English contrasts since with a starting point and for with a duration. Mainstream Cairene commonly makes the same conceptual distinction with من ساعة ما min sāʿit ma “since the time that” and the suffixed host بقالـ baʾāl- “for [a duration] up to now.” The two constructions are not literal replacements for the two English words; they organize a continuing situation in specifically Egyptian ways.
Compare من ساعة ما وصلت وأنا مستني “I have been waiting since I arrived” with بقالي ساعتين مستني “I have been waiting for two hours.” The first names the left boundary of the interval. The second measures the interval and indexes the person experiencing it. The source-point meaning of من is introduced on the من page.
Diagnostic 1: use من ساعة ما + clause for the starting event
من ساعة ما introduces a finite clause naming the event from which the current interval is measured. The main situation often appears after و with a participle, b-imperfect, negative verb, or nominal predicate.
من ساعة ما وصلت وأنا مستني دوري
min sāʿit ma wiṣilt wi-ʾana mistanni dōri
I've been waiting for my turn since I arrived. (literally: ‘since the time I arrived, and I am waiting’)
من ساعة ما غيرنا النظام والشغل بيمشي أسرع
min sāʿit ma ghayyarna n-niẓām wish-shoghl biyimshi ʾasraʿ
Work has been moving faster since we changed the system. (professional conversation)
The clause after ما has its own subject and ordinary Egyptian verb form. Do not replace it mechanically with a maṣdar or an MSA أن clause. من ساعة ما is the neutral colloquial linker (informal/neutral).
من ساعتها min sāʿitha means “since then,” with ـها referring to a known feminine ساعة “time/moment,” not to a female person.
اتقابلنا صدفة، ومن ساعتها بنتكلم كل يوم
itʾābilna ṣodfa, wi-min sāʿitha binitkallim koll yōm
We met by chance, and we've spoken every day since then. (informal)
Diagnostic 2: use بقالـ + duration for elapsed time continuing now
بقالـ carries a person suffix, followed by the duration and then the continuing predicate. In بقالي شهر شغال هنا, ـي indexes “me,” شهر measures the interval, and شغال هنا describes the continuing state.
بقالي شهر شغال في الفرع الجديد
baʾāli shahr shaghghāl fil-farʿ il-gidīd
I've been working at the new branch for a month. (male speaker)
بقالها أسبوعين مش بتنام كويس
baʾāl-ha ʾusbūʿēn mish bitinām kuwayyis
She hasn't been sleeping well for two weeks. (continuing negative situation)
The construction normally presents the interval as reaching the reference time, usually now. For a completed past duration, use a finite past frame instead: اشتغلت هناك سنتين وبعدين سبت الشغل “I worked there for two years and then left.”
The بقالـ suffix paradigm
The suffix indexes the person or group whose state has lasted. It is not a free subject pronoun, and it stays attached to بقالـ.
| Person | Form | Cairene reading | Example frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | بَقَالِي | baʾāli | بقالي يوم “for me, one day” |
| 2nd masculine singular | بَقَالَكْ | baʾālak | بقالك يوم |
| 2nd feminine singular | بَقَالِكِ | baʾālik | بقالك يوم |
| 3rd masculine singular | بَقَالُهْ | baʾālu | بقاله يوم |
| 3rd feminine singular | بَقَالْهَا | baʾāl-ha | بقالها يوم |
| 1st plural | بَقَالْنَا | baʾālna | بقالنا يوم |
| 2nd plural | بَقَالْكُو | baʾālku | بقالكو يوم |
| 3rd plural | بَقَالْهُمْ | baʾālhom | بقالهم يوم |
بقالنا تلات سنين ساكنين في العمارة دي
baʾālna talat sinīn sāknīn fil-ʿimāra di
We've been living in this building for three years. (continuing residence)
بقالكو قد إيه مستنيين الرد؟
baʾālku ʾadd ēh mistannyīn ir-radd?
How long have you all been waiting for the reply? (informal)
Some speakers and more conservative spelling use بقالكم baʾālkum (regional/social/formal-leaning). This page consistently uses colloquial plural بقالكو baʾālku.
A scene on a timeline
Suppose a patient arrived at a clinic at nine, sat in the waiting area, and is still there at eleven. The starting event and elapsed duration describe the same scene from different angles.
وصلت العيادة الساعة تسعة، وبقالي ساعتين قاعد هنا، ومن ساعة ما وصلت محدش ناداني
wiṣilt il-ʿiyāda s-sāʿa tisʿa, wi-baʾāli sāʿtēn ʾāʿid hina, wi-min sāʿit ma wiṣilt maḥaddish nādāni
I got to the clinic at nine, I've been sitting here for two hours, and nobody has called me since I arrived. (informal)
This is the temporal counterpart of a spatial path: من ساعة ما وصلت marks the starting boundary, while بقالي ساعتين measures the distance from that boundary to now.
