Egyptian speech has explicitly distant forms داك dāk (masculine singular), ديك dīk (feminine singular), and دولاك dōlāk (plural). They mean roughly “that one over there / those over there.” They are useful for recognition, but they are not the unmarked everyday Cairo equivalent of English that/those: a mainstream Cairene speaker can normally use ده، دي، دول for both near and far reference and add هناك “over there.”
The distant forms carry more social and regional information than an English translation suggests. Some speakers use them as part of their ordinary variety; a Cairene speaker may use them for deliberate contrast, expressive pointing, imitation, or a regionally colored voice. This page therefore teaches their grammar while keeping ده هناك as the safest neutral Cairo production choice. Review the unmarked agreement set on ده، دي، and دول.
The three-form pattern
| Referent | Neutral form | Marked distant form | Neutral Cairo paraphrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | ده da | داك dāk | ده هناك da hunāk |
| feminine singular | دي di | ديك dīk | دي هناك di hunāk |
| plural individuals | دول dōl | دولاك dōlāk | دول هناك dōl hunāk |
The final -ك contributes distal force. It does not change the noun’s gender or number; choose the base form first, then the distant member of the same agreement set.
Rule 1: use agreement exactly as with ده، دي، دول
الولد داك واقف عند البوابة
il-walad dāk wāʾif ʿand il-bawwāba
That boy over there is standing by the gate.
العربية ديك شكلها قديم
il-ʿarabiyya dīk shaklha ʾadīm
That car over there looks old.
الناس دولاك مستنيين الأتوبيس
in-nās dōlāk mistannyīn il-ʾotobīs
Those people over there are waiting for the bus.
Masculine ولد selects داك, feminine عربية selects ديك, and a group of people selects دولاك. Nonhuman plurals may instead be construed as feminine singular, just as neutral Cairo can use دي with them.
Rule 2: position still distinguishes pronoun from modifier
The distant forms can stand alone or follow a complete definite noun phrase. Initial داك means “that one”; postnominal الكتاب داك means “that book.”
داك بيت خالي
dāk bēt khāli
That over there is my uncle’s house.
البيت داك اتباع من سنتين
il-bēt dāk itbāʿ min santēn
That house over there was sold two years ago.
In the first sentence بيت خالي is the predicate that identifies standalone داك. In the second, داك modifies the already definite noun البيت. Preposing it mechanically from English changes the syntax.
Rule 3: neutral Cairo usually packages distance separately
The most natural mainstream Cairo contrast keeps the ordinary demonstratives and adds location.
القلم ده هنا، والقلم ده هناك
il-ʾalam da hina, wil-ʾalam da hunāk
This pen is here, and that pen is over there.
ـ أنهي شنطة؟ ـ الشنطة دي هناك، مش الشنطة دي هنا
— ʾanhi shanṭa? — ish-shanṭa di hunāk, mish ish-shanṭa di hina
— Which bag? — That one over there, not this one here.
The second example shows the neutral Cairene strategy: the same دي occurs with both bags, while هنا/هناك supplies the distance contrast. If you hear marked الشنطة ديك in another speaker’s variety, learn it with that variety’s agreement system rather than copying one form randomly.
Because distributions differ, there is no honest map saying that every Alexandrian, Delta, Upper Egyptian, or Bedouin speaker uses one identical three-form paradigm. Richer distance contrasts are especially available outside the neutral urban Cairo baseline (regional/community), but their exact forms and agreement require local description.
Rule 4: definite relative clauses still use invariant اللي
A distant demonstrative makes the referent definite, so an identifying relative normally follows with اللي. The linker does not agree; the demonstrative and resumptive material carry the relevant features.
الست ديك اللي واقفة عند الباب جارتي
is-sitt dīk illi wāʾfa ʿand il-bāb gārti
That woman over there who is standing by the door is my neighbor.
This relative has a subject gap: the woman is understood as the subject of واقفة. Object and prepositional roles normally use resumptive suffixes:
البيت داك اللي صورته محتاج ترميم
il-bēt dāk illi ṣawwarto meḥtāg tarmīm
That house over there that I photographed needs restoration.
الموضوع داك اللي حكيتلك عنه خلص
il-mawḍūʿ dāk illi ḥakētlak ʿanno khiliṣ
That matter I told you about is over.
