القميص كحلي.

In Arabic, simple present-tense sentences often do not use a separate word for is / are.

So القميص كحلي literally looks like the shirt navy blue, but it naturally means The shirt is navy blue.

This is completely normal in Egyptian Arabic. If you wanted to talk about the past or future, then you would usually add other words or verbs, but in the present tense, leaving out is is standard.

Because Arabic adjectives normally come after the noun.

So where English says:

• a navy-blue shirt

Arabic says, in effect:

• shirt navy-blue

That is the normal word order for noun + adjective in Arabic.

This is a very important grammar clue.

• القميص كحلي = The shirt is navy blue
• القميص الكحلي = the navy-blue shirt

In other words:

• definite noun + adjective without ال often gives a full sentence: The shirt is navy blue
• definite noun + definite adjective gives a noun phrase: the navy-blue shirt

So the missing الـ on كحلي helps show that this is a statement, not just a description inside a noun phrase.

Yes, but it means something different.

• القميص كحلي = a complete sentence: The shirt is navy blue
• القميص الكحلي = a noun phrase: the navy-blue shirt

So if you are identