Mainstream Cairene does not package every bodily experience as English I have or I hurt. A named symptom commonly follows عندي, a subjective sensation follows agreeing حاسس بـ, and localized pain often makes the body part central: ركبتي واجعاني “my knee hurts.” The person experiencing the pain appears in a suffix.
These frames are ordinary (informal/neutral) language for family, work, pharmacies, and patient-facing conversation. This page explains their grammar, not medical diagnosis or treatment. Technical records and formal consultations may use a different, MSA-influenced vocabulary.
Review body-part gender and possession before extending the pain frame, because the body part—not the sufferer—controls its agreement.
Choose the frame by how the symptom is packaged
| What the speaker names | Productive frame | Example slot |
|---|---|---|
| a conventional symptom or condition | عِنْد + person suffix + symptom | عِنْدِي كِحَّةْ |
| a felt sensation | حَاسِسْ / حَاسَّةْ بِـ + sensation | حَاسِسْ بِدَوْخَةْ |
| a proposition about the speaker's state | حَاسِسْ إِنّ + clause | حَاسِسْ إِنِّي تَعْبَانْ |
| pain localized in a body part | body part + وَاجِع + experiencer suffix | ضَهْرِي وَاجِعْنِي |
عندي كحة ناشفة من تلات أيام
ʿandi kiḥḥa nāshfa min talāt ʾayyām
I've had a dry cough for three days.
أنا حاسس بدوخة كل ما أقف بسرعة
ʾana ḥāsis bi-dokha koll ma ʾaʾaf bisorʿa
I feel dizzy whenever I stand up quickly. (male speaker)
ركبتي واجعاني من طلوع السلم
rokibti wagʿāni min ṭolūʿ is-sullam
My knee hurts from climbing the stairs.
The English subject is I in all three translations. Egyptian instead chooses a possessive sphere, an agreeing experiencer state, or a body-part subject.
عندي with named symptoms
Use عند + suffix with familiar symptom nouns such as برد، صداع، كحة، حساسية، سخونية. The suffix identifies the experiencer: عندي، عندك، عنده، عندها، عندنا، عندهم. No separate present-tense verb meaning “have” is needed.
الولد عنده حساسية من نوع معين من الصابون
il-walad ʿandu ḥasāsiyya min nōʿ moʿayyan min iṣ-ṣābūn
The boy has an allergy to a particular kind of soap.
ماعنديش حرارة، بس عندي برد جامد
ma-ʿandīsh ḥarāra, bass ʿandi bard gāmid
I don't have a fever, but I have a bad cold.
Neutral lack uses joined ماعنديش, not ordinary مش عندي. The latter is normally a location contrast—“it isn't with me”—and does not naturally deny an unanchored symptom.
Past and future time surround the whole frame: كان عندي صداع “I had a headache,” لو رجعت السخونية حيبقى عنده... according to context. عند itself does not acquire verb tense.
حاسس بـ for sensations and حاسس إن for propositions
Current حاسس، حاسة، حاسين agrees with the experiencer. Attach بـ to a noun-like sensation, but use إن when the complement is a full proposition.
هي حاسة بتنميل في صوابع إيدها
hiyya ḥāssa bi-tanmīl fi ṣawābiʿ ʾīdha
She feels tingling in her fingers.
حاسين إن الأوضة مكتومة ومحتاجين نفتح الشباك
ḥāssīn ʾinn il-ʾōḍa maktūma wi-miḥtagīn niftaḥ ish-shubbāk
We feel that the room is stuffy and need to open the window.
Perfect حسيت commonly marks the onset or moment of noticing. Participial حاسس profiles the current subjective state.
حسيت بوجع حاد في كتفي وأنا برفع الكرتونة
ḥassēt bi-wagaʿ ḥādd fi kitfi wi-ʾana barfaʿ il-kartūna
I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder while lifting the box.
Negate the participle with مش: مش حاسس. A finite perfect such as حسيت takes verbal ما...ش: ماحستش.
The body part controls agreement in واجعني
In زوري واجعني, masculine زوري controls واجع. In ركبتي واجعاني, feminine ركبتي controls واجعاني. The final ـني marks the first-person experiencer. Change that suffix for another sufferer: واجعك، واجعه، واجعها.
زوره واجعه من كتر الكلام
zūru wāgʿu min kotr il-kalām
His throat hurts from talking so much.
عيني واجعاني ومش قادرة أبص للنور
ʿēni wagʿāni wi-mish ʾādra ʾaboṣṣ lin-nūr
My eye hurts, and I can't look at the light. (female speaker)
سناني بتوجعني لما أشرب حاجة ساقعة
sināni bitwigaʿni lamma ʾashrab ḥāga sāʾʿa
My teeth hurt when I drink something cold.
The participle describes a current pain state. Finite بيوجعني is natural for recurring, triggered, or unfolding pain; perfect وجعني can report a bounded onset or episode. These are viewpoint differences, not interchangeable spellings.
Other body states use agreeing predicates
Common states such as تعبان، بردان، حران، جعان، عطشان behave as agreeing predicates. They take feminine and plural forms where appropriate and normally take independent مش in negation.
إحنا جعانين، بس الأطفال مش عطشانين
ʾiḥna gaʿānīn, bass il-ʾaṭfāl mish ʿaṭshānīn
We're hungry, but the children aren't thirsty.
هي بردانة عشان التكييف عالي
hiyya bardāna ʿashān it-takyīf ʿāli
She feels cold because the air conditioning is turned up high.
English says “I am cold” and “I have a cold,” but Cairene distinguishes أنا بردان “I feel cold” from عندي برد “I have a cold.”
