Egyptian has no single everyday verb that maps onto every use of English have. Instead, possession is built from relations. عندي عربية presents a car in my sphere of possession or access; معايا المفتاح says the key is currently with me; المفتاح ليا says the key belongs to me. All three are complete present predicates without a copular verb.
The contrast is not just vocabulary. It changes the scene the listener constructs: broad possession, immediate custody, or ownership. Learning that three-way choice prevents much more confusion than memorizing one supposed translation for have. The full spatial and possession range of عند is mapped on the dedicated preposition page.
The core choice
| Construction | Core relation | Typical English |
|---|---|---|
| عند + suffix | in someone’s sphere, possession, access, experience | have |
| مع + suffix | currently accompanying or on hand | have with one |
| لـ + noun/suffix | ownership, allocation, belonging | belong to, be mine |
Rule 1: use عند for broad possession and availability
With pronoun suffixes, عند gives عندي، عندك، عنده، عندها، عندنا، عندكم، عندهم. The possessor form normally comes first when the possessed item is new information.
عندي عربية صغيرة بستخدمها في الشغل.
ʿandi ʿarabiyya ṣughayyara bastakhdimha fish-shoghl.
I have a small car that I use for work. (broad possession)
عندها وقت تساعدنا قبل الاجتماع.
ʿandaha waʾt tisāʿedna ʾabl il-igtimāʿ.
She has time to help us before the meeting. (availability)
عندك صداع ولا بس تعبان؟
ʿandak ṣodāʿ walla bass taʿbān?
Do you have a headache, or are you just tired? (to a man)
The same frame covers possessions, time, appointments, questions, symptoms, and accessible resources. English treats these as one verb have; Egyptian treats the person as the reference point at which the noun is available or experienced.
Rule 2: use مع for what is currently with someone
Before pronoun suffixes, مع uses the stem معا-: معايا، معاك، معاه، معاها، معانا، معاكم، معاهم. It commonly answers “Who has the item right now?” rather than “Who owns it?”
معايا الشاحن لو بطارية موبايلك ضعفت.
maʿāya sh-shāḥin law baṭṭariyyit mobāylak ḍiʿfit.
I have the charger with me if your phone battery runs low. (to a man)
النسخة الأصلية مع المحامي لحد بكرة.
in-noskha l-ʾaṣliyya maʿ il-moḥāmi li-ḥadd bokra.
The original copy is with the lawyer until tomorrow.
عندي مظلة في البيت، بس مش معايا دلوقتي.
ʿandi miẓalla fi l-bēt, bass mish maʿāya dilwaʾti.
I have an umbrella at home, but I don’t have it with me now.
The last example proves that عندي and معايا are not interchangeable: the speaker possesses an umbrella but is not carrying it.
Rule 3: use لـ for ownership and belonging
لـ can identify the owner of a definite item: الشنطة لمريم “the bag belongs to Maryam.” With suffixes, common Cairo forms include ليا، ليك، ليه، ليها، لينا، ليكو، ليهم.
الكتاب ده ليا، والكتاب الأزرق لأخويا.
il-kitāb da liyya, wi-l-kitāb il-ʾazraʾ li-ʾakhūya.
This book is mine, and the blue book belongs to my brother.
المكتب الكبير للمديرة الجديدة.
il-maktab il-kibīr lil-modīra l-gidīda.
The large office belongs to the new manager. (ownership/allocation)
الجاكيت ده لمين؟
il-gākēt da li-mīn?
Whose jacket is this? (literally: this jacket is for whom?)
ده ليها، هي نسيته على الكرسي.
da lēha, hiyya nisyitu ʿala l-kursi.
It’s hers; she forgot it on the chair.
Because the item is already definite, لـ identifies its owner. This is different from introducing a new possession with عندها جاكيت “she has a jacket.”
Rule 4: word order changes the possession reading
Possessor-first عندي الملف normally presents the file as something available to me. Item-first الملف عندي makes the file the topic and often emphasizes custody or location.
عندي الملف اللي طلبته، وحبعتهولك دلوقتي.
ʿandi l-malaff illi ṭalabtu, wi-ḥabʿathūlak dilwaʾti.
I have the file you asked for, and I’ll send it to you right now.
الملف عندي مش عند المحاسب.
il-malaff ʿandi mish ʿand il-moḥāsib.
I have the file; it isn’t with the accountant. (known file, contrastive custody)
The second sentence does not necessarily claim legal ownership. It locates a known item in the speaker’s custody. Prosody and discourse decide which part is contrasted.
Rule 5: choose the negative that matches the relation
Broad nonpossession commonly uses joined ما...ش around the suffixed عند form: ماعنديش، ماعندوش، ماعندهاش. Current-custody and belonging predicates use independent مش.
ماعنديش فكة، معايا كارت بس.
ma-ʿandīsh fakka, maʿāya kārt bass.
I don’t have change; I only have a card with me.
المفتاح مش معايا؛ يمكن عند أختي.
il-miftāḥ mish maʿāya; yimkin ʿand ʾokhti.
I don’t have the key with me; it may be with my sister.
الفاتورة دي مش لينا؛ دي للشركة التانية.
il-fātūra di mish lēna; di lish-shirka t-tānya.
This bill isn’t ours; it belongs to the other company.
