Know some Fusha? Here's how Cairo says it

5 sound shifts

Same letter on the page, a different sound in Cairo.

• ق

  Fusha: q
  Masri: 2 (a catch in the throat)

  coffee: qahwa → 2ahwa

• ج

  Fusha: j
  Masri: g as in go

  beautiful: jameel → gameel

• ث

  Fusha: th as in think
  Masri: t (s in learned words)

  three: thalatha → talata

• ذ

  Fusha: th as in this
  Masri: d (z in learned words)

  gold: dhahab → dahab

• ظ

  Fusha: heavy th
  Masri: heavy z (or d)

  envelope: dharf → zarf

6 grammar habits

No case endings, no dual verbs, and these shortcuts everywhere.

• Say “not” with ma…sh

  Masri wraps a verb in ma- … -sh, and uses mesh before nouns and adjectives. No laysa, lam or lan.

  “I don't know”

  Fusha

  لا أعرف

  la a3rif

  Masri

  مش عارف

  mesh 3aref

• Future with ha-

  Put ha- on the verb instead of sa- or sawfa.

  “I'll go tomorrow”

  Fusha

  سأذهب غداً

  sa-adhhabu ghadan

  Masri

  هروح بكرة

  ha-roo7 bokra

• “Right now” with bi-

  bi- (ba- for “I”) turns a verb into the everyday or ongoing present.

  “I'm drinking tea”

  Fusha

  أشرب الشاي

  ashrabu ash-shay

  Masri

  بشرب شاي

  bashrab shay

• Question words go last

  Keep the sentence in normal order and put eh, feen, emta or leh where the answer would be.

  “Where are you going?”

  Fusha

  إلى أين تذهب؟

  ila ayna tadhhab?

  Masri

  إنت رايح فين؟

  enta raye7 feen?

• da, di, dol after the noun

  “This” comes after the noun: el-beit da (this house), el-3arabeyya di (this car).

  “this house”

  Fusha

  هذا البيت

  hadha al-bayt

  Masri

  البيت ده

  el-beit da

• Ownership with beta3

  beta3 (m) / beta3a (f) / betoo3 (plural) means “belonging to”, a friendly alternative to stacking possessive endings.

  “my car”

  Fusha

  سيارتي

  sayyarati

  Masri

  العربية بتاعتي

  el-3arabeyya beta3ti

30 everyday words that change

Tap play to hear the Masri word. Turn on “Test yourself” to guess before you look.