The everyday Egyptian equivalent of English each other is usually bare بعض after a plural verb or preposition: بيساعدوا بعض “they help each other,” مع بعض “with each other/together.” The reciprocal meaning comes from combining بعض with a group whose members participate in both directions. Contrast this with reflexive نفس, where an action returns to the same individual.
This page teaches mainstream Cairene speech (informal). Formal بعضهم بعضا is recognizable (formal/MSA), but it is not the neutral production pattern for ordinary Egyptian conversation.
The Core Pattern Needs a Plural Participant Set
Reciprocity requires at least two participants. The subject may be an overt plural pronoun, a plural noun phrase, or coordinated singulars.
| Participant set | Egyptian frame | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st plural | إحنا بنساعد بعض | we help each other |
| 2nd plural | إنتو بتساعدوا بعض | you all help each other |
| 3rd plural | هما بيساعدوا بعض | they help each other |
| coordinated names | سلمى ونور بيساعدوا بعض | Salma and Nour help each other |
إحنا بنراجع شغل بعض قبل التسليم.
iḥna binrāgiʿ shughl baʿḍ ʾabl it-taslīm.
We review each other’s work before submission.
إنتو بتفهموا بعض من غير كلام.
intu bitifhamu baʿḍ min ghēr kalām.
You understand each other without speaking.
سلمى ونور بيغطوا مكان بعض في الشغل.
Salma wi-Nūr biyghaṭṭu makān baʿḍ fish-shughl.
Salma and Nour cover for each other at work.
The English phrase always visibly contains other. Egyptian bare بعض does not change for first, second, or third person; the subject and verb establish the participant set.
Rule 1: بعض Occupies the Verb’s Object Position
With a directly transitive verb, بعض follows the verb as an independent reciprocal object. It is not an attached pronoun suffix.
الزمايل بيساعدوا بعض وقت الضغط.
iz-zamāyil biyisāʿidu baʿḍ waʾt iḍ-ḍaghṭ.
The colleagues help each other when work gets hectic.
الولاد شافوا بعض بعد سنين.
il-wilād shāfu baʿḍ baʿd sinīn.
The boys saw each other after years apart.
Some nouns can take بعض as a possessor: شغل بعض “each other’s work,” مكان بعض “each other’s place.” The reciprocal interpretation still depends on a previously established group.
Rule 2: Keep the Preposition Selected by the Predicate
When the relationship is prepositional, place بعض after the required preposition. English each other does not reveal which preposition Egyptian needs.
هما قاعدين مع بعض من الصبح.
humma ʾāʿdīn maʿ baʿḍ min iṣ-ṣubḥ.
They’ve been sitting together since morning.
الاتنين زعلانين من بعض، ومحدش عايز يبدأ كلام.
il-itnēn zaʿlānīn min baʿḍ, wi-maḥaddish ʿāyiz yibdaʾ kalām.
The two are upset with each other, and neither wants to start talking.
الفريقين بيعتمدوا على بعض في المشروع.
il-farīʾēn biyʿtamidu ʿala baʿḍ fil-mashrūʿ.
The two teams depend on each other in the project.
بعتوا لبعض الصور بعد الرحلة.
baʿatu li-baʿḍ iṣ-ṣuwar baʿd ir-riḥla.
They sent each other the photos after the trip.
The frames are lexical: مع بعض، زعلان من بعض، يعتمد على بعض، يبعت لبعض. Memorize the predicate with its preposition. Do not treat مع بعض as the only reciprocal construction; it can mean “together,” while other verbs require other links.
Rule 3: Bare بعض and Suffixed بعضهم Do Different Jobs in Everyday Speech
In neutral Cairene reciprocity, bare بعض is the robust default. Forms with suffixes often have a partitive meaning:
| Form | Frequent everyday reading |
|---|---|
| بعضنا baʿḍina | some of us |
| بعضكم baʿḍukum | some of you |
| بعضهم baʿḍuhum | some of them |
بعضهم وصل بدري، والباقي لسه في الطريق.
baʿḍuhum wiṣil badri, wil-bāʾi lissa fiṭ-ṭarīʾ.
Some of them arrived early, and the rest are still on the way.
That sentence is not reciprocal. Formal بعضهم بعضا explicitly builds “one another” (formal/MSA), and educated speakers may quote or code-switch into it. In everyday Cairene, بيساعدوا بعض is plainer than importing the full formal expression. This is a register contrast, not a claim that the formal form is ungrammatical.
Rule 4: Some Verbs Lexically Suggest Mutual Action
Verbs such as اتقابلوا “they met,” اتفقوا “they agreed,” and اتخانقوا “they quarreled” already describe events involving multiple participants. Adding مع بعض or بعض can make the internal reciprocal relation explicit or contrast it with another group.
