Twenty Arabic phrases that change how you're treated

You will be met in English almost everywhere, and you do not need Arabic to travel in Egypt. But twenty words change how you are treated, and they change it immediately. This is Egyptian Colloquial — what people actually say — not the Modern Standard Arabic of a textbook.

The five that do the most work

• Shukran — شكراً — thank you. Say it constantly.
• Salaam alaykum — السلام عليكم — the universal greeting. The reply is wa alaykum es-salaam. Use it entering a shop, a café, a taxi.
• Min fadlak (to a man) / min fadlik (to a woman) — من فضلك — please.
• Law samaht — لو سمحت — excuse me, and the correct way to get someone's attention.
• Khalas — خلاص — enough, that's it, done. The single most useful word in Egypt, said gently. It ends a haggle, declines a fifth cup of tea, and stops a helpful person doing more than you asked.

Streets in El Dahar, the old town of Hurghada

Getting through a conversation

• Izzayyak? (to a man) / Izzayyik? (to a woman) — إزيك — how are you? The reply is kwayyis (I'm good, man speaking) or kwayyisa (woman speaking), then el-hamdulillah — thanks be to God — which is the expected second half and lands warmly every time.
• Aywa — أيوه — yes. La — لا — no.
• Mafish mushkila — مفيش مشكلة — no problem. You will hear it hourly.
• Insha'Allah — إن شاء الله — God willing. Attached to anything in the future, including bus times.
• Mumkin? — ممكن — may I? Point and say it; it covers photographs, seats and doors.
• Ana mish fahim (man) / fahma (woman) — I don't understand.

Money and markets

Lanes and shopfronts in the Khan el-Khalili quarter

• Bikam da? — بكام ده — how much is this?
• Ghali awi — غالي أوي — very expensive. Said with a smile, this is the opening of a negotiation rather than an insult.
• Akhir kalam? — آخر كلام — last word? Your final price?
• La, shukran — no, thank you. Repeated, calm, walking. It works.
• Bas kida — بس كده — that's all. Ends an order.

The single most useful thing to know about haggling is that it is a conversation, not a conflict. Learning three of these words shifts you from "tourist" to "guest who is trying", and the prices you are quoted move with it.