Egyptian Arabic A1, Unit 2: Greetings: review

Greetings: review

Egyptian Arabic A1 · Unit 2

GoalPut the greetings together in one short conversation and say goodbye.

New words

مَعَ السَّلَامَة (maʿa s-salāma) · goodbyeيَلَّا (yalla) · OK, let's goأَهْلًا (ahlan) · helloتَمَام (tamām) · fine, OK

Explanation

A full greeting follows one path: greet, ask, answer, ask back, and say goodbye. Think about who you speak to, a man or a woman, and change the ending of إِزَّيَّك, مِن فَضْلَك and تِصْبَح عَلَى خَيْر. For goodbye, say مَعَ السَّلَامَة; the other person answers with the same words. Many Egyptians first say يَلَّا, “OK, let's go”, before they leave. These phrases work in a shop, at a door or on the phone.

Step	To a man	To a woman
Greet	أَهْلًا	أَهْلًا
Ask	إِزَّيَّك	إِزَّيِّك
Say please	مِن فَضْلَك	مِن فَضْلِك
Goodbye	مَعَ السَّلَامَة	مَعَ السَّلَامَة

Worked examples

Karim

صَبَاح الخَيْر.

Nur

صَبَاح النُّور. إِزَّيَّك؟

Karim

أَنَا كُوَيِّس، الحَمْدُ لِلَّه. وِإِنْتِي؟

Nur

كُوَيِّسَة. يَلَّا، مَعَ السَّلَامَة.

Karim

مَعَ السَّلَامَة.

A morning conversation, from hello to goodbye.

Sara

مَسَاء الخَيْر. عَامْلَة إِيه؟

Hana

تَمَام، شُكْرًا. وِإِنْتِي؟

Sara

تَمَام، الحَمْدُ لِلَّه.

Two women in the evening.

Leaving: three useful phrases.

Class activity

Write a short conversation of six lines between a man and a woman. Start with صَبَاح الخَيْر or مَسَاء الخَيْر. Use إِزَّيَّك or إِزَّيِّك, one answer, وِإِنْتَ or وِإِنْتِي, and مَعَ السَّلَامَة. Read both parts aloud.

Practice

Which greeting is for the evening: صَبَاح الخَيْر or مَسَاء الخَيْر?

Listen. Is this said in the morning or before bed, and to whom?

You are a woman. Say “I'm fine, thank God”.

You meet this woman. How do you ask her “how are you?”

Say “thank you” and “goodbye”.

Greetings and politeness

Greetings: review