The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs

The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs

PDF eBook
$20
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The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs
PDF eBook

The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs

Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs: Anki Flashcards

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A detailed Egyptian Colloquial Arabic verb eBook covering 264 common verbs with full conjugation tables, example sentences, and pronunciation guidance.

This is a PDF eBook, delivered as a digital download.
Looking for a physical copy? See where to buy the paperback.

Level A1 • A2 • B1
Length 550 pages
Format PDF eBook
Click to Play Intro Video
Key Features

The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs is a practical verb reference for learners focused on real spoken Egyptian Arabic.

This eBook is designed to help advanced beginner and intermediate learners gain confident control over the most common verbs used in daily Egyptian speech. It presents conjugation patterns clearly, with careful attention to pronunciation, sound changes, and actual usage in context. All material is based on the Cairo dialect and avoids unnecessary grammatical jargon while remaining precise and systematic.

What’s inside

  • 264 high-frequency Egyptian Arabic verbs.
  • Full conjugation tables covering four tenses and the imperative.
  • Affirmative and negative forms throughout.
  • Active and passive participles plus verbal nouns.
  • Voweled Arabic script with phonemic transcription.
  • Example sentences illustrating real usage.
  • Notes on pronunciation changes during inflection.
  • Coverage of common pseudo-verbs used to express “have”.
  • English to Arabic index for quick reference.

Who it’s for: Advanced beginner and intermediate learners of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic with some prior exposure to Arabic grammar.

Audio: Audio for the example sentences is available to download or stream below.

Use this eBook as a reference you can return to regularly as your command of Egyptian Arabic verbs grows.

Detailed Overview

Mastering Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) depends on developing a solid command of verb conjugation. Verbs are the engine of everyday communication, and this book is designed as a clear, practical reference for exploring how they actually work. It focuses on the 264 most essential verbs used in daily Egyptian speech, giving you a reliable foundation for understanding, recognizing, and producing real-world forms without unnecessary theoretical complexity.

The Power of the Side-by-Side Layout

What makes this resource unique is its highly functional side-by-side layout. On the left-facing page, you get a comprehensive breakdown of every conjugation across all eight persons and four tenses, perfect, imperfect, bi-imperfect, and future. On the right-facing page, those same verbs are brought to life through example sentences written by a native speaker from Cairo.

This structure allows you to see exactly how a verb behaves when it interacts with prepositions, direct objects, and negation. Instead of memorizing abstract tables in isolation, you are learning collocations, the word combinations that native speakers actually use in context.

Which Book Is Right for You?

If you are deciding between this book and its companion, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs: Conjugation Tables and Grammar, it helps to understand their different roles. Think of the Grammar book as the blueprints of the language. It focuses on the underlying logic of the verb system, organizing verbs by measures to show how patterns function across the dialect.

In contrast, The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs is the finished structure. It provides full, dedicated tables for high-frequency verbs so you do not need to apply patterns mentally while speaking or reading. It is ideal for learners who want an extensive, ready-to-use reference that presents verbs exactly as they appear in real usage.

Important Note on the Accompanying Audio

This book includes extensive MP3 audio to support accurate pronunciation and usage. The recordings cover the base form of each verb, its verbal nouns, and every example sentence on the right-hand page.

Please note: The audio focuses on base forms and example sentences only. Recording every person and tense for all 264 verbs would require dozens of hours of audio, making the project impractical and significantly increasing its cost.

If you are looking for audio that covers complete conjugation tables, the companion book ECA Verbs: Conjugation Tables and Grammar is the best choice. For learners who want to drill every conjugated form with audio, the Egyptian Arabic Verb Conjugation Drills Anki flashcard decks provide full audio coverage for all forms.

What You Can Realistically Achieve

By working systematically through these verbs, you will move beyond basic sentence patterns. You will gain control over compound tenses using the verb kān, learn to use active participles for mental states and motion, and understand the pseudo-verbs used to express possession and necessity. This book helps you progress from knowing isolated forms to confidently handling the verb structures that underpin natural, effective communication in Egyptian Arabic.

PDF Sample

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MP3 Files

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Paperback?

This book is also available in paperback!

On Lingualism.com, this book is sold as a PDF eBook only.

A paperback edition is also available via IngramSpark* for US and UK addresses, and through Amazon worldwide. You may also ask your local bookstore or library to special order a copy.

Please note that paperback editions are printed with black-and-white interiors, which differ from the full-color sample images shown for the PDF eBook above.

* If the IngramSpark link is not appearing below, please check back soon. We're currently adding them in.

Customer Reviews
  • 5 stars: 13 (76%)
  • 4 stars: 2 (12%)
  • 3 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 2 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 1 star: 2 (12%)
R
Roswitha

Dieses Buch ist wirklich toll, Ich schließe mich den vorherigen Resesionen an;
Ich würde mir ein Audio wünschen, welches die Verben konjungiert. Also so wie im Buch aufgeführt.
Die könnte ich mir dann, in einer Zeit, wo ich nicht aktiv lernen, anhören. Somit würde ich beim Putzen meiner Wohnung Vokabeln lernen. Also passiv
Vielleicht kommt das noch. Und alle die das Buch gekauft haben, bekommen immer die entsprechenden Update

A
Alejandro

The best out there. When it comes to learning Any Arabic there are plentiful materials for MSA, on the other hand, most dialects are not rigorously studied by foreigners therefore there are not many resources for studying specific dialects, that's where Matthew and the lingualism crew come into action. I have been researching and looking for good material to study Egyptian Colloquial Arabic and have never come across such a broad variety of material dedicated to ONE Arab dialect, not to mention the other dialects with available content as well.
As for this book, it's simply amazingly put together, very user friendly approach especially once you cover the "basis" for learning the pattern of conjugating the verbs. In my personal opinion I recommend getting the book (Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs) first as it goes further into the actual "how-to" of conjugating verbs and it helps you grasp the concept well, and I recommend this big boy for more content and practice :)

