مين هي؟

A common Egyptian pronunciation is miin heyya?

• مين = miin (with a long ee sound)
• هي = heyya or sometimes closer to hiyya, depending on the speaker

So the whole thing sounds roughly like miin heyya?

مين means who in Egyptian Arabic.

It is the normal everyday Egyptian word for asking about a person’s identity:

• مين ده؟ = Who is this? (masculine)
• مين دي؟ = Who is this? (feminine)
• مين هي؟ = Who is she?

Here, هي means she.

So the structure is basically:

• مين = who
• هي = she

Very literally, it is something like who she?

Arabic often leaves out the present-tense verb to be, so you do not need a separate word for is.

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

So English Who is she? becomes literally Who she?

That is completely normal in Egyptian Arabic. The same thing happens in many simple present-tense sentences:

• هي تعبانة = She is tired
• أنا جاهز = I am ready
• مين هي؟ = Who is she?

You can say مين؟ by itself, and it means Who?

But adding هي makes it specific:

• مين؟ = Who?
• مين هي؟ = Who is she?

So هي helps show that you are asking specifically about a female person already being talked about or pointed out.

This is natural in Egyptian Arabic because of مين.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the usual word for who is من rather than مين. So the Standard Arabic version would be:

• من هي؟

Egyptians normally say مين in everyday speech.

It is understandable and correct, but in many everyday situations Egyptians very often use other patterns, especially when pointing someone out.

For example:

• مين دي؟ = Who is this? / Who is she?
• دي مين؟ = Who is this?

If you are directly referring to a woman already mentioned in conversation, مين هي؟ works well.
If you are pointing at a woman or asking about someone present, مين دي؟ is often more natural in casual Egyptian speech.

Arabic often allows question words to come first, so مين هي؟ is a very natural structure: who + she

This matches the basic idea:

• مين = the thing you are asking
• هي = the person you are asking about

You may also hear هي مين؟ in conversation. That can sound more conversational or more like She’s who? / Who is she, exactly? depending on context. But مين هي؟ is a straightforward way to ask the question.

The masculine version is:

• مين هو؟ = Who is he?

In Egyptian pronunciation, هو is often said as huwwa.

So:

• مين هي؟ = Who is she?
• مين هو؟ = Who is he?

Yes, in Arabic هي can also refer to a grammatically feminine noun, not only to a female person.

However, because مين means who, this question is normally about a person, not a thing. If you are asking about a thing, Arabic would usually use a different question word, such as إيه for what.

So in مين هي؟, the expected meaning is about a female person: Who is she?

You may see it written in Latin letters as:

• مين هي؟ → مين هي؟ in Arabic script
• miin heyya?
• sometimes meen heyya?

Both miin and meen are common ways learners write the long vowel sound. The important thing is that the vowel in مين is long.