محادثة في الكافيه: طلب عصير بالمصرية

What does “عايز” (ʕāyez) mean in Egyptian Arabic?

Egyptians rarely use the textbook أريد (urīd). To want something, they say عايز (ʕāyez), or عايزة (ʕāyza) if the speaker is a woman: أنا عايزة عصير, “I want juice.” It agrees like an adjective, for gender and number: a man says عايز, a woman عايزة, a group عايزين (ʕayzīn). Tense is added separately: كنت عايز is “I wanted.”

Put a verb straight after it and you can ask for anything. The customer here says عايزة أطلب عصير (“I’d like to order a juice”) and then عايزة أشرب عصير مانجا (“I’d like a mango juice”). Grammarians call it an active participle of عاز (“to need”), and you’ll also see it spelled عاوز (ʕāwez): same word. The waiter’s تحبي تطلبي إيه؟ (“what would you like to order?”) is the politer way to ask.