. See kaan for more details.