لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاقيس الجرعة بالمكيال.

Because the sentence has two parts:

• لو كنت مكانك = if I were you / if I were in your place
• كنت هاقيس الجرعة بالمكيال = I would measure the dose with the measuring cup

In Egyptian Arabic, it is very common to use كان / كنت in both parts of a hypothetical sentence like this. The second كنت helps give the meaning of would.

This is similar to English If I were you, which also does not refer to the past.

In Arabic, after لو, past forms often express something unreal or hypothetical. So:

• لو كنت مكانك does not mean the speaker actually was you in the past.
• It means if I were in your situation.

Likewise, كنت هاقيس looks past on the surface, but in this structure it means I would measure.

Here, لو means if.

In Egyptian Arabic, لو is the normal word for many kinds of conditions, especially hypothetical ones. In this sentence, it introduces a counterfactual idea:

• لو كنت مكانك = if I were you

So the speaker is imagining a situation, not stating a fact.

مكانك literally means your place.

But كوني/كونك مكان حد is an idiomatic way to say being in someone’s position / situation. So:

• لو كنت مكانك literally: if I were in your place
• natural English meaning: if I were you

It does not mean literally becoming the other person; it means being in the same situation.

Because in this expression, Egyptian Arabic often says simply:

• كنت مكانك

rather than

• كنت في مكانك

The version without في is very natural and idiomatic. If you add في, people will still understand you, but كنت مكانك is the more common phrasing for I were you / in your place.

هاقيس comes from the verb قاس = to measure.

Its present form is:

• أقيس = I measure / I am measuring

Egyptian Arabic adds a future marker, often written هـ in informal writing:

• هأقيس or casually هاقيس = I will measure

So in this sentence:

• كنت هاقيس = literally something like I was going to measure
• but in this conditional structure it means I would measure

Also, in casual Arabic spelling, hamzas are often simplified or omitted, which is why you may see هاقيس instead of a more careful spelling.

In Cairene Egyptian, ق is usually pronounced as a glottal stop, like a brief catch in the throat.

So هاقيس is often pronounced roughly like:

• ha-ʔees

not like a strong q sound.

That said, pronunciation can vary by region, social background, and speaking style. Some speakers may pronounce ق more clearly in careful or formal speech.

The بـ here means with, by, or using.

So:

• بالمكيال = with the measuring device / using the measuring cup/spoon

This is a very common use of بـ in Arabic: it marks the instrument or tool used to do something.

Examples:

• كتب بالقلم = he wrote with a pen
• قاس بالمكيال = he measured with the measuring cup

المكيال means a measure or measuring device.

In this kind of context, it usually means something like:

• a measuring cup
• a measuring spoon
• the dosing measure that comes with medicine

The exact English translation depends on the situation, but the Arabic word refers to the tool used for measuring.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific, known dose:

• الجرعة = the dose

If you said جرعة without ال, it would sound more like a dose in a general sense.

So the definite article here works just like English the.

Yes. لو أنا مكانك is very common in spoken Egyptian and is often a bit simpler and more conversational.

So both of these are natural:

• لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاقيس الجرعة بالمكيال
• لو أنا مكانك، هاقيس الجرعة بالمكيال

The original sentence sounds slightly fuller and makes the hypothetical structure very explicit. The shorter version is very common in everyday speech.

Yes, you may hear:

• لو كنت مكانك، هاقيس الجرعة بالمكيال

But كنت هاقيس makes the meaning I would measure clearer and more explicitly hypothetical.

So:

• هاقيس by itself = I will measure
• كنت هاقيس in this context = I would measure

That is why the original version is useful: it strongly signals that the speaker is talking about an imagined situation, not an actual future plan.