TLDR
- Three situations, one skill: naming a price, stopping a taxi where you want, and ordering food the way locals actually phrase it.
- Haggling has a shape: state the price, push back, and close with a number, not a shrug.
- Taxi Arabic is mostly about giving instructions, not asking permission.
- Café and koshary orders use very specific words for "how much sugar" and "how much sauce" — get those two words right and you'll sound like you've done this before.
- Try these phrases out loud on SpeakMasri, free, no account required.
Naming a price: the shape of a haggle
A haggle in Egyptian Arabic isn't a fight, it's a short back-and-forth with a predictable rhythm: ask, object, push, close.
| Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| بكام ده؟ | bekam da? | "How much is this?" |
| ده غالي أوي! | da ghali awi! | "That's too expensive!" |
| يلا بقى، اعملهولي بسعر حلو | yalla ba'a, emholi beser helw | "Come on, make it a good price" |
That's the same yalla from everyday Masri, doing its usual job of nudging things along — here nudging a price down instead of nudging someone out the door.
| Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| عشرين جنيه وخلاص | eshreen geneh w khalas | "Twenty pounds, final" |
| معاك فكة؟ | maak fakka? | "Do you have change?" |
That fourth line does double duty — it's also where you'd swap in whatever number you're actually offering. If you've read what "khalas" means, this is exactly the "final" sense of it in action: a number followed by khalas closes the negotiation, not just the sentence.
Giving a taxi driver instructions, not asking permission
The taxi phrases below aren't questions you're hoping get answered politely — they're short, direct instructions, which is the normal register for this situation, not rudeness.
| Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| بكام لوسط البلد؟ | bekam le west el balad? | "How much to downtown?" |
| شغّل العدّاد لو سمحت | shaghal el addad law samaht | "Turn on the meter, please" |
| على جنب هنا | ala gamb hena | "Stop here on the side" |
| خلي الباقي ليك | khali el ba'i leek | "Keep the change" |
| دي مش الأجرة العادية | di mesh el ogra el adeya | "That's not the normal fare" |
Notice "law samaht" ("please") softens the meter request without turning it into a question — you're still asking for something you're entitled to, just politely. That's a small register move worth copying elsewhere.
Ordering like you've done this before
Café and street-food orders in Egypt run on a handful of precise modifier words. Get the sugar and spice words right, and the rest takes care of itself.
| Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| شاي لو سمحت | shay law samaht | "A tea, please" |
| قهوة مظبوط | 'ahwa mazboot | "Coffee, medium sugar" |
| سادة | sada | "Without sugar" |
| عصير مانجا فريش | aseer manga fresh | "A fresh mango juice" |
| يا أسطى! | ya osta! | "Waiter!" (getting attention) |
| واحد كشري وسط | wahed koshari wasat | "One medium koshary" |
| تقلية زيادة | ta'leya zeyada | "Extra fried onions" |
| شطة خفيف | shatta khafeef | "Easy on the hot sauce" |
| تيك أواي | take away | "Take away" |
| هنا جوه | hena gowa | "Eating in" |
| ترشحلي إيه؟ | torashahli eh? | "What do you recommend?" |
| عايز ده | ayez da | "I'd like this one" |
| من غير لحمة، أنا مباكلش لحمة | men gheir lahma, ana mabakolsh lahma | "No meat, I'm vegetarian" |
"Mazboot" (medium sugar) is worth memorizing on its own — it's the default most Egyptians order coffee at, and saying it correctly instantly signals you're not ordering off a menu translated for tourists.
And when the meal's actually done, close it out the same way:
| Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| الحساب لو سمحت | el hesab law samaht | "The bill, please" |
| كان تحفة والله | kan tohfa wallahi | "It was really delicious" |
Saying the meal was delicious after you've paid, not before, matters here for the same reason it matters at a family table: a compliment means more once it's clearly not just a bid for a discount.
Numbers you'll actually use here
You don't need to count past ten to negotiate a price or split a bill — these six cover almost every real haggling moment:
| Script | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| واحد | wahed | one |
| اتنين | etnein | two |
| تلاتة | talata | three |
| أربعة | arbaa | four |
| خمسة | khamsa | five |
| عشرة | ashra | ten |
What this guide isn't
This is street-and-café Arabic specifically — haggling, taxis, and ordering food — not a full airport-to-hotel travel phrasebook. If you're learning for a partner or their family rather than for getting around, Learn Egyptian Arabic for the People You Love covers that ground instead, and Egyptian Arabic Phrases by Register explains why the direct, no-frills tone above is completely normal here and would be too blunt in a formal or family setting.
The bottom line
Getting around Cairo in Masri isn't about a huge vocabulary — it's about a small set of exact phrases used with the right directness: name your price, give the driver clear instructions, and order with the specific words locals use. Get those down and you'll stop sounding like you're reading off a card.
Try these phrases out loud, free, on SpeakMasri, no account required.