Giving advice without changing the symptom grammar
Advice uses ordinary imperatives or modal frames: ارتاح / ارتاحي, خد / خدي, الأحسن تكشف, لازم تكلم الدكتور. The symptom report remains separate from the recommended action. Social distance matters: a pharmacist may use a polite question; a friend may use a direct imperative (informal).
لو الدوخة مستمرة، الأحسن تكلمي الدكتور النهارده
law id-dokha mistamirra, l-ʾaḥsan tikallimi d-duktūr in-naharda
If the dizziness continues, it would be better to call the doctor today. (to a woman; language example, not individualized medical advice)
ارتاح شوية واشرب مية قبل ما تنزل
irtāḥ shwayya wishrab mayya ʾabl ma tinzil
Rest for a bit and drink some water before you go out. (to a man)
Three everyday situations
At home, عندي برد names the condition. At work, حاسس بدوخة explains why someone needs a break. At a clinic or pharmacy, كتفي واجعني locates the problem precisely.
عندي برد، فحشتغل من البيت النهارده
ʿandi bard, fa-ḥashtaghal min il-bēt in-naharda
I have a cold, so I'll work from home today.
حاسس بتعب ومحتاج آخد عشر دقايق راحة
ḥāsis bi-taʿab wi-miḥtāg ʾākhod ʿashar daʾāyiʾ rāḥa
I feel tired and need to take a ten-minute break. (male speaker)
كتفي واجعني من امبارح والوجع بيزيد مع الحركة
kitfi wāgaʿni min imbāriḥ wil-wagaʿ biyizīd maʿ il-ḥaraka
My shoulder has hurt since yesterday, and the pain gets worse with movement.
A dialogue that establishes location and duration
أ: الوجع فين بالظبط، وبدأ من إمتى؟
A: il-wagaʿ fēn biẓ-ẓabṭ, wi-badaʾ min ʾimta?
A: Where exactly is the pain, and when did it start?
ب: رسغي واجعني من أول امبارح، بالذات لما أحرك إيدي
B: rosghi wāgaʿni min ʾawwil imbāriḥ, biz-zāt lamma ʾaḥarrak ʾīdi
B: My wrist has hurt since the day before yesterday, especially when I move my hand.
The exchange performs two essential communicative tasks: locating the pain and establishing its duration. The body part remains the grammatical center of واجعني.
Register and variation
The page uses mainstream urban Cairene (informal/neutral). Clinicians often speak colloquial Egyptian to patients while using technical or MSA-oriented vocabulary in written records (professional/formal). Expressions such as أعاني من and أشعر بألم are valid in formal reports but can sound distant in family conversation. Alexandrian, Delta, Upper Egyptian, Bedouin, class-, age-, and community-linked varieties may differ in body-part terms, suffix vowels, and preferred illness vocabulary (regional/social).
Common Mistakes
Making the experiencer the subject of the pain verb
❌ أنا بوجع في ركبتي
Incorrect for ‘my knee hurts’; this fails to put the body part in the experiencer construction.
✅ ركبتي بتوجعني لما أمشي كتير
rokibti bitwigaʿni lamma ʾamshi ktīr
My knee hurts when I walk a lot.
Dropping بـ after حاسس
❌ حاسس دوخة من الصبح
Incorrect in the noun-sensation frame; حاسس selects بـ before دوخة.
✅ حاسس بدوخة من ساعة ما صحيت
ḥāsis bi-dokha min sāʿa ma ṣiḥēt
I've felt dizzy since I woke up. (male speaker)
Forgetting agreement with a feminine body part
❌ عيني واجعني من النور
Incorrect in the target frame; feminine عين requires واجعاني.
✅ عيني واجعاني من النور القوي
ʿēni wagʿāni min in-nūr il-ʾawi
My eye hurts from the bright light.
Negating the participle with verbal ما...ش
❌ أنا ماحاسسش بتنميل دلوقتي
Incorrect in the mainstream participial pattern; حاسس takes independent مش.
✅ أنا مش حاسس بتنميل دلوقتي
ʾana mish ḥāsis bi-tanmīl dilwaʾti
I don't feel any tingling right now. (male speaker)
Using formal clinical wording as intimate small talk
أعاني من ألم في معدتي يا ماما
ʾoʿāni min ʾalam fi miʿidati ya māma
I suffer from pain in my stomach, Mom. (valid formal/MSA-oriented wording, stiff in this family setting)
✅ بطني وجعاني يا ماما
baṭni wagʿāni ya māma
My stomach hurts, Mom. (ordinary Cairo)
Key Takeaways
- Use عندي with named symptoms, حاسس بـ with noun-like sensations, and حاسس إن before a clause.
- In body part + واجعني, the body part controls agreement and the suffix identifies the experiencer.
- Perfect, b-imperfect, and participial forms distinguish onset, recurrence, and current state.
- Everyday patient-facing Egyptian and formal clinical wording are different register choices, not correct and incorrect versions of one system.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Health and Body-State ExpressionsA2 — Describe symptoms and body states in everyday Cairene with عندي, حاسس بـ, and experiencer-suffix frames instead of English-style possession and subject patterns.
- Body Parts and Possessor ReferenceA2 — Express body-part reference in Egyptian Arabic with possessive suffixes, the definite article, and genuinely indefinite descriptions.
- حسّ ḥass — feelB1 — Conjugate geminate Cairene حسّ and choose بـ, إن clauses, participial حاسس, inference readings, and causative حسّس accurately.
- Possession with عند، مع، and لـA1 — Choose عند for broad possession, مع for current custody, and لـ for ownership or belonging in everyday Egyptian.
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Egyptian direct-object pronouns to past, imperfect, and negative verb hosts while preserving gender, clitic order, and discourse reference.
- Dialogue: At a Clinic or PharmacyA2 — Follow original Cairo clinic and pharmacy exchanges using symptom expressions, experiencer grammar, respectful requests, medication questions, and clear safety language.