Learn how to answer the first question you are asked at an Egyptian restaurant
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Egypt is famous for its tasty food and fresh juices. There is a wide variety of Egyptian dishes, and your job as a visitor is to try as many different meals as possible! However, before you start eating, you have to get to the table! In this lesson, we'll cover getting to the table in a restaurant. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| When entering an Egyptian restaurant, you’ll be greeted with ahlan wa sahlan, which is translated as “welcome” |
| (slow) ahlan wa sahlan! |
| ahlan wa sahlan! |
| أهلاً و سهلاً |
| The first word ahlan means “welcome”. |
| (slow) ahlan. |
| ahlan. |
| Next we have wa sahlan which is a phrase that can be roughly translated to “Make yourself at home” |
| (slow) wa sahlan |
| wa sahlan |
| ・ |
| When you enter a restaurant, a waiter or waitress will come and greet you, and often ask you |
| the question “How many people are you?” In Egyptian Arabic, this is |
| kam shakhas? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) kam shakhas? |
| Once more: |
| kam shakhas? |
| كام نفر؟ |
| The first word, kam, means “how many?” |
| (slow) kam |
| kam |
| After this comes shakhas, which means “persons” or “people”. |
| (slow) shakhas |
| shakhas |
| Altogether, it is: |
| kam shakhas? |
| ・ |
| Now let’s learn to answer. You might tell the waiter or waitress |
| etneen which in English means “Two.” |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) etneen. |
| Once again: |
| etneen. |
| إتنين |
| Let’s take a look at some of the numbers you might need here, from two to five: |
| 2 etneen |
| (slow) etneen |
| إتنين |
| 3 talaata |
| (slow) talaata |
| تلاتة |
| 4 arbaʿa |
| (slow) arbaʿa |
| أربعة |
| 5 ḫamsa |
| (slow) ḫamsa |
| خمسة |
| If you are just one person, say ana bas. We will translate it as “only me” or “just me”. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) ana bas. |
| Once more: |
| ana bas. |
| أنا بس |
| The first word, ana, means “I” |
| (slow) ana. |
| ana. |
| After this we have bas which is translated as “only.” |
| (slow) bas |
| bas |
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