إيه ʾēh is the everyday Cairene word for “what.” It commonly stays where the missing information belongs: after a verb as its object, after a noun in expressions such as لون إيه “what color,” or after a preposition. English normally fronts what and adds an auxiliary; Egyptian usually does neither.
This guide writes إيه consistently. Informal Egyptian writing also shows ايه and other unhamzated spellings (informal orthographic variation). Formal ماذا، ما belong to MSA or elevated code-switching (formal), not the neutral conversational baseline.
Rule 1: object إيه stays after the verb
Compare a statement with its information-question counterpart:
إنت طلبت شاي بالنعناع.
inta ṭalabt shāy bin-naʿnāʿ.
You ordered mint tea.
إنت طلبت إيه من الكافيه؟
inta ṭalabt ʾēh min il-kāfēh?
What did you order from the café?
English moves what to the beginning and adds did. Egyptian keeps إيه in the direct-object slot after طلبت, which remains a fully inflected perfect verb. See question word order for the wider in-situ system.
سلمى بتدور على إيه في الدولاب؟
Salma bitidawwar ʿala ʾēh fi d-dōlāb?
What is Salma looking for in the cupboard?
Here على إيه stays together because دور على “look for” selects that preposition. Do not delete على merely because English uses a different verb frame.
الأطفال رسموا إيه في الفصل؟
il-ʾaṭfāl rasamu ʾēh fi l-faṣl?
What did the children draw in class?
The known human-plural subject keeps plural agreement. A question word does not cancel ordinary Egyptian agreement.
Rule 2: إيه can be a predicate after ده or a noun phrase
Present nominal questions need no verb corresponding to English is.
ده إيه على المكتب؟
da ʾēh ʿala l-maktab?
What's this on the desk?
الصوت العالي ده إيه؟
iṣ-ṣōt il-ʿāli da ʾēh?
What's that loud sound?
The literal structure is “this—what?” or “that loud sound—what?” English inserts is; Egyptian present zero-copula syntax does not.
An answer can be a noun phrase or a whole explanation:
ده تنبيه من السيستم عشان الباسورد هينتهي.
da tanbēh min is-sistim ʿashān il-bāswōrd hayintihi.
It's a system alert because the password is going to expire.
Rule 3: noun + إيه asks for a type, value, or category
After a general noun, إيه asks which value within that category applies. English normally puts what before that noun.
العربية الجديدة لونها إيه؟
il-ʿarabiyya l-gidīda lōnha ʾēh?
What color is the new car?
إنت محتاج مقاس إيه في القميص؟
inta miḥtāg maʾās ʾēh fi l-ʾamīṣ?
What size do you need in the shirt?
الاجتماع يوم إيه الأسبوع الجاي؟
il-igtimāʿ yōm ʾēh il-ʾosbūʿ il-gāy?
What day is the meeting next week?
These are postnominal questions: لون إيه، مقاس إيه، يوم إيه. Fronting إيه by copying English destroys the ordinary compact unit.
Rule 4: prepositions stay with إيه
When the missing information is a prepositional complement, place إيه after the preposition.
إنتوا بتتكلموا عن إيه من الصبح؟
intu bititkallimu ʿan ʾēh min iṣ-ṣobḥ?
What have you all been talking about since this morning?
فتحت العلبة بإيه من غير المفتاح؟
fataḥt il-ʿolba bi-ʾēh min ghēr il-miftāḥ?
What did you open the box with, without the key?
One-letter بـ attaches in writing as بإيه. Longer عن remains a separate word. Egyptian does not strand either preposition at the end after moving إيه to the front.
Focused fronting is possible with a resumptive expression:
إيه اللي اتكلمت عنه مع المدير؟
ʾēh illi itkallimt ʿanno maʿ il-modīr?
What was it that you talked about with the manager?
Here fronted إيه is followed by identifying اللي, and عنه resumes the prepositional role inside the clause. This is a focus construction, not neutral English-style fronting.
Rule 5: إيه اللي asks what satisfies a whole proposition
When the unknown is the subject or cause of an event, إيه اللي...؟ is extremely common.
إيه اللي حصل في الاجتماع بعد ما مشيت؟
ʾēh illi ḥaṣal fi l-igtimāʿ baʿd ma mishēt?
What happened in the meeting after I left?
إيه اللي مخلي الشاشة سودا؟
ʾēh illi mikhalli sh-shāsha sōda?
What's making the screen black?
Invariant اللي links the questioned focus to the clause. Plain object إنت غيرت إيه؟ asks what you changed; إيه اللي اتغير؟ asks what changed. Grammatical role, not mere word order preference, selects the pattern.
