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Unit 1 · Hello and who are you?

mish: not

Capitals mark the emphatic letters, 3 is ع and 7 is ح, and ' is the glottal stop that Cairo uses for q.

mish cancels anything that isn't a verb: a noun, an adjective, a place or a participle. 'ana mish kareem (I'm not Karim), el-kitaab mish gideed (the book isn't new), mish foo' (not on top). Put it right in front of the word you're cancelling. Verbs get a different pattern, ma...sh, which arrives with the daily-routine unit.

Hear it in sentences

لَأ، أَنَا دِينَا، مِش مُنَى.

No, I'm Dina, not Mona.

  • I
  • not

رَاج هِنْدِي، مِش إِنْجلِيزِي.

Raj is Indian, not English.

هُوَّ مِش هَانِي، هُوَّ كَرِيم.

He isn't Hany. He's Karim.

هِيَّ إِنْجلِيزِيَّة، مِش أَمْرِيكِيَّة.

She's English, not American.

نُور مِش أَمْرِيكِيَّة، هِيَّ مَصْرِيَّة.

Nour isn't American. She's Egyptian.

سَاعْتِي مِش مَظْبُوطَة.

My watch isn't right.

دَه مِش كُرْسِي، دَه بَاب.

That's not a chair, it's a door.

لَأ، مِش فَاضِي. آسِف.

No, I'm not free. Sorry. (said by a man)

Words in these sentences

notmishnola'indianhindienglish'engleezihehowwaitheyyathatdachairkorsidoorbaabemptyfaaDisorry'aasif