Learn how to ask others to take a photo for you
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson we will introduce a phrase that will surely come in handy for capturing your memories on film or memory card. Egypt has many beautiful places, so you will want to take lots of pictures of landscapes and monuments. And sometimes, you will want to be part of the picture, or include someone else too. For those times, the question “Can you take our or my picture?” will be invaluable! |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Let’s imagine first that you want to take a picture with your friends. The question you will definitely need to ask is “Can you take our picture, please?” In Egyptian Arabic, that is: |
| momken taḫdlna ṣūra law smaht? |
| ممكن تاخدلنا صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| Let’s break it down: |
| ممكن تاخدلنا صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| (slow) mom-ken-ta-ḫd-lna-ṣūra law smaht? |
| Once more: |
| ممكن تاخدلنا صورة؟ |
| momken taḫdlna ṣūra law smaht? |
| The first word,(ممكن) momken, is a noun that means “to be able to”. |
| (slow) ممكن |
| momken. |
| momken. |
| The next words, (تاخدلنا) taḫdlna, can be translated in Egyptian Arabic as ”to take for us”. |
| (slow) تاخدلنا |
| ta-ḫd-lna. |
| taḫdlna. |
| Next we have(صورة)ṣūra, which means “picture”. |
| (slow) صورة |
| ṣū-ra. |
| ṣūra. |
| And as usual, at the end, we have law smaht. ڈ |
| momken taḫdlna ṣūra law samaht. |
| ممكن تاخدلنا صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| All together, it’s |
| ممكن تاخدلنا صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| (slow)mom-ken-taḫd-lna-ṣūra-law-samaht.? |
| momken taḫdlna ṣūra law samaht? |
| Now, the phrase we just learned is formal. So let’s see how the informal version sounds: |
| ممكن تاخدلنا صورة؟ |
| momken taḫdlna ṣūra |
| (slow)ممكن تاخدلنا صورة؟ |
| momken taḫd-lna-ṣūra? |
| momken taḫdlna ṣūra |
| “would you take our picture?” |
| ・ |
| If you are on your own and you want to ask someone to take your picture, you’ll ask: |
| ممكن تاخدلي صورة؟ |
| momken taḫdly ṣūra? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| ممكن تاخدلي صورة؟ |
| (slow) mom-ken-taḫ-dly-ṣūra? |
| Again at natural speed: |
| ممكن تاخدلي صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| momken taḫdly ṣūra law samaht? |
| In this sentence,(تاخدلي) taḫdly is translated as “to take for me”. |
| ممكن تاخدلي صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| momken taḫdly ṣūra law samaht? |
| ・ |
| If there is no need to be polite, say |
| ممكن تاخدلي صورة؟ |
| momken taḫd-ly-ṣūra? |
| This is the informal version of our previous question. |
| (slow) ممكن تاخدلي صورة؟ |
| momken taḫd-ly-ṣūra? |
| momken taḫdly ṣūra? |
| would you take my photo |
| As you may have already observed, the only change was to delete the words law samaht, which means would you please? |
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