النعناع مش هيدبل طول ما بنسقيه.

The mint will not wilt as long as we water it.

Breakdown of النعناع مش هيدبل طول ما بنسقيه.

• مش: not
• طول ما: as long as
• النعناع: the mint
• يسقي: to water

Questions & Answers about النعناع مش هيدبل طول ما بنسقيه.

How do I break down مش هيدبل?

It breaks down like this:

• مش = not
• هـ / حـ = the Egyptian future marker, roughly will
• يدبل = to wilt

So مش هيدبل literally means not will-wilt, i.e. won’t wilt.

A useful point: in Egyptian Arabic, will is usually not a separate word. It is often a prefix attached to the verb.

Why is the negative مش used here instead of ما...ش?

In Egyptian Arabic, مش is very commonly used to negate future meaning:

• مش هيدبل = it won’t wilt

By contrast, ما...ش is more common with present or past verbs:

• ما بيدبلش = it doesn’t wilt
• ما دبلش = it didn’t wilt

So in this sentence, مش هيدبل is the natural future negation.

What does هيدبل mean exactly, and is the هـ part of the verb?

هيدبل means he/it will wilt.

The هـ is not part of the basic verb. It is the future marker added to the imperfect verb:

• يدبل = he/it wilts / would wilt