Rule 6: intonation separates information, echo, and challenge
An ordinary information question often gives إيه prominence and then closes. A sharp rise and expanded range produce an echo or incredulous reading.
حضرتك قلت الاسم إيه؟
ḥaḍritak ʾolt il-ism ʾēh?
What did you say the name was?
إنت دفعت إيه؟!
inta dafaʿt ʾēh?!
You paid what?!
The second does not merely request an object; it reacts to an unexpected purchase. Punctuation approximates a contrast that spoken pitch, stress, and context express more richly.
Embedded إيه stays in its Egyptian position
After verbs such as “know,” “remember,” “understand,” and “ask,” the embedded question keeps إيه where its answer belongs.
مش فاهم هو عايز إيه بالظبط.
mish fāhim huwwa ʿāyiz ʾēh biẓ-ẓabṭ.
I don't understand exactly what he wants.
اسأليهم محتاجين إيه قبل ما ننزل.
isʾalīhum miḥtāgīn ʾēh ʾabl ma ninzil.
Ask them what they need before we go out. (to a woman)
There is no English-style embedded inversion. The second-person feminine imperative اسأليهم carries its plural object suffix, while embedded إيه remains after محتاجين.
A confirmation and answer exchange
إنت قلت السعر ميتين، ولا إيه؟
inta ʾolt is-siʿr mitēn, walla ʾēh?
Did you say the price was two hundred, or what?
أيوه، ميتين شاملين التوصيل.
ʾaywa, mitēn shāmlīn it-tawṣīl.
Yes, two hundred including delivery.
Final ولا إيه؟ asks for confirmation while leaving room for correction. Depending on tone it can sound neutral, impatient, or challenging; use صح؟ for a simpler confirmation check when no confrontation is intended.
Register and variation
إيه is mainstream Cairo (informal/neutral). Formal ماذا/ما occur in MSA writing, speeches, and deliberate code-switching (formal). Alexandrian, Delta, Upper Egyptian, Bedouin, age, class, and community varieties differ in vowel quality, spelling, and question contours (regional/social). Scripted comedy often lengthens or sharply raises إيه؟! for surprise (performance); that delivery is not the neutral information contour.
Common Mistakes
1. Fronting neutral object إيه like English “what.”
❌ إيه إنت طلبت من الكافيه؟
Unnatural as a neutral object question — إيه belongs after طلبت.
✅ إنت طلبت تشرب إيه؟
inta ṭalabt tishrab ʾēh?
What did you order to drink?
2. Copying English auxiliary inversion.
❌ عمل إنت اشتريت إيه؟
Incorrect — Egyptian does not add a lexical ‘do’ before the subject.
✅ إنت اشتريت إيه من السوق؟
inta ishtarēt ʾēh min is-sūʾ?
What did you buy at the market?
3. Stranding a preposition.
❌ إيه إنت بتتكلم عن؟
Incorrect English-style stranding — keep عن إيه in place or use عنه in a focus construction.
✅ إنت بتتكلم عن إيه مع زميلك؟
inta bititkallim ʿan ʾēh maʿ zamīlak?
What are you talking about with your coworker?
4. Using ماذا as the casual default.
❌ ماذا تريد دلوقتي؟
Register mismatch — ماذا is formal MSA, while دلوقتي and the intended setting are Cairene.
✅ إنت عايز إيه دلوقتي بالظبط؟
inta ʿāyiz ʾēh dilwaʾti biẓ-ẓabṭ?
What exactly do you want now?
Key Takeaways
- Object إيه normally stays after the verb; predicate إيه follows its topic.
- Postnominal لون إيه، مقاس إيه، يوم إيه asks for a value within a category.
- Keep a preposition with إيه; focused fronting uses اللي plus a resumptive expression.
- إيه اللي...؟ asks what satisfies or causes a whole proposition.
- Ordinary information intonation and surprised echo intonation can distinguish readings without changing word order.
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- مين: Who and WhoseA1 — Ask about people with Cairene مين as a subject, object, possessor, or prepositional complement, using resumption only where the structure requires it.
- أنهي / أنهو: WhichA2 — Choose among a known set with Cairene أنهي and the gendered or plural variants أنهو and أنهم, without English-style fronting.
- أيوه، آه، لأ، and بلىA2 — Answer positive, negative, confirmation, and information questions with Cairene response particles and explicit clauses when polarity is ambiguous.
- Embedded QuestionsA2 — Embed who, what, where, when, and whether questions in Cairene clauses without English inversion or do-support.
- Word Order in QuestionsB2 — Place Egyptian question words according to their grammatical role, focus, and resumptive structure without copying English inversion.