Learn how to ask someone if you can take a picture
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| INTRODUCTION |
| How many times have you been on a trip with your camera, trying to immortalize an epic moment? In Egypt, there are so many amazing landscapes and people to tempt your camera, that you won’t put it away! I know you don’t want to jeopardize your marvelous album in Egypt. That’s why we’ll be devoting this lesson to more photography phrases. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to ask someone to take your picture: |
| ممكن تاخدلي صورة؟ |
| momken taḫdly ṣūra? |
| But what can you do if you want to take someone else’s picture? Sometimes with people that you don’t know, this request can be bothersome. So you must be as nice as you can. |
| “Excuse me, can I take your picture, please?” in Egyptian Arabic is |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra law samaht? |
| ممكن أخدلك صورة لو سمحت ؟ |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow)ممكن أخدلك صورة لو سمحت ؟ |
| mom-ken āḫd-lak ṣūra law samaht? |
| Once more: |
| ممكن أخدلك صورة لو سمحت؟ |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra law samaht? |
| You definitely know the meaning of law samahtți |
| momken is a noun that means “to be able to”. |
| (slow) momken. |
| momken. |
| ممكن |
| Next comes āḫdlak which means “to take for you.” |
| (slow) āḫdlak. |
| āḫdlak. |
| أخدلك |
| After that comes ṣūra which means “a picture”. |
| (slow) ṣūra. |
| ṣūra. |
| صورة |
| The whole request is |
| (slow) mom-ken āḫdl-ak ṣūra law samaht? |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra law samaht? |
| ممكن اخدلك صورة لو سمحت ؟ |
| In situations that don’t call for politeness, such as if you’re asking to take a young person’s photo, you can ask |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra? |
| ممكن اخدلك صورة؟ |
| (slow)ممكن اخدلك صورة؟ |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra? |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra? |
| The only thing we changed was that we deleted the words law samaht. |
| Once again, the whole question is |
| ممكن اخدلك صورة؟ |
| momken āḫdlak ṣūra? |
| ・ |
| Other situations where you’ll need permission to snap a photo are museums, art galleries, churches and shops. |
| “Can I take pictures in here?” in Egyptian Arabic is |
| momken ‘ ṣūir hina? |
| ممكن اصور هِنا؟ |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow)mom-ken ’ ṣūir hi-na? |
| And once again: |
| momken ‘ ṣūir hina? |
| ممكن اصور هِنا؟ |
| The first word, momken, as translated as “to be able to”. |
| ممكن |
| The second word,(اصور) ‘ ṣūir, means “to take a photo” |
| (slow) ‘ ṣū-ir |
| ‘ suir |
| اصور |
| The last word hina means “here”. |
| (slow) hi-na |
| hina |
| هِنا؟ |
| So the whole question is |
| (slow) |
| ممكن اصور هِنا؟ |
| momken ‘ ṣūir hina ? |
| momken ‘ ṣūir hina ? |
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