Egyptian Arabic A1, Unit 3: I am from …

I am from …

Egyptian Arabic A1 · Unit 3

GoalSay where you are from and ask the other person.

New words

مِن (min) · fromفِين (fēn) · whereإِنْتَ مِن فِين؟ (inta min fēn?) · where are you from? (to a man)إِنْتِي مِن فِين؟ (inti min fēn?) · where are you from? (to a woman)أَنَا مِن مِصْر (ana min miṣr) · I am from Egyptأُوزْبَكِسْتَان (ūzbakistān) · Uzbekistanرُوسْيَا (rūsya) · Russia

Explanation

مِن means “from”. أَنَا مِن مِصْر is “I (am) from Egypt”; there is no word for “am”. فِين means “where”. To ask a man say إِنْتَ مِن فِين؟ and to ask a woman say إِنْتِي مِن فِين؟. The answer is the same for everyone: أَنَا مِن and the country. Country names are easy: you can read them like other words.

Country	Egyptian
Egypt	مِصْر
Uzbekistan	أُوزْبَكِسْتَان
Russia	رُوسْيَا

Worked examples

Ahmed

إِنْتِي مِن فِين؟

Salma

أَنَا مِن أُوزْبَكِسْتَان. وِإِنْتَ؟

Ahmed

أَنَا مِن مِصْر.

Ahmed asks Salma where she is from.

Nur

إِنْتَ مِن فِين؟

Karim

أَنَا مِن رُوسْيَا. وِإِنْتِي؟

Nur

أَنَا مِن مِصْر.

Karim and Nur talk.

The two questions.

Class activity

Write three sentences: أَنَا مِن and your country. Add the country of a friend or a famous city. Ask a person in your head: إِنْتَ مِن فِين؟ and answer for him or her.

Practice

Say: “I am from Russia”.

You ask this woman where she is from. What do you say?

Listen. A man says the country he is from. Which country: Turkey, Egypt or Russia?

What does فِين mean?

This man is from Uzbekistan. What does he say?

Introductions

I am from …