احنا اتنين في العربية.

car

Breakdown of احنا اتنين في العربية.

• في: in
• احنا: we
• اتنين: two

Questions & Answers about احنا اتنين في العربية.

What does each word in احنا اتنين في العربية mean?

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• احنا = we
• اتنين = two
• في = in
• العربية = the car

So the structure is literally something like we two in the car. In natural English, that comes out as there are two of us in the car or we are two in the car.

Why is there no word for are in this sentence?

Because in Egyptian Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense.

So where English says:

• We are two
• He is tired
• The car is big

Egyptian Arabic often just puts the parts next to each other:

• احنا اتنين = we are two
• هو تعبان = he is tired
• العربية كبيرة = the car is big

If you wanted a past or future meaning, then a form of كان might appear.

Why does it use احنا instead of نحن?

Because this is Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, not Modern Standard Arabic.

• is the normal everyday Egyptian way to say