قبل ما الضيوف يجوا، لازم ننضف الكنبة والسجادة.

Before the guests come, we have to clean the sofa and the rug.

Breakdown of قبل ما الضيوف يجوا، لازم ننضف الكنبة والسجادة.

• و: and
• ييجي: to come
• لازم: to have to
• ضيف: guest

Questions & Answers about قبل ما الضيوف يجوا، لازم ننضف الكنبة والسجادة.

What does قبل ما mean here, and why isn’t it just قبل?

قبل means before. In Egyptian Arabic, when before is followed by a whole action or clause, speakers very often use قبل ما + a verb.

So:

• قبل ما الضيوف يجوا = before the guests come

But with a noun, قبل by itself is enough:

• قبل العشا = before dinner

So قبل ما is a very common way to say before someone does something.

Why is it يجوا and not بيجوا?

In Egyptian Arabic, بـ often marks the regular present or habitual meaning. But after قبل ما, you usually use the bare imperfect verb, not the بـ form.

So:

• بيجوا = they come / they usually come
• يجوا = come, in a dependent or future-related clause like before they come

That is why قبل ما الضيوف يجوا sounds natural here.

What does لازم mean, and how does it work in this sentence?

لازم means must, have to, or need to, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• لازم ننضف = we must clean / we need to clean

In Egyptian Arabic, لازم is commonly followed directly by an imperfect verb. There is no separate word for to like in English.

So you should think of لازم + verb as a very common pattern for obligation.