مش عندي is possible when location or contrast is intended—“it isn’t with me.” For neutral “I do not have X,” ماعنديش X is the productive choice.
Rule 6: add tense support outside the possession predicate
Present possession needs no copula. Past possession uses كان; a projected future commonly uses حيبقى. In the impersonal possessor-first frame, masculine singular كان عندي is normal. With a known item first, كان agrees with that item.
كان عندنا مكتب صغير في وسط البلد زمان.
kān ʿandina maktab ṣoghayyar fi wasaṭ il-balad zamān.
We used to have a small office downtown.
العربية كانت مع أمي طول الأسبوع.
il-ʿarabiyya kānit maʿ ʾommi ṭūl il-ʾusbūʿ.
My mother had the car all week. (literally: the car was with my mother)
الشقة دي كانت لجدتي قبل ما نبيعها.
ish-shaʾʾa di kānit li-giddīti ʾabl ma nibīʿha.
This apartment belonged to my grandmother before we sold it.
الشهر الجاي حيبقى عندي وقت أكتر.
ish-shahr il-gayy ḥayibʾa ʿandi waʾt ʾaktar.
Next month I’ll have more time.
A short Cairo exchange
أ: معاك قلم أكتب بيه العنوان؟
A: maʿāk ʾalam ʾaktob bīh il-ʿunwān?
A: Do you have a pen on you so I can write down the address?
ب: معايا قلم، بس مش ليا؛ ده لزميلي.
B: maʿāya ʾalam, bass mish liyya; da li-zimīli.
B: I have a pen with me, but it isn’t mine; it belongs to my colleague.
This tiny exchange keeps all three relations separate: current custody معايا, denied ownership مش ليا, and actual ownership لزميلي.
Register and variation
These constructions are neutral mainstream Cairene (informal/neutral). Formal لديّ and verbs such as يملك are appropriate in official, legal, or carefully written contexts (formal/legal), but they are not more correct replacements for ordinary عندي. Alexandrian, Delta, Upper Egyptian, Bedouin, class, age, and community varieties may differ in suffix vowels and preferred possession strategies (regional/social).
Common Mistakes
Looking for one verb meaning every English “have”
❌ أنا أملك صداع من الصبح.
Incorrect and register-mismatched; يملك expresses formal ownership, not an experienced headache.
✅ عندي صداع من الصبح ومش عارف أركز.
ʿandi ṣodāʿ min iṣ-ṣobḥ wi-mish ʿārif ʾarakkiz.
I’ve had a headache since this morning and can’t concentrate. (male speaker)
Using معايا for remote broad possession
❌ معايا شقة في اسكندرية بس أنا في القاهرة.
Mismatched unless the apartment is somehow immediately at one’s disposal; broad ownership normally uses عندي.
✅ عندي شقة صغيرة في اسكندرية بأجرها في الصيف.
ʿandi shaʾʾa ṣughayyara fi Skandariyya baʾaggarha fiṣ-ṣēf.
I have a small apartment in Alexandria that I rent out in summer.
Separating a pronoun suffix
❌ عند أنا ميعاد الساعة خمسة.
Incorrect—the first-person suffix attaches to عند.
✅ عندي ميعاد الساعة خمسة ولازم أمشي بدري.
ʿandi mīʿād is-sāʿa khamsa wi-lāzim ʾamshi badri.
I have an appointment at five and need to leave early.
Using one negative for all possession relations
❌ مامعاياش المفتاح دلوقتي.
Non-baseline for the neutral custody predicate; use independent مش with معايا.
✅ المفتاح مش معايا دلوقتي، هو عند البواب.
il-miftāḥ mish maʿāya dilwaʾti, huwwa ʿand il-bawwāb.
I don’t have the key with me now; the doorman has it.
Omitting كان from past possession
❌ زمان عندنا محل في الشارع ده.
Incorrect for the intended past-only possession reading; add كان.
✅ زمان كان عندنا محل صغير في الشارع ده.
zamān kān ʿandina maḥall ṣoghayyar fi sh-shāriʿ da.
We used to have a small shop on this street.
Key Takeaways
- Use عند + suffix for broad possession, access, availability, and experienced states.
- Use مع + suffix for what is physically or immediately with someone.
- Use لـ + owner to identify who a known item belongs to.
- Present possession is a complete nonverbal predicate; past and explicit future add كان or حيبقى.
- Negate broad possession with ماعنديش and custody or belonging predicates with مش.
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- عند — at, with, and in someone’s possessionB1 — Use Egyptian عند for proximity, someone’s place or custody, possession, and personal states, with suffixes and negation.
- مع — withB1 — Use Egyptian مع for accompaniment, interaction, alignment, and current custody, with its full Cairene suffix paradigm.
- Pronoun Suffixes after PrepositionsB1 — Attach Egyptian pronoun suffixes to prepositions and choose the host-specific forms used after على، مع، في، من، and لـ.
- Existence with فيهA1 — Use فيه, مفيش, كان فيه, and حيبقى فيه to introduce people and things into an Egyptian discourse.
- Past and Future Copular SentencesA2 — Move Egyptian identity, description, location, possession, and existence from a zero-copula present into past and future time frames.
- Iḍāfa versus بتاعB1 — Choose between compact iḍāfa and the Egyptian analytic possessor بتاع, with agreement, suffixes, focus, and register.