Side-by-side comparisons
The same twelve everyday phrases in Modern Standard Arabic and four major dialects, lined up so the differences are visible at a glance.
This page is the most useful one in the section if you want to see, in a single view, how far the spoken Arabic varieties have diverged from each other and from the formal standard. We pick twelve common phrases — the kind any traveler or beginner needs in the first week — and show each one in five renderings: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, and Maghrebi (Moroccan as the reference variety). The Iraqi, Sudanese, and Yemeni forms are covered on their respective dialect pages.
A note on the gender system. Many forms differ between addressing a man and a woman. We give the masculine form by default and note the feminine in the third column where the difference is regular and important. For verbs of "wanting" and similar, the dialect forms vary by gender of the speaker as well.
1. "How are you?"
MSA
كيف حالك؟
kayfa Haaluka?
Formal, rarely used in conversation.
Egyptian
إزيك؟
izzayyak? / izzayyik?
Levantine
كيفك؟
kiifak? / kiifik?
Gulf
شلونك؟
shloonak? / shloonich?
Note -ich for "your" (f.).
Maghrebi
لاباس؟
la baas?
Literally "no harm." Reply: la baas, l-Hamdulillaah.
2. "What's your name?"
Egyptian
اسمك إيه؟
ismak eih?
Question word at end.
Levantine
شو اسمك؟
shu ismak?
Gulf
وش اسمك؟
wesh ismak?
Khaleeji also shu ismak?
Maghrebi
شنو سميتك؟
shnu smiitek?
smiya rather than ism for "name."
3. "I want…"
Egyptian
عايز / عاوز
ʿaayiz / ʿaawiz
Active participle.
Levantine
بدي
biddi
Pronoun-suffixed noun.
Gulf
أبي / أبغى
abi / abgha
Maghrebi
بغيت
bghiit
Perfective form of bgha.
4. "Now"
Levantine
هلق
halla'
Palestinian also hassa.
Maghrebi
دابا
daba
Tunisian: tawwa.
5. "Good"
6. "What?"
Gulf
شو؟ / وش؟
shu? / wesh?
Maghrebi
شنو؟ / آش؟
shnu? / aash?
7. "Where?"
8. "Yes / no"
Egyptian
أيوه / لأ
aywa / la'
Levantine
إيه / لأ
eeh / la'
Gulf
إي / لا
ee / laa
naʿam also used in formal Gulf register.
Maghrebi
إيه / لا
iyyeh / la
9. "I don't know"
Egyptian
مش عارف
mish ʿaarif
Levantine
ما بعرف
maa baʿref
Gulf
ما أدري
maa adri
From a different verb (daraa).
Maghrebi
ما عرفتش
ma-ʿreft-sh
Negation circumfix ma…sh.
10. "This / that" (m. sg.)
MSA
هذا / ذلك
haadhaa / dhaalika
Egyptian
ده / دكها
da / dukha
Egyptian routinely places the demonstrative after the noun: il-bayt da "this house."
Levantine
هاد / هاداك
haad / haadaak
Gulf
هذا / هذاك
haadha / haadhaak
Maghrebi
هاد / هاداك
had / hadak
11. Counting one through ten
The numbers from one to ten are remarkably stable across the dialects, with only minor phonological variation. We list them here for reference.
MSA
واحد، اثنان، ثلاثة، أربعة، خمسة، ستة، سبعة، ثمانية، تسعة، عشرة
waaHid, ithnaan, thalaatha, arbaʿa, khamsa, sitta, sabʿa, thamaaniya, tisʿa, ʿashara
Egyptian
واحد، اتنين، تلاتة، أربعة، خمسة، ستة، سبعة، تمانية، تسعة، عشرة
waaHid, itneen, talaata, arbaʿa, khamsa, sitta, sabʿa, tamaanya, tisʿa, ʿashara
th → t in everyday vocabulary.
Levantine
واحد، تنين، تلاتة، أربعة، خمسة، ستة، سبعة، تمانية، تسعة، عشرة
waaHid, tneen, tlaate, arbaʿa, khamse, sitte, sabʿa, tmaane, tisʿa, ʿashra
Reduced vowels.
Gulf
واحد، ثنين، ثلاثة، أربعة، خمسة، ستة، سبعة، ثمانية، تسعة، عشرة
waaHid, thneen, thalaatha, arbaʿa, khamsa, sitta, sabʿa, thamaaniya, tisʿa, ʿashra
Interdentals preserved.
Maghrebi
واحد، جوج، تلاتة، ربعة، خمسة، ستة، سبعة، تمنية، تسعود، عشرة
waaHed, jouj, tlaata, rebʿa, khamsa, setta, sebʿa, tmenya, tesʿuud, ʿashra
Moroccan: jouj for "two" is distinctive (also thnayn when counting).
12. "Today / yesterday / tomorrow"
MSA
اليوم / أمس / غداً
al-yawm / ams / ghadan
Egyptian
النهارده / إمبارح / بكرة
in-naharda / imbaariH / bukra
in-naharda literally "this day."
Levantine
اليوم / مبارح / بكرا
il-yoom / mbaariH / bukra
Gulf
اليوم / أمس / باكر
al-yoom / ams / baachir
Note baachir — the k-to-ch shift again.
Maghrebi
اليوم / البارح / غدا
l-yum / l-baareH / ghedda
What this comparison shows
Two patterns stand out across these twelve examples. First, the spoken dialects have not drifted from MSA in random directions — they have generally drifted further from MSA than from each other, and they share innovations that MSA lacks (the b- prefix, the ma…sh negation, the post-nominal demonstrative). Second, the dialects line up in a rough geography: Egyptian and Levantine are close to each other on most items, Gulf clusters with Iraqi and Yemeni when those are added in, and Maghrebi consistently stands at the western edge with its own forms. The numbers 1–10 are an exception — they remain stable across the entire space, which is why they are reliably recognizable across dialects.
For a learner: do not memorize all five columns. Pick a target dialect, learn that column thoroughly, and treat the others as recognizable variants. Pan-Arab passive comprehension comes from exposure, not from memorization.