Egyptian Arabic A1, Unit 6: Talking about my family

Talking about my family

Egyptian Arabic A1 · Unit 6

GoalSay the name and age of a family member.

New words

أَبُويَا اِسْمُه عُمَر (abūya ismu ʿumar) · my father's name is Omarأُخْتِي اِسْمَهَا سَلْمَى (ukhti ismaha salma) · my sister's name is Salmaأَخُويَا سِنُّه عَشَر سِنِين (akhūya sinnu ʿashar sinīn) · my brother is ten years oldسِنُّه (sinnu) · his ageسِنَّهَا (sinnaha) · her ageأَهْلِي مِن مِصْر (ahli min miṣr) · my parents are from Egypt

Explanation

To talk about a person, say who first, then add the name or the age with an ending. أَبُويَا اِسْمُه عُمَر means «my father, his name is Omar». أُخْتِي سِنَّهَا خَمْس سِنِين means «my sister, her age is five years». The ending follows the person you talk about: ـُه for a man and ـهَا for a woman. The word سِنّ (age) uses the numbers 3 to 10 with سِنِين, as in unit 5.

Who	Name	Age
أَخُويَا	اِسْمُه…	سِنُّه…
أُخْتِي	اِسْمَهَا…	سِنَّهَا…

Worked examples

Yusuf

أَبُوكِي اِسْمُه إِيه؟

Hana

أَبُويَا اِسْمُه مَحْمُود.

Yusuf

وِأُمِّك؟

Hana

أُمِّي اِسْمَهَا مَرْيَم.

Yusuf asks Hana about her father. Press each line.

A girl talks about her brother and sister.

My parents are from Egypt.

Class activity

Write four sentences about your family or an imagined family: the name and the age of two people. Use أَخُويَا، أُخْتِي، أَبُويَا، أُمِّي with اِسْمُه / اِسْمَهَا and سِنُّه / سِنَّهَا. Say them aloud to a friend.

Practice

Press Listen. Whose father is it?

Say «my sister is five years old».

Say «my brother's name is Ali».

A boy is eight. The picture shows a boy. Say «his age is eight years».

Which ending do you use for a woman you talk about: ـُه or ـهَا?

Family, my and your

Talking about my family