J
Jana

This is an amazing resource, and it will be very useful on my journey. However, there is something that bothers me a lot, and I am surprised that no one has pointed it out yet. I own the electronic copy, and each page in the PDF contains two pages of the book. So it would make total sense if each verb and the respective examples shared one PDF page. But no, there is a shift so you see the examples for verb 166 on the left half of your screen and the conjugation of verb 167 on the right half. I think this could be fixed, e.g. by inserting one empty page, so that tables and examples align well. If this is possible, it would be great if the book were offered for download to those who have purchased it.

P
Philippe

The new audio is far better: clearer and slower. There are "normal" voices not like "cartoon" voices like before.

N
Nemeth

The new audio is really learner-friendly. I think the male narrator is Ahmad Elkhodary with his relaxed and smooth voice. The lady voice is faster, but manageable. So, thank you for the improved audio. To make the audio complete, you may consider providing narration for all the verb forms exactly as with the audio for the book Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs. Since I have Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Verbs book, too, with the examples I can reproduce all verb forms with no major issues. Thank You for Your great work.

J
John

I am so disappointed in the audio because I thought it would give the pronunciation of the verbs in the conjugation tables, but it doesn't. It just gives 6 example sentences containing some forms of the verb. I'm returning this book. What a bummer.

H
Hansjörg

Extremely useful. Most teaching aids for Egyptian Arabic either offer transcription or Arabic script with tashkeel. Neither is adequate if used in isolation. Everybody who is familiar with these works - and some of them are excellent, like e.g. Woidich's Kullu tamam - will agree with this and appreciate the hard work behind the almost completely typo-free texts of Lingualism. Studying verb tables may seem, and indeed is, pedestrian, but given the absolutely central role of the Arabic verb in the language, it is both necessary and well worth the effort. And in this field in particular, there are many differences between Egyptian Arabic and MSA which you need to master. My second main reason for recommending the Big Fat Book is the excellent examples, reflecting everyday communication needs instead of the rather sterile language prevalent in other books.

G
Gil

Great!

T
Trenton

This book has helped me immensely. It’s difficult to find a table of verbs in Arabic. I had to learn what the tenses meant as the names are different than those in other languages I’ve learned, but after that it’s been an asset.

N
Nemeth

I made a mistake in the rating of my previous review. Honestly, I didn't even expected audio available for a book like the Big Fat Verbs. The book is absolutely 5-star just to have it on your bookshelf; actually, I have it always on by desk to have it at hand next to other Lingualism learning materials as well as the brilliant Kullu Tamam (by M. Woidich), the ultimate grammar book for Egyptian Arabic.

N
Nemeth

I purchased the book paper on Amazon, and I was right the book itself is fantastic. On the other hand as for audio, I am absolutely with Patricia and JK, it's not the problem with the speed, since it could be handled with slowed down playback, but the accuracy and articulation. I've just listened to the examples for "85 HaTT to put" and from the audio recording I had no clue the delicate pronunciation of the H and emphatic doubled T's and the vowels pronounced along with these emphatic consonants of this very important verb. I would rerecord all examples with a relaxed lady speaker, as well as, all the actual conjugations: HaTTeet, HaTTeena, ..., ma-HaTTitsh.
Honestly, audio is weak point of most of the Lingualism publications because of the meaninglessly crazy speed, as if the speakers primary purpose were to make us learners frustrated and stop learning Egyptian Arabic.

A
Ameena

Wow wow wow!!!. This is a HUGE book of verb conjugations and sample sentences. I cannot even imagine all the time and effort that went into putting this monumental work together.
So helpful ...from the conjugation tables to the audio, to the cross references to ECA Verb book...and even the extra references at the bottom of the page mentioning other examples on other pages. perfect /imperfect/negative/positive/bi-imperfect/future/imperative/AP/PP/VN . IT'S ALL HERE!!
YA SALAAM!!!
For beginner to advanced language lovers.
Truly a labour of love.

P
Patricia

I was going to purchase the book of verbs, but changed my mind after listening to the sample. The speech is much too fast for learners.

J
JK

I have purchased many of lingualisms materials(and written similar reviews to this one). Honestly, they are easily the best purchases I have made in my Arabic learning journey. The audio is high quality. However the audio is also the reason I only gave this product 4/5 stars. I do appreciate the audio for the sample sentences, but I do feel that many of the audio tracks are a bit too fast, even by native standards. Not everyone who lives in Egypt or speaks Arabic, talks at that speed.
The purchase of the book is a very good investment. Learning Arabic and using verbs as a starting point once I understood the script has been extremely helpful in improving my ability to speak. The layout is clear and easy to follow. The notes for each verb are invaluable.

v
viola

I was looking forward for a book of verbs' conjugations with trasliteration , tashkeel and arabic all in one. Just started using it but the structure is very friendly.

M
MARCO

This book is extremely useful especially when combined with the Anki Flash Cards, it really helped me to improve my Arabic

E
Emil

The book is a wonderfuI addition to one's Egyptian Arabic library. The complete conjugation of each verb with the noun form of the verb plus the examples of use are outstanding for a colloquial dialect. The audio files are a must and an excellant creation by the author to fully grasp the correct pronunciation. By the way, I bought the hardcopy version from Amazon.com.

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