الفني في المحل دلوقتي.

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Breakdown of الفني في المحل دلوقتي.

• دلوقتي: now
• محل: shop
• الفني: the technician

Questions & Answers about الفني في المحل دلوقتي.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Egyptian Arabic, the present-tense to be is usually not spoken in sentences like this.

So:

• الفني = the technician
• في المحل = in the shop
• دلوقتي = now

Put together, it naturally means The technician is in the shop now.

This kind of sentence is very common in Arabic. In the present tense, Arabic often just places the subject next to the information about it.

Compare:

• الفني في المحل دلوقتي. = The technician is in the shop now.
• الفني تعبان. = The technician is tired.

But in the past or future, Arabic does use words like كان or هيكون:

• الفني كان في المحل. = The technician was in the shop.
• الفني هيكون في المحل. = The technician will be in the shop.

How do I pronounce الفني في المحل دلوقتي in Egyptian Arabic?

A common Egyptian-style pronunciation is:

il-fanni fil-maḥall dilwaʔti

You may also hear something close to:

el-fanni fil-mahall دلwa'ti

A few helpful notes:

• ال is often pronounced il- or el- in Egyptian Arabic.
• في المحل often sounds like fil-maḥall, because fi + il- naturally runs together.
• دلوقتي is commonly pronounced dilwaʔti or delwaʔti.