In صورته, ـه resumes the object; in عنه, the preposition carries the suffix. English can leave a gap or strand about, but Egyptian does not ask اللي to encode those roles.
A genuinely indefinite antecedent commonly has no اللي:
محتاج حد يوصل الطلب للعنوان البعيد
meḥtāg ḥadd yiwaṣṣal iṭ-ṭalab lil-ʿunwān il-baʿīd
I need someone who can deliver the order to the distant address.
A pointing and identification dialogue
ـ تقصد أنهي بيت؟ ـ البيت داك، اللي بعد الجامع. ـ اللي بابه أخضر؟ ـ أيوه، داك
— tiʾṣod ʾanhi bēt? — il-bēt dāk, illi baʿd il-gāmiʿ. — illi bābo ʾakhḍar? — ʾaywa, dāk
— Which house do you mean? — That house over there, the one past the mosque. — The one whose door is green? — Yes, that one.
The dialogue moves from postnominal البيت داك to standalone داك. A neutral Cairene speaker could replace both with البيت ده هناك and ده while pointing.
Register and variation
ده، دي، دول + هناك is the production baseline for mainstream Cairo (informal/neutral). داك، ديك، دولاك are recognition-important but regionally and socially marked in Cairo (regional/social/expressive). Film, comedy, and song may select them to construct a character voice (performance language); that does not make the forms inherently comic. MSA ذلك، تلك، أولئك belongs to formal writing and prepared speech (formal/MSA). Age, class, migration history, and community networks all affect which spoken forms sound ordinary.
Common Mistakes
❌ البنت داك واقفة بعيد
Incorrect agreement in the three-form pattern—feminine بنت requires ديك.
✅ البنت ديك واقفة بعيد عن الزحمة
il-bint dīk wāʾfa baʿīd ʿan iz-zaḥma
That girl over there is standing away from the crowd.
❌ داك الكتاب وقع
Incorrect for the intended attributive phrase ‘that book fell’—the demonstrative belongs after the definite noun.
✅ الكتاب داك وقع جنب السور
il-kitāb dāk waʾaʿ gamb is-sūr
That book over there fell beside the wall.
❌ ذلك البيت بعيد
Incorrect as ordinary Cairo wording—preposed ذلك belongs to MSA rather than the neutral spoken pattern.
✅ البيت ده هناك بعيد عن الموقف
il-bēt da hunāk baʿīd ʿan il-mawʾif
That house over there is far from the bus stop.
❌ الست ديك التي ساكنة هناك قريبتي
Incorrect for ordinary Egyptian conversation—formal التي does not belong in the neutral spoken frame.
✅ الست ديك اللي ساكنة هناك قريبتي
is-sitt dīk illi sākna hunāk ʾarībti
That woman over there who lives there is my relative.
❌ المحل داك اللي اشترينا من قفل
Incorrect—من cannot be stranded; it needs a suffix resuming المحل.
✅ المحل داك اللي اشترينا منه قفل
il-maḥall dāk illi ishtarēna minno ʾafal
That shop over there that we bought from has closed.
Key Takeaways
- داك، ديك، دولاك encode explicit distance but are marked rather than required in neutral Cairo.
- Their gender, number, position, and relative-clause behavior parallel ده، دي، دول.
- For unmarked Cairene production, combine the neutral demonstrative with هناك.
- A definite distant antecedent takes invariant اللي, with resumptive suffixes for object and prepositional roles.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- ده، دي، and دولA1 — Choose the everyday Cairene demonstrative for masculine, feminine, and plural referents, and use it naturally as a pronoun or after a noun phrase.
- Standalone or Adnominal DemonstrativesA1 — Distinguish independent ده، دي، دول from the same forms used after a complete definite noun phrase.
- Demonstratives and Noun-Phrase OrderA1 — Build Cairene demonstrative phrases by placing ده، دي، or دول after the complete definite noun phrase, including adjectives and possessors.
- اللي: The Core Relative MarkerB1 — Use invariant اللي after definite human and nonhuman antecedents, then mark the antecedent's role with a gap or resumptive clitic.
- What Counts as Mainstream Urban Egyptian Arabic?B1 — Define the Cairene-centered production baseline without confusing broad media intelligibility with one socially uniform way of speaking.
- Cairene as a Pedagogical BaselineB1 — Use mainstream Cairo speech as a coherent learning target while recognizing urban diversity, mobility, media influence, and labeled non-Cairene systems.