الكتاب ده قديم.

This book is old.

Breakdown of الكتاب ده قديم.

• كتاب: book
• ده: this
• قديم: old

Questions & Answers about الكتاب ده قديم.

How is الكتاب ده قديم pronounced in Egyptian Arabic?

A common Egyptian pronunciation is el-ketāb da ʾadīm.

A few notes:

• الكتاب is often said as el-ketāb
• ده is da
• قديم is often ʾadīm in Cairo-style speech, because ق is commonly pronounced as a glottal stop

So although it is written قديم, many Egyptians do not say qadīm in everyday speech. Some speakers and regions do keep a real q sound, though.

What does ده mean here, and why does it come after الكتاب?

ده is the Egyptian Arabic masculine singular demonstrative, meaning this.

In Egyptian Arabic, when a demonstrative goes with a noun, it usually comes after the noun:

• الكتاب ده = this book
• الولد ده = this boy

This is different from English, where this comes before the noun.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In Arabic, the present-tense verb to be is usually omitted.

So الكتاب ده قديم is literally something like the-book this old, but it naturally means this book is old.

This is very normal in both Egyptian Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic for present-tense sentences like: