Egyptian Arabic normally expresses a pronominal direct object by attaching it to the verb: شافني “he saw me,” شفتها “I saw her,” كلموهم “they called them.” English places me, her, and them after the verb as separate words, but Egyptian makes the verb and object one written and phonological unit.
The suffix comes after the verb’s subject marking and before negative ـش. Its pronunciation also responds to the verb’s final sounds, so learning only a list of English glosses is not enough. Start with the inventory below, then listen for the complete host.
For possession rather than verbal objects, see possessive suffixes on nouns.
The object paradigm with شاف
The past verb شاف “he saw” provides a clear host for the common object series.
| Object | Form | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| me | شافني | shāfni | he saw me |
| you, masculine | شافك | shāfak | he saw you |
| you, feminine | شافك | shāfik | he saw you |
| him / it, masculine | شافه | shāfo | he saw him/it |
| her / it, feminine | شافها | shāfha | he saw her/it |
| us | شافنا | shāfna | he saw us |
| you all | شافكو | shāfku | he saw you all |
| them | شافهم | shāfhum | he saw them |
This page uses common conversational ـكو -ku for “you all.” Fuller ـكم -kum also occurs in Egyptian; either form stays attached to its verbal host.
المدير شافني عند الباب.
il-modīr shāfni ʿand il-bāb.
The manager saw me by the door.
شفتك واقف قدام البنك.
shoftak wāʾif ʾoddām il-bank.
I saw you standing in front of the bank—said to a man.
شفتك مستنية الأتوبيس.
shoftik mistanniya l-ʾotobīs.
I saw you waiting for the bus—said to a woman.
The spelling ـك is identical for the two singular addressees. Spoken -ak versus -ik and the following participle make gender audible.
Subject marking comes before the object
A verb may already contain a suffix marking its subject. The object follows the entire subject-marked verb.
هي كلمتنا بعد الاجتماع.
hiyya kallimitna baʿd il-igtimāʿ.
She called us after the meeting.
هم كلموها وبعتولها العنوان.
humma kallimūha wi-baʿatūlha l-ʿonwān.
They called her and sent her the address.
In كلمتنا, feminine subject ـت precedes object ـنا. In كلموها, plural subject ـوا precedes object ـها. English separates these meanings into several words; Egyptian packages them in a fixed morphological order.
The second verb بعتولها contains an indirect-object sequence with لـ. Full two-object ordering is treated on the adjacent clitic page; the immediate point is that the direct verb host comes before its attached complement material.
Present and future hosts take the same object set
Object suffixes are not limited to past forms. They follow a b-imperfect or future-marked verb after its subject morphology.
هي بتكلمه كل يوم بعد الشغل.
hiyya bitikallimo koll yōm baʿd ish-shoghl.
She calls him every day after work.
هم بيساعدونا لما الشغل يزيد.
humma biyisāʿdūna lamma sh-shoghl yizīd.
They help us when the workload increases.
هكلمها بكرة وأأكد معاها المعاد.
hakallimha bokra wa-ʾaʾakkid maʿāha l-maʿād.
I’ll call her tomorrow and confirm the appointment with her.
The future prefix is h- in the romanization. The object remains attached even when coordination supplies a second verb.
First-person object ـني is not possessive ـي
The direct object “me” is normally ـني. Compare possessive كتابي “my book” with verbal شافني “he saw me.”
صحابي نسيوني، بس أختي افتكرتني.
ṣoḥābi nisyūni, bass ʾokhti iftakaritni.
My friends forgot me, but my sister remembered me.
The verb form, its subject ending, and ـني form one unit. This difference between possessive -i and object -ni is lexicalized in the pronoun system and cannot be predicted from English my/me alone.
The suffix stays inside ما...ش
In ordinary circumfixal negation, ما precedes the verb and ـش follows the entire verb-plus-object complex.
أنا ماكلمتهاش امبارح.
ana makallimtahāsh mbāriḥ.
I didn’t call her yesterday.
هم ماشافوناش في الزحمة.
humma mashāfūnāsh fi z-zaḥma.
They didn’t see us in the crowd.
The structural order is ما + verb + subject marking + object + ش. The long surface form is not random: each piece occupies a stable position.
