Learn how to describe a specific place or thing
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 13 - Going to an Egyptian Bookshop. I’m Becky. |
| Nora: السلام عليكم. I'm Nora. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use relative pronouns. The conversation takes place at a book store. Mohammed is there with his friend. They are having a debate about which book he should buy. |
| Nora: The conversation is between Mohammed and Khaled |
| Becky: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Egyptian Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| خالد : انا لقيت السي دي اللي هاشتريه ! |
| محمد: عظيم . انا بأه مش عارف اقرر اشتري ايه . |
| خالد : ليه ؟ ايه المشكلة ؟ |
| محمد : اصل ماما قالتلي ممنوع اشتري قصة خرافية , بس الكتاب ده شكلة مشوق جدا ! |
| خالد : ايه الكتاب التاني اللي معاك ؟ |
| محمد : ده الكتاب اللي ماما عايزاني اشتريه . كتاب عن التاريخ . |
| خالد : اشتري الكتاب اللي انت تحب تقراه . |
| محمد : ماشي هاعمل كدة . اتمني بس ماما ماتزعلش مني ! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| خالد : انا لقيت السي دي اللي هاشتريه ! |
| محمد: عظيم . انا بأه مش عارف اقرر اشتري ايه . |
| خالد : ليه ؟ ايه المشكلة ؟ |
| محمد : اصل ماما قالتلي ممنوع اشتري قصة خرافية , بس الكتاب ده شكلة مشوق جدا ! |
| خالد : ايه الكتاب التاني اللي معاك ؟ |
| محمد : ده الكتاب اللي ماما عايزاني اشتريه . كتاب عن التاريخ . |
| خالد : اشتري الكتاب اللي انت تحب تقراه . |
| محمد : ماشي هاعمل كدة . اتمني بس ماما ماتزعلش مني ! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Khaled: I found the CD that I am going to buy! |
| Mohammed: That's great. I can't decide what to buy. |
| Khaled: Why? What’s the problem? |
| Mohammed: My mother told me that I was forbidden from buying a fairy tale, but this book seems so interesting! |
| Khaled: What is the other book you have? |
| Mohammed: It is the book my mother wants me to buy. It's about history |
| Khaled: Buy the book that you want to read. |
| Mohammed: Ok, I will. I hope my mother doesn’t get mad at me! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Nora, do you have any good recommendation for books and bookstores in the Arab world? |
| Nora: Browsing bookstores and street vendors in the Arab world is a fascinating activity for an Arabic learner. You will find a wide variety of books, magazines, and other printed material in markets and small bookshops. |
| Becky: But listeners, when you’re browsing at small shops and street vendors, be aware of the Qurans on display. They are often bound in beautiful covers so they are interesting to look at, but be careful not to displace the religious texts, and especially do not place them on the floor for any reason. |
| Nora: That’s definitely something to keep in mind. |
| Becky: Can you also find international books? |
| Nora: Large bookstores carrying an international selection of books are found in most major cities, and the most popular ones are "Al shorouk bookstores" and "Alef bookstores". |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: السى دى [natural native speed] |
| Becky: CD |
| Nora: السى دى[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: السى دى [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: اقرر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I decide |
| Nora: اقرر[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: اقرر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: اشترى [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I buy |
| Nora: اشترى[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: اشترى [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: المشكلة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the problem |
| Nora: المشكلة[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: المشكلة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: ممنوع [natural native speed] |
| Becky: forbidden |
| Nora: ممنوع[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: ممنوع [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: مشوق [natural native speed] |
| Becky: interesting |
| Nora: مشوق[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: مشوق [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: التاريخ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: history |
| Nora: التاريخ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: التاريخ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Nora: ماتزعلش [natural native speed] |
| Becky: (she) won't be mad |
| Nora: ماتزعلش[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: ماتزعلش [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: مشوق |
| Becky: meaning "interesting" |
