Page 266 - The Rough Guide Phrasebook - Egyptian Arabic

Articles
The definite article (the) is el:
HOW
magalla el magalla
magazine the magazine
When the noun begins with d, d, n, r, s, s, sh, t, t, z or z, the
THE
l is omitted from el and the initial consonant of the noun is
lengthened. This change is optional for the letters g and k.
Some examples of nouns where el is assimilated:
sobh es-sobh taboor et-taboor
morning the morning queue the queue
LANGUAGE
The form of el also changes when it is used with some preposi-
tions:
bee (by) + el = bil lee (to) + el = lil
WORKS
bil gow by air lil matār to the airport

lil fondo’ to the hotel
fee (in; per) + el = fil lil o’sor to Luxor
fil bahr in the sea
fil maya per cent aala (on) + el = aalal
fil ezāza per bottle aalal blāj on the beach
aalal korsee on the chair
There is no indefinite article in Arabic. For example:
fondo’ can mean ‘hotel’ or ‘a hotel’
magalla can mean ‘magazine’ or ‘a magazine’
■ A r t i c l e s / A d j e c t i v e s
Adjectives
Adjectives come after the noun they describe and agree with
the noun in gender and number. The masculine form of the
adjective is given in the English-Arabic and Arabic-English
sections of this book. The feminine of adjectives is formed by
adding -a to the masculine:
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