Questions & Answers about بقالي ساعتين بستنى الرسالة على التليفون.
بقالي is a very common Egyptian Arabic way to express I have been ... for ... with time.
So:
- بقالي ساعتين = I’ve been ... for two hours
- literally, it is something like it has remained for me two hours, but you should learn it as a fixed expression
In Egyptian Arabic, you often do not need a separate word exactly matching English for in this structure. The idea of for + amount of time is already built into بقالي.
A few similar examples:
- بقالي يومين هنا = I’ve been here for two days
- بقالي أسبوع مستنيه = I’ve been waiting for him for a week
ساعتين means two hours.
The singular is:
- ساعة = hour
In Egyptian Arabic, the dual often uses -ين, so:
- ساعتين = two hours
This is the normal colloquial form. In Standard Arabic, you may learn forms like ساعتان / ساعتين, but in Egyptian everyday speech, ساعتين is the usual choice.