Diagnostic 3: do not confuse duration with “ago”
من ساعتين by itself normally means “two hours ago” with a completed event. بقالي ساعتين means a situation has continued for two hours.
كلمته من ساعتين، ومن ساعتها وأنا مستني رده
kallimto min sāʿtēn, wi-min sāʿitha wi-ʾana mistanni raddo
I called him two hours ago, and I've been waiting for his reply since then. (informal)
The same English number phrase can therefore correspond to two different constructions. The before-and-after page places من + duration in the wider time system.
Diagnostic 4: retain the temporal relation in relatives
When a head noun is the starting reference point, Egyptian normally keeps a suffixed temporal expression inside the relative clause.
ده الاجتماع اللي من ساعته وإحنا بنراجع الخطة
da l-igtimāʿ illi min sāʿito wi-ʾiḥna binirāgeʿ il-khuṭṭa
This is the meeting since which we've been revising the plan. (more naturally: This meeting is when we started revising the plan.)
The suffix ـه resumes masculine الاجتماع. English can leave since at the end; Egyptian keeps the relation locally as من ساعته.
Register alternatives
Formal MSA uses منذ and منذ أن (formal). They occur in newsreading, official prose, and deliberate code-switching, but من ساعة ما and بقالـ are the ordinary Cairene production baseline. Professional vocabulary does not force a speaker to abandon Egyptian temporal grammar.
منذ بدء المشروع لم تتغير الميزانية
mundhu badʾi l-mashrūʿi lam tataghayyari l-mīzāniyyatu
Since the project began, the budget has not changed. (formal MSA wording)
من ساعة ما المشروع بدأ والميزانية ماتغيرتش
min sāʿit ma l-mashrūʿ badaʾ wil-mīzāneyya ma-tghayyaritsh
The budget hasn't changed since the project started. (ordinary Egyptian)
The first example is not an error; it is a different grammatical system and register. Regional, age, class, community, and performance varieties may prefer من يوم ما “since the day that,” من وقت ما, or other reference nouns. Mainstream Cairo uses all three, with من ساعة ما as a broad everyday choice.
Common Mistakes
❌ بقالي من تلات ساعات مستني
Incorrect for a measured continuing duration—بقالي already introduces the elapsed span.
✅ بقالي تلات ساعات مستني الفني
baʾāli talat sāʿāt mistanni l-fanni
I've been waiting for the technician for three hours. (informal, male speaker)
❌ هي بقالي أسبوع تعبانة
Incorrect—the suffix on بقالـ must index the person whose state continues.
✅ هي بقالها أسبوع تعبانة ومابتخرجش
hiyya baʾāl-ha ʾusbūʿ taʿbāna wi-ma-bitikhrugsh
She has been ill for a week and hasn't been going out. (informal)
❌ بقال هم يومين هنا
Incorrect—the plural suffix is attached to the host.
✅ بقالهم يومين هنا وحيكملوا لبكرة
baʾālhom yōmēn hina wi-ḥayikammilu li-bokra
They've been here for two days and will stay through tomorrow. (informal)
❌ من ساعة وصلت وأنا بستنى
Incorrect in the ordinary clause-linking pattern—add ما before the finite starting event.
✅ من ساعة ما وصلت وأنا براجع الرسايل
min sāʿit ma wiṣilt wi-ʾana barāgeʿ ir-rasāyil
I've been checking messages since I arrived. (informal)
Key Takeaways
Use من ساعة ما + clause to identify the start of a continuing interval and بقالـ + duration + predicate to measure it. Match the suffix on بقالـ to the continuing participant, distinguish من ساعتين “two hours ago” from بقالي ساعتين “for two hours,” and retain a suffixed temporal expression when a relative clause refers back to its starting point.
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- من — from, of, and thanA1 — Use Cairene من for sources, separation, partitives, comparisons, and the lexical frames that English expresses with several different prepositions.
- قبل and بعد — before and afterB1 — Express temporal and sequential order with Egyptian قبل and بعد, their suffixes, noun complements, and ما clauses.
- لحد، لحد ما، and حتىB1 — Mark spatial and temporal endpoints with Cairene لحد, link endpoint clauses with لحد ما, and distinguish the focus particle حتى.
- Expressing Present TimeA1 — Choose among the Cairene b-imperfect, bare imperfect, participles, and verbless predicates for different kinds of present meaning.
- Active Participles as Current StatesA2 — Use active participles such as واقف، قاعد، نايم، and عارف as agreeing current, persistent, and result-oriented predicates.
- Time and Date ExpressionsA1 — Ask, tell, and schedule clock times, weekdays, and dates with reusable Cairene frames and the right prepositions.