قواعد اللهجة المصرية

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لا ... لا / لَـ ... لَـ

either .... or ....

Introduction

     The most common way to express 'either ... or' is with يا(اما)....يا(اما) ; however, لا .... لا can also be used. This can be confusing because لا ... لا can also mean 'neither ... nor...' You may also see this construction spelled using only the laam to avoid any ambiguity

Examples

Example 1

سمر هو ده نظامي لا محروس يوصّلك لا أجي أوصّلك أنا

Summer, this is my way of doing things. Either Mahrous takes you or I come and take you.
(بين السرايات)

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Example 2

بص يا عربي هما كلمتين واحد الفلوس اللي عندك تيجي لي. اتنين انت وحماك تخلّصوا المشاكل بتاعتكو دي. مش عايز اسمع مشاكل تاني. لا كده لا هقطّع عيشك

Look Arabi, I have two things to say to you. One, the money that you have comes to me (is mine). Two, you and your father-in-law resolve your problems. I don't want to hear any more problems. Its either this or I am going to fire you.
(فاصل ونعود)

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Example 3

وشك ده لا تحلقه يا تربي راسك

Your face, either shave it or grow out your hair (on top of your head).
(ولاد رزق)
*Rather than saying لا ... لا, the speaker combined the two different ways to express this idea.

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Example 4

فيها ايه ايه! انتي بتتوحمي. الفترة دي لا تبصي لي لا تجيبي مرايا وتبصي لنفسك

What do you mean, what's the big deal?! You are imprinting on our unborn child*. During this time, either look at me or get a mirror and look at yourself.
(بين السرايات)
*اتوحم is usually translated as 'to crave during pregnancy.' Here that does not capture the anxiety expressed by the speaker. During pregnancy, it is traditionally thought in Egypt that a mother's thoughts, desires, surroundings can affect the physical appearance of her child while in the womb. So, if a mother constantly craves a certain food, maybe a birthmark will develop on the child in the shape of that food. Here, the speaker wants the child to turn out either like himself or his wife and for that reason tells her to only look at either himself or herself.

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