Irregular Subjective Nouns

ٍSubjective nouns can be tricky to use and understand correctly. They imply slightly different meanings in different situations and for some verbs they can't be use in the regular form.

We will try to list the forms of the subject nouns and explain their meaning

• In the process of doing the action

The most famous form
I'm going to school    انا رايح المدرسة
I want an apple    انا عايز تفاحة

• Action that will happen in the near future (using subject noun for the near future implies certainty)

I'm sorry I can't come with you because I'm going out tonight
انا اسف مش هقدر اجي معاكم علشان انا خارج بالليل

• Strictly the subject (the doer)

It can refer to the doer of an action or in many cases occupation

The writer   كاتب

• Just finished the action but its consequences are still in the present 

I arrive at home, my mother is done cooking, I can ask her:
what did you cook today?      انتِ طابخة ايه النهاردة؟

The confusion here is that not all subjective nouns can be used in those forms. You will have to learn which subjective nouns are used in which form and what they imply.

Note that you can use the subjective nouns in the past continuous tense by adding "was"
I was walking to work when I met him
انا كنت ماشي للشغل لما قابلته

Etre ou avoir?

"Composed pasts" are made of two parts:

1) an auxiliary verb, conjugated according to the subject (the latter can be conjugated in the composed past, the verb will then be made of 3 words)

2) a participle, invariable in English

In English, the composed past is always used with "have" as the auxiliary. Using "to be" automatically changes the meaning to the passive form. 

(I am only describing auxiliaries in the past, not the English "be + -ing" that doesn't exists in French)

• I have fooled my sister - I have been fooling my sister (Active voice)
• I am fooled by my sister - I am being fooled (Passive voice)

In Frech, things are a little more complicated... Using the auxiliary "to be" will lead to the passive form, but some verbs are employed with "to be" in the active form as well!

• J'ai mangé du fromage ensuite je suis parti. The first verb needs avoir, the second être.
• Le chat a mangé la souris, la souris est mangée par le chat. Manger is used with the auxiliary avoir, using manger with être means you're in the passive voice!
• Je me suis réveillé puis j'ai réveillé mon frère. Pronominal verbs always go with être, but the normal version with avoir.

There is a set of rules, or you can study them... The rules are well-explained here.

I think if you remember that the verbs that don't exists in the passive voice are conjugated with être (including pronominal verbs "se ..."), you're unlikely to make mistakes. 

I made up this rule, and I am not an expert in grammar, so let me know if you find exceptions!

A few more examples: 

• become, devenir, doesn't exist in the passive voice -> être. Je suis devenu grand
• se rappeler is a pronominal verb -> être. Il s'est rappelé de mon nom.
• Venir: no passive form (you can't say "I am came") so être: tu es venu
• Voir: the passive form exists, (you have seen (active) and you are seen (passive)) -> avoir. J'ai vu.

Yes, it is complicated, but you'll be understood* even if you use the wrong auxiliary! Keep learning :)

*exists in the passive voice -> comprendre goes with avoir! Tu as compris?

Never

I can think of mainly three translations to Never in Egyptian

• ابداََ

It differs from English that it should be used in a negative form
Have you played ice skating before?   لعبت تزحلق علي الجليد قبل كده
I never played ice skating.         ملعبتش تزحلق علي الجليد ابداًً قبل كده

• خالص

Like ابدا it is mainly used in the negative form.
Have you been to this cafe before?      جيت القهوة ده قبل كده
I have never been here before            لا ماجتش هنا قبل كده خالص

• عمري

عمري translates literally to "my age", it is also used to refer to "the time I have been alive". It is a very subtle difference from age. Age is mainly years but in this context Egyptians understand it to be your life on earth. so you can say for example, "I loved him my entire life" انا طول عمري بحبه
note that طول literally means "length", in the example context (which is used extensively) meaning the entire length of time or of my life ... you can also say for example انا بفكر فيها طول الوقت which means I think about her all the time (or the entire length of the time). A tall guy or a tall building is referred to as طويل
عمري can be used in the context of "never"
I didn't come here before     انا ماجتش هنا قبل كده
I never came here before    انا عمري ما جيت هنا قبل كده
If you want to make it really really emphatic, you can say    انا عمري ما جيت هنا قبل كده خالص
of course عمري refers to the speaker. You can also use it with anyone else
You (M.) عُمرَك
You (F.)  عُمرِك
You (P.) عُمرُكم
ٍShe        عُمرها
He           عُمرُه
They     عُمرُهم
Us          عُمرِنا


Note about the negative form with "Never"

when you have the "never" before the verb you should only use "ما" without adding the suffix "تش" after the verb. When "never" is added after the verb you use the normal negative form

• عمري ما روحت
• ما روحتش ابدا
• ما روحتش خالص
• عمري ما لعبت 
• ما لعبتش ابدا
• ما لعبتش خالص

If you want to imply that you would never do something, you can use عمري with the present tense

• I would never do that    عمري ما اعمل كده 

La confusion de la location

Location is what we would call in French un faux-ami, a false friend: it looks like an English word but has a completely different meaning. In fact, location means rental!

The corresponding verb, louer, is used like in English: je loue un appartement can be used by both the landlord and the tenant. Here is a short vocabulary list associated with renting:

louer                             to rent

le(s) locataire(s)         the tenant(s)

un(e) colocataire        a flatmate

une colocation             a shared apartment

le(s) propriétaire(s)   the landlord(s) (lit. the owner(s))

le loyer                         the rent

le (contrat de) bail     the lease (agreement)

voiture de location      rental car

la caution                     the deposit

And finally, to train further, a kids’ newspaper seasonal article (6^th grade level) about a very special leasing: here!

(Subjective Noun) أسم الفاعل

Subjective nouns are used frequently in Egyptian. They denote a state. If you think in English tenses, subjective nouns are used in the same manner of continuous tense. I believe it is useful to put it in contrast to the tenses used in Egyptian.

• I went to school     انا روحت المدرسة  (past tense)
• I go to school      انا بروح المدرسة (present tense)

This tense in Egyptian gives the meaning of a habit. It implies that you go to school everyday. 

• I will go to school   انا هروح المدرسة (future tense)
• I'm going to school  انا رايح المدرسة (continuous tense)

The subjective noun here gives the meaning that the subject (me) is in the process of doing the verb. In that sense, it is really related to both the verb (the action) and the doer (the subject). 

For example you can refer to the people going to school (similar to English)

• All the kids going to school are happy   كل العيال اللي رايحين المدرسة مبسوطين