حكيت له عن الشغلانة والمشروع في الشركة.

I told him about the job and the project at the company.

Breakdown of حكيت له عن الشغلانة والمشروع في الشركة.

• في: at
• ل: to
• عن: about
• الشغلانة: the job; line of work

Questions & Answers about حكيت له عن الشغلانة والمشروع في الشركة.

What does حكيت mean here?

In Egyptian Arabic, حكيت is the past tense of حكى and here it means I told or I talked.

With له عن after it, the whole idea is usually:

حكيت له عن... = I told him about... / I talked to him about...

So it is not just to tell a story. In everyday Egyptian, حكى is a very common verb for telling or talking about something.

Why is there no separate word for I in the sentence?

Because the verb already tells you the subject.

In حكيت, the ending -ت shows that the subject is I. So أنا is not necessary.

You could say أنا حكيت له... if you want emphasis, but normally Egyptian Arabic just uses the verb by itself.

Why is it حكيت and not حكى?

حكى is the he form: he told.

When you change it to I told, the form becomes حكيت.

This happens because حكى is a weak verb ending in ى. When a suffix is added, that final sound changes:

• حكى = he told
• حكيت = I told
• حكينا = we told

So حكيت is the normal first-person past form.

What does له mean here?