| Nora: This is an adjective that comes from the root شوق, which means "interest", "longing", or "yearning". Remember that if this adjective is modifying a female or an inanimate plural noun, you have to add ة to the end to make مشوقة. This word is originally in Standard Arabic, and isn’t used as much nowadays in Egyptian Arabic. The word “helw” meaning “good” is more commonly used. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. الكتاب ده مشوق جداً, شكلي هشتريه. |
| Becky: .. which means "This book is very interesting. I think I'll buy it!" |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: التاريخ |
| Becky: meaning "the history" |
| Nora: The word تاريخ can have many meanings depending on the context. It could mean "date" or it could mean "history", referring to the subject at large. |
| Becky: Can it be used to refer to the subject in school or as an adjective as in “history book”? |
| Nora: Yes, for example you can say كتاب تاريخ |
| Becky: meaning “history book” |
| Nora: or حصة تاريخ |
| Becky: Which means “history class.” Can you give us an example sentence? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. أخدتوا إيه في حصة التاريخ النهاردة؟ |
| Becky: .. which means "What did you learn in the history class today?" |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to describe a specific place or thing using relative pronouns. First, we should point out that relative pronouns, such as "that,” “which,” and “who" begin relative clauses, which describe the noun they follow. |
| Nora: In Modern Standard Arabic, there are many relative pronouns to choose from based on the number and gender of the noun being described, but there is some good news! The Egyptian dialect has only one relative pronoun, اللي (illi) which is used in reference to all nouns, regardless of gender/number. |
| Becky: So does that mean that if you wanted to say "the book that I read", you would structure the phrase almost identically to English? |
| Nora: It does! First would be الكتاب which means "the book", then use the relative pronoun اللي which means "that", followed by the verb "I read" conjugated in the past tense قريته. All together الكتاب اللي قريته |
| Becky: So there’s no difference at all? |
| Nora: The only addition is the ه at the end of the verb قريت , which is a pronoun suffix used to clarify the object of the verb. The noun kitab, “book,” is masculine, so the suffix is ه. |
| Becky:So the literal translation would be "the book that I read it" |
| Nora: If the noun had been feminine or plural, the suffix would be -ها |
| Becky: Please give us an example for this. |
| Nora: For example الأفلام اللي شفتها |
| Becky: which means "The movies that I saw" or literally, "The movies that I saw them" |
| Nora: In a sentence where the object has not already been stated, you don't have to include the suffix, just write the object of the verb instead. For example الِبنت الّلي دَرَسِت عَرَبي |
| Becky: which means "the girl who studied Arabic" |
| Nora: There is no pronoun suffix on the verb درست but it is followed by the object of the verb, عربي (Arabic) to clarify what she studied. |
| Becky: Now let’s see a plural example. |
| Nora: Sure! الفريقين اللي وصلوا النهائي |
| Becky: which means "the two teams who reached the final" |
| Nora: Note that the same relative pronoun (اللي) is used in all examples regardless of number or gender, but the verb conjugation always changes to match the subject. In the example الفريقين اللي وصلوا النهائي , الفريقين is the dual form of the word فريق which means “team”, اللي is the relative pronoun that means “who” or “that” or “which”, وصلوا is the past tense plural conjugation of the verb وصل which means “to arrive” or “to reach”. النهائي means “the final” or “ending,” which in this case refers to the final match of a tournament. |
| Becky: Please notice that relative pronouns are only used to refer to a definite noun. If you are not referring to a definite noun, you would not use a relative pronoun. Nora, can you give us some more examples please? |
| Nora: كلمت المصريين اللي بيشتغلوا في الخليج |
| Becky: “I talked to the Egyptians who work in the Gulf” |
| Nora: Note the definite noun el masreyyeen-the Egyptians. We are talking about a definite group of Egyptians here. |
| Becky: What’s another example? |
| Nora:كلمت مصريين بيشتغلوا في الخليج |
| Becky: meaning “I talked with Egyptians who work in the Gulf” |
| Nora: Note the indefinite noun masreyyeen-Egyptians. Here we are talking about a random group of Egyptians. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. To reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson, be sure to check the lesson notes. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nora: مع السلامة |
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