Houses and Buildings in Egyptian Arabic

In this article we’re going to cover the translations for the popular types of houses, buildings and structures in Egyptian Arabic. If you wish to view and study the counterpart article in Tunisian Arabic to compare and contrast, access the IBL article: Homes in Tunisian Arabic. Recordings are courtesy of IBL contributor Ashraf H. (from the Alexandria region in Egypt)

Here is the list:

House & Houses — (sing) (m) Beit / بيت (pl) (m) Beyot / بيوت

Listen to Ashraf H. pronounce Beit and Beyot:

Home & Homes — (sing) (m) Beit / بيت (pl) (m) Beyot / بيوت

House and Home and Houses and Homes translate the same in Egyptian Arabic — (sing) Beit / بيت (pl) Beyot / بيوت.

Apartment & Apartments (as in what one rents in a building) — (singular) (f) 4a2ah / شقة (plural) (f) 4o2a2 / شوقاق

Apartment building & Apartment buildings — (sing) (f) 3omarah / عمارة (pl) (f) 3amayer / عماير

Mosque & Mosques — (sing) (m) Masged / مسجد (pl) (m) Masaged / مساجد

In Egyptian Arabic, other words that mean Mosque and Mosques are (sing) Game3 / جامع (pl) Gawame3 / جوامع.

Masged and Masaged:

Game3 and Gawame3:

Shed & Sheds — (sing) (m) Dokan / دكان (pl) (f) Dkaken / دكاكين

Garage & Garages — (sing) (m) Garage / چراچ (pl) (m) Garagat / چراچات

Building & Buildings — (sing) (m) Mabna / مبني  (pl) (m) Mabany / مباني

Skyscraper & Skyscrapers — (sing) (m) Borg / برج  (pl) (m) 2brag / ابرا 

Mansion & Mansions — (sing) (m) 2asr / قصر (pl) (m) 2sor / قصور

Palace & Palaces — (sing) (m) 2asr / قصر (pl) (m) 2sor / قصور

Mansion and Palace and Mansions and Palaces translate the same in Egyptian Arabic — (sing) 2asr / قصر (pl) 2sor / قصور

Castle & Castles — (sing) (f) 2al3a / قلعة (pl) (f) Qla3 / قلاع

A nuanced point above about the spellings 2al3a / قلعة and Qla3 / قلاع: If you’ve studied Egyptian Arabic for a bit you may know by now that the number 2 conventionally represents an Alef ا which is most closely akin to the “A” in English. Yet the Arabic script of 2al3a begins with the Arabic letter ق. The reason for this is that the Arabic spelling is based on Standard Arabic (Fos7a / فصحى), but in Egyptian Arabic, the ق is often softer and takes more of a pronunciation of an Alef. (ا)

In closing

You can use the above material as a reference to know and understand the names of buildings and structures when speaking or writing in Egyptian Arabic. If you enjoyed this material you may also like to study and learn: How to say “Hello” in Egyptian Arabic and How to say “Goodbye” in Egyptian Arabic. And Ithaca Bound Languages is documenting Egyptian Arabic overtime. (Currently over 700 pages with recordings and over 3500 statements/sentences have been translated) To access this catalogue go here — IBL: Egyptian Arabic.

Enjoy continuing to learn Egyptian Arabic.

And as always, we wish you a marvellous journey!