اختي ما بتحبش السمك، بس بتحب البيض.

A common pronunciation is:

ukhti ma bteḥibbish es-samak, bas bteḥibb el-bēḍ.

A few notes:

• اختي = ukhti or ekhti depending on accent and how carefully someone is speaking
• بتحبش = bteḥibbish
• السمك = es-samak because س is a “sun letter,” so the l in ال assimilates
• بس = bas
• البيض = el-bēḍ

You may also hear slight vowel differences, but this is a very normal Egyptian-style pronunciation.

اختي means my sister.

It is made of:

• أخت / اخت = sister
• -ي = my

So literally it is sister-my, which is how possession is often expressed in Arabic.

In normal writing, especially informal writing, the hamza may be omitted, so you may see:

• أختي
• اختي

Both represent my sister.

Because in Arabic, the verb already shows the subject.

In بتحب / bteḥibb, the form tells you the subject is she or sometimes you depending on context. Here, because the sentence starts with اختي (my sister), it is clear that the verb means she likes.

So Arabic often does not need a separate pronoun like هي (she) when the subject is already clear.

In Egyptian Arabic, the prefix بـ often marks the ordinary present tense, especially habitual or general actions.

So:

• تحب can be understood more broadly as like/love
• بتحب in Egyptian commonly means she likes / she loves

In this sentence, بتحب is the normal Egyptian way to say she likes.

Because the sentence has two separate statements joined by بس (but):

1. اختي ما بتحبش السمك
2. بس بتحب البيض

Arabic, like English, can repeat the verb when contrasting two ideas:

• She doesn’t like fish, but she likes eggs.

You could think of it as a very natural parallel structure:

• doesn’t like X
• but likes Y

This is a very common Egyptian Arabic negation pattern:

• ما ... ش

So:

• بتحب = she likes
• ما بتحبش = she doesn’t like

The negative wraps around the verb:

• ما before the verb
• -ش after the verb

This is one of the most important features of Egyptian Arabic.

Examples:

• ما بعرفش = I don’t know
• ما بيروحش = he doesn’t go
• ما بتحبش = she doesn’t like

Because Egyptian Arabic usually does not use the MSA-style negation system in everyday speech.

In Modern Standard Arabic, learners may know forms like:

• لا تحب
• لا يحب
• لا أحب

But in Egyptian colloquial Arabic, the normal everyday pattern is:

• ما + verb + ش

So for natural Egyptian speech, ما بتحبش is exactly what you want.

Because the subject is اختي (my sister), which is feminine.

In Egyptian Arabic present tense, بتحب can mean she likes. The feminine subject is shown by the verb form.

So the agreement is:

• اختي ... بتحب
• my sister ... likes

If the subject were masculine, you would usually get:

• أخويا بيحب = my brother likes

So compare:

• اختي بتحب = my sister likes
• أخويا بيحب = my brother likes

In Arabic, nouns are often made definite in places where English might use a bare noun.

So:

• السمك = the fish
• البيض = the eggs

But in context, these often correspond to English fish and eggs in a general sense.

This is very natural Arabic usage. After verbs like like, Arabic often uses the definite article where English does not.

So:

• بتحب السمك literally looks like she likes the fish
• but the natural meaning is often just she likes fish

This is because of sun letters and moon letters.

• س in السمك is a sun letter
• ب in البيض is a moon letter

With sun letters, the l sound in ال assimilates to the next consonant:

• السمك → es-samak

With moon letters, the l stays:

• البيض → el-bēḍ

So this is a pronunciation rule, not a difference in meaning.

بس here means but.

It is a very common Egyptian Arabic word used for contrast:

• ... ما بتحبش السمك، بس بتحب البيض
• ... doesn’t like fish, but likes eggs

Be aware that بس can also mean only / just in other contexts, so its meaning depends on the sentence.

Here, البيض means eggs, which is plural in meaning.

In everyday Arabic, this word commonly refers to eggs as a food category, much like English eggs.

So in this sentence, it is not talking about one egg specifically. It means eggs in general.

Yes. Normal Arabic writing usually leaves out most short vowels.

So the written form:

• اختي ما بتحبش السمك، بس بتحب البيض

does not show all the vowels a learner needs for pronunciation.

A fully guided learner-style version might look something like:

• أُختي ما بِتْحِبِّش السَّمَك، بَس بِتْحِبّ البِيض

But in real everyday writing, people normally write the unvoweled version.

This is why learners often need:

• listening practice
• transliteration at first
• exposure to common word patterns

Yes.

The more careful spelling is:

• أختي

But in casual writing, many people write:

• اختي

This kind of hamza omission is very common in informal Arabic writing, especially online or in texting. Both are understood.

It is specifically Egyptian Arabic in form, mainly because of things like:

• بتحب for the present tense
• ما ... ش negation
• بس in this style of everyday speech

Speakers of other Arabic dialects would probably understand it, especially because the vocabulary is common, but they may phrase it differently in their own dialects.

So it is very natural Egyptian Arabic, not Modern Standard Arabic.