دفع
dafaʕ/da.fa.ʕa/Egyptian Arabic
To say pay in Arabic, use دفع (dafaʕ), the standard verb for giving money for goods or services. If unsure, use دفع. Wiktionary also lists دَفَعَ (dafaʕa) and خَلَّصَ (ḵallaṣa).
Meaning: to give money in exchange for goods or services (verb)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| دفع | dafaʕ | /da.fa.ʕa/ | Egyptian Arabic |
| دَفَعَ | dafaʕa | ||
| خَلَّصَ | ḵallaṣa | ||
| دَفَع | dafaʕ | Hijazi Arabic | |
| خلص | ḵallaṣ | Moroccan Arabic |
دفع covers paying for things, paying rent and paying a bill. To say you pay for a particular item, Arabic uses the verb followed by ثَمَنَ, the price of, much like pay the price of in English.
Which one should you use?
دَفَعَ is the standard Modern Standard Arabic verb. Many dialects also use خَلَّصَ (ḵallaṣa) to mean settling a bill or paying up.
Is it said differently in some regions?
دفع is used in Egyptian Arabic and دَفَع in Hijazi Arabic. In Moroccan Arabic people say خلص (ḵallaṣ).
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
Arabic dictionaries list verbs in the past tense. دَفَعَ (dafaʕa) means he paid, and the present tense he pays is يَدْفَعُ (yadfaʕu).
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /da.fa.ʕa/, three syllables. The last consonant is a sound made deep in the throat that English does not have.
Did you know?
- The verb دفع (dafaʕ) literally means 'to push'. In Arabic, paying is conceptualized as pushing money away from yourself toward another person.
- In many Arabic-speaking cultures, it is common for friends or business partners to compete to pay the bill, sometimes even jokingly arguing or pretending to fight to see who gets to pay.
- While دفع is used for the act of paying, خلص (ḵallaṣ) comes from a root meaning 'to finish' or 'to be pure'. Using it to pay implies that you are finishing a debt or clearing your account.
Examples in context
- هل دفعت ثمن الكتاب؟Did you pay for the book?دفعت is the you form of the verb in this question about paying for the book.Tatoeba #411580 by saeb, translation #237586 by CK
- هو لا ينس أبدا دفع إيجاره.He never forgets to pay his rent.دفع إيجاره means paying his rent.Tatoeba #7981912 by OsoHombre, translation #7390158 by CH
- هم لا ينسون أبدا دفع إيجارهم.They never forget to pay their rent.دفع إيجارهم means paying their rent.Tatoeba #7981567 by OsoHombre, translation #7474534 by CH
- أنا أود أن أدفع الفاتورة، من فضلك.I would like to pay the bill, please.
- لقد انتهيت من دفع الفاتورة. شكراً!I have finished paying the bill. Thank you!
- يا سلمان، عطني فلوس الايجار بكرة.Hey Salman, give me the rent money tomorrow.
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ahmed and Sara are at a restaurant.
- أحمد Ahmedأنا هدفع الحساب النهاردة.Ana hadfa' el-hesab el-naharda.I will pay the bill today.
- سارة Saraلا يا أحمد، أنا عايزة أدفع.La ya Ahmed, ana ayza adfa'.No Ahmed, I want to pay.
- أحمد Ahmedخلاص، دفعنا مع بعض المرة الجاية.Khalas, dafa'na ma' ba'd el-marra el-gaya.Fine, we will pay together next time.
- سارة Saraماشي، اتفقنا يا أحمد.Mashi, ettafaqna ya Ahmed.Okay, we agreed, Ahmed.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pay” translations and entries دفع, خلص, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