اتقابلنا في الكافيه واتفقنا على الخطة.
itʾābilna fil-kāfēh wi-ttafaʾna ʿala l-khuṭṭa.
We met at the café and agreed on the plan.
بعد الخلاف، اتكلموا مع بعض بهدوء.
baʿd il-khilāf, itkallimu maʿ baʿḍ bihudūʾ.
After the disagreement, they spoke with each other calmly.
Derived verb shape is not a guarantee of reciprocity. Meanings are lexicalized, and many verbs of the same morphological patterns are not mutual. Learn the actual verb sense and complement frame.
Rule 5: In Negation, Reciprocal بعض Remains Outside ما...ش
Bare بعض is an independent object or prepositional complement, so final negative ـش closes the verb before بعض.
هما مابيكلموش بعض بقالهم أسبوع.
humma ma-biykallimūsh baʿḍ baʾālhum ʾusbūʿ.
They haven’t spoken to each other for a week.
إحنا مابعتناش لبعض أي حاجة سرية.
iḥna ma-baʿatnāsh li-baʿḍ ʾayy ḥāga sirriyya.
We didn’t send each other anything confidential.
An ordinary attached object, by contrast, comes before ـش: ماشفتهمش “I didn’t see them.” Reciprocal بعض behaves as a full phrase, not as that suffix.
A Natural Dialogue: Independent Pronoun and Bound Forms
إنتو لسه زعلانين من بعض؟
intu lissa zaʿlānīn min baʿḍ?
Are you still upset with each other?
لأ، كل واحد فينا قال للتاني رأيه واتصالحنا.
laʾ, kull wāḥid fīna ʾāl lit-tāni raʾyu wi-tṣālaḥna.
No. Each of us told the other what he thought, and we made up.
Independent إنتو addresses the group. The suffixes in فينا “among us” and رأيه “his opinion” attach to their hosts. The explicit كل واحد… التاني paraphrase is useful when a bare reciprocal could leave direction or membership unclear.
Common Mistakes
1. Using reciprocal بعض with only one participant
❌ هو ساعد بعض بعد العملية.
Incorrect—one singular participant cannot form a reciprocal set.
✅ هو ساعد نفسه بعد العملية.
huwwa sāʿad nafsu baʿd il-ʿamaliyya.
He helped himself after the operation.
2. Using reflexive نفسهم for intended mutual action
❌ اللاعبين شجعوا نفسهم طول الماتش.
Wrong for ‘the players encouraged each other’—نفسهم gives an individual self-directed reading.
✅ اللعيبة شجعوا بعض طول الماتش.
il-laʿība shaggaʿu baʿḍ ṭūl il-mātsh.
The players encouraged each other throughout the match.
3. Copying English position and putting بعض before the verb
❌ هما بعض بيساعدوا في الشغل.
Incorrect—the reciprocal object follows the verb or its required preposition.
✅ هما بيساعدوا بعض في الشغل.
humma biyisāʿidu baʿḍ fish-shughl.
They help each other at work.
4. Choosing the wrong preposition
❌ هما زعلانين على بعض.
Wrong for the intended ‘upset with each other’—that relation uses من; على can suggest concern for someone in other contexts.
✅ هما زعلانين من بعض.
humma zaʿlānīn min baʿḍ.
They’re upset with each other.
5. Attaching negative ـش after the reciprocal phrase
❌ هما مابيكلموا بعضش.
Incorrect—ـش closes the verb; independent بعض follows it.
✅ هما مابيكلموش بعض.
humma ma-biykallimūsh baʿḍ.
They don’t speak to each other.
Key Takeaways
- Everyday reciprocal بعض follows a plural verb or the preposition selected by that predicate.
- The plural subject establishes who participates; bare بعض does not inflect for person.
- بعضنا، بعضكم، بعضهم often mean “some of us/you/them” in everyday speech.
- Reflexive نفسهم means each participant acts on themselves, not on one another.
- Reciprocal بعض stays outside verbal ما...ش because it is an independent phrase.
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
- Reflexive Meaning with نفسB2 — Build Egyptian reflexives with نفس plus an attached possessor, and distinguish ‘oneself,’ emphatic ‘personally,’ and ‘by oneself.’
- 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.
- 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.
- Pronoun Binding and LocalityC1 — How Egyptian Arabic links reflexives, suffixes, and independent pronouns to local antecedents, quantifiers, and discourse referents.
- Egyptian Pattern VI اتفاعل / تفاعلB2 — Recognize and use Cairene Pattern VI for reciprocal and shared events without treating reciprocity as an automatic meaning.
- Egyptian Pattern VIII افتعلB2 — Recognize common Cairene Pattern VIII verbs through their sound changes, lexical meanings, complements, and Egyptian inflection.