ساعات العمل طويلة.

A good pronunciation guide is:

saʿāt il-ʿamal ṭawīla

You may also see it written as:

sa3at il-3amal taweela

A few quick notes:

• ʿ / 3 = the letter ع
• ṭ = an emphatic t
• ساعات has a long aa sound: sa-ʿaat
• طويلة sounds like ta-wee-la

Here, ساعات means hours.

Its singular is ساعة = hour.

You are right that in Egyptian Arabic, ساعات can also mean sometimes in casual speech. But in this sentence, because it is followed by العمل, it clearly means hours:

• ساعات العمل = working hours / work hours

So the context removes the ambiguity.

Because ساعات العمل is an idafa construction, often called a possessive construction.

Literally, it is something like:

• hours of work

In an idafa:

• the first noun usually does not take الـ
• the second noun can be definite

So:

• ساعات العمل = the work hours / working hours

Even though ساعات has no الـ, the whole phrase can still be definite because of the idafa structure.

Because the phrase is built as an idafa: ساعات العمل.

The second noun, العمل, is definite, and that makes the whole phrase definite as well.

So this is not just any random hours of work, but more like:

• the working hours
• work hours

In Arabic, definiteness in this kind of phrase often comes from the second noun.

Because adjectives normally come after the noun in Arabic.

So the pattern is:

• noun + adjective

Here:

• ساعات العمل = the subject
• طويلة = the adjective describing it

So Arabic says, literally:

• working hours long

which English expresses as:

• working hours are long

Because ساعات is a non-human plural, and in Arabic, non-human plurals often take feminine singular agreement.

So even though ساعات is plural, the adjective is commonly feminine singular:

• ساعات العمل طويلة

This is a very important Arabic pattern.

Compare the idea:

• non-human plural noun → often feminine singular adjective

That is why you get طويلة, not a plural adjective.

It is not written, because Arabic usually does not use a present-tense word for am / is / are in simple sentences like this.

So Arabic says:

• ساعات العمل طويلة
• literally: working hours long

But the meaning is:

• The working hours are long.

This is called a nominal sentence.

It is understandable and correct, and it sounds fairly neutral or slightly formal.

In very everyday Egyptian Arabic, many speakers would also say:

• ساعات الشغل طويلة

because الشغل is a very common everyday word for work / job.

So:

• العمل = a bit more formal or standard
• الشغل = very common in daily Egyptian speech

Both are useful to know.

In Egyptian Arabic, the natural negation is:

ساعات العمل مش طويلة

This means:

• The working hours aren’t long.

Here, مش is the usual Egyptian way to negate adjectives and nominal sentences.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

In this sentence, because the topic is hours, it means:

• long in duration

So here طويلة means long in the sense of lasting a long time, not physically long.

The singular is:

ساعة

In this sentence:

• ساعة = hour
• ساعات = hours

So the plural here is a very useful everyday word to recognize.