Public Transport

1. انهي اتوبيس رايح وسط البلد؟

   Anhi utubīs rāyiḥ wisṭ il-balad?

   Which bus goes to the city center?

   Usage

   Ask this at a stop or to a driver. وسط البلد means downtown and is also the name of central Cairo. The sentence is the same for men and women.

   Grammar Note

   رايح is the active participle "going" (رايحة f., رايحين pl.). انهي "which" comes before the noun. A composed sentence built from regular parts.

2. كام محطة لحد ...؟

   Kām maḥaṭṭa liḥadd ...?

   How many stops to ...?

   Usage

   Put your destination where the dots are. It works for buses, the metro and minibuses.

   Grammar Note

   The noun after كام stays singular (كام محطة). لحد means "up to". A composed sentence built from regular parts.

3. نزلني هنا لو سمحت

   Nazzilni hina law samaḥt

   Please let me off here

   Usage

   Say it to the driver of a minibus or taxi when you reach your stop. A woman says لو سمحتي (law samaḥti).

   Grammar Note

   نزلني is the causative imperative of نزل "go down" plus "me". Use law samaḥti to a woman.

4. الكرسي ده فيه حد قاعد عليه؟

   Il-kursi da fīh ḥadd ʾāʿid ʿalēh?

   Is this seat taken?

   Usage

   Checks whether the seat is free. Literally "is anyone sitting on this chair?".

   Grammar Note

   فيه حد قاعد = "there is someone sitting". The demonstrative ده follows the noun. A composed sentence built from regular parts.

5. آخر اتوبيس امتى؟

   Ākhir utubīs imta?

   What time is the last bus?

   Usage

   امتى means "when". You can also ask the time with الساعة كام.

   Grammar Note

   A verbless question: آخر اتوبيس "the last bus" + the question word امتى.

6. اقدر اشتري تذكرة منين؟

   Aʾdar ashtiri tazkara minēn?

   Where can I buy a ticket?

   Usage

   For finding a ticket window. منين literally "from where" is used in the sense "where" here.

   Grammar Note

   اقدر + bare subjunctive verb (اشتري) means "can I buy". No prefix is added.

7. الاتوبيس ده بيقف عند السوق؟

   Il-utubīs da bi-yiʾaf ʿand is-sūʾ?

   Does this bus stop at the market?

   Usage

   Replace السوق with any other place name.

   Grammar Note

   bi- + imperfect gives a habitual or general fact (بيقف "stops"). The question is marked by intonation only.

8. بيمشي من رصيف نمرة كام؟

   Bi-yimshi min raṣīf nimra kām?

   Which platform does it depart from?

   Usage

   Asks which platform a train or coach leaves from. رصيف نمرة كام means "platform number what".

   Grammar Note

   نمرة is "number"; نمرة كام asks "which number".

9. الرحلة هتاخد قد ايه؟

   Ir-riḥla ha-tākhud ʾadd ē?

   How long does the journey take?

   Usage

   قد ايه means "how much / how long" and works for time or distance.

   Grammar Note

   ha- + imperfect marks the future. ياخد "take" also means "take (time)".

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