انا كنت بقرا الرسالة وهي كانت بتكتب على الكمبيوتر.

I was reading the message while she was writing on the computer.

Breakdown of انا كنت بقرا الرسالة وهي كانت بتكتب على الكمبيوتر.

• انا: I
• هي: she
• ال: the
• رسالة: message

Questions & Answers about انا كنت بقرا الرسالة وهي كانت بتكتب على الكمبيوتر.

Why does the sentence use كنت بقرا instead of just قريت?

Because كنت + بــ + present verb is a very common way in Egyptian Arabic to express an ongoing action in the past, similar to was reading in English.

• كنت بقرا = I was reading
• قريت = I read or I have read, depending on context

So in this sentence, كنت بقرا shows that the action was in progress, not just completed.

What does the بـ in بقرا and بتكتب do?

In Egyptian Arabic, بـ usually marks the present/habitual form, but when it comes after كان / كنت / كانت, it often gives a past continuous meaning.

So:

• بقرا = I read / I am reading
• كنت بقرا = I was reading
• بتكتب = she writes / she is writing
• كانت بتكتب = she was writing

This is one of the most useful patterns in spoken Egyptian Arabic.

Why is it كنت in the first part and كانت in the second part?

Because كان changes depending on the subject.

• كنت = I was
• كانت = she was

So:

• انا كنت بقرا = I was reading
• هي كانت بتكتب = she was writing

The verb agrees with the subject in person and gender.