الرسالة؟ لأ، ماقريتهاش كلها.
ir-risāla? laʾ, maʾarēthāsh kollaha.
The message? No, I didn’t read all of it.
Topicalized objects require resumption
Egyptian can place an object topic before the clause, but a suffix normally resumes it on the verb. English often leaves the object position empty after fronting or relativization; Egyptian keeps the grammatical link overt.
سلمى، كلمتها الصبح.
Salma, kallimtaha ṣ-ṣobḥ.
Salma—I called her this morning.
الملفات دي، بعتها للمدير.
il-malafāt di, baʿattaha li-l-modīr.
These files—I sent them to the manager.
Neutral nonhuman plural الملفات is resumed by feminine singular ـها. This is agreement with the discourse referent, not an arbitrary choice of the English pronoun her.
A natural dialogue
إنتي شفتي سارة؟
inti shofti Sāra?
Did you see Sara?—addressed to a woman.
أيوه، شفتها، وهي كمان شافتني.
ʾaywa, shoftaha, wi-hiyya kamān shāfitni.
Yes, I saw her, and she saw me too.
قالتلك إيه؟
ʾālitlik ʾēh?
What did she tell you?—addressed to a woman.
قالتلي إنها هتكلمنا بكرة.
ʾālitli ʾinnaha hatkallimna bokra.
She told me that she’ll call us tomorrow.
Independent إنتي، هي function as subjects. Bound ـها، ـني، ـك، ـي، ـنا supply verbal objects or the complement of attached لـ.
Register note
Formal MSA has independent accusative forms built on إيّا. They are legitimate in sustained formal language, religious quotation, and elevated performance. Ordinary Cairene usually uses an attached object, or a fronted independent topic resumed by a suffix. Dropping إيّاه into otherwise casual Egyptian is a code-switch, not the everyday default.
Common Mistakes
Writing the object separately
❌ المدير شاف ني عند الباب.
Incorrect—object ني attaches directly to the verb.
✅ المدير شافني عند الباب.
il-modīr shāfni ʿand il-bāb.
The manager saw me by the door.
Using an independent subject form as an object
❌ أنا شفت هي امبارح.
Incorrect—هي is not the ordinary direct-object form.
✅ أنا شفتها امبارح.
ana shoftaha mbāriḥ.
I saw her yesterday.
Closing negation before the object
❌ أنا ماكلمتشها امبارح.
Incorrect in the neutral Cairene circumfix—the object must precede final ـش.
✅ أنا ماكلمتهاش امبارح.
ana makallimtahāsh mbāriḥ.
I didn’t call her yesterday.
Omitting a resumptive object after a topic
❌ سلمى، كلمت الصبح.
Incorrect for the intended topic reading; the clause lacks a suffix referring back to Salma.
✅ سلمى، كلمتها بدري.
Salma, kallimtaha badri.
Salma—I called her early.
Key Takeaways
- Direct-object pronouns attach to the verb rather than standing after it as English words do.
- The object follows all subject marking: كلمتنا، كلموها.
- Masculine and feminine singular “you” share spelling ـك but differ as -ak and -ik.
- In ما...ش, the object suffix comes before closing ـش.
- A fronted object topic is normally resumed by an attached suffix inside the clause.
Related Topics
- The Attached-Pronoun InventoryB1 — Choose Egyptian pronoun suffixes by person, grammatical role, and the sound shape of the noun, verb, or preposition that hosts them.
- Two Objects and Clitic OrderingB2 — Build Egyptian verb complexes with a direct-object theme and a recipient, including negative and contrastive forms.
- Resumptive PronounsB2 — Understand how Egyptian Arabic uses bound pronouns inside relative clauses and after fronted topics to point back to an accessible noun.
- Clitics inside ما...شA2 — Build Egyptian negative words in the order ما + host + object and recipient clitics + ش, including the stem adjustments that attachment triggers.
- Commands with Object PronounsA2 — Attach direct and recipient pronouns to Egyptian commands in the right order, including agreement and negative -ش.
- Direct-Object PositionB1 — Place Egyptian direct objects after the verb, attach pronominal objects, and front definite object topics only with the required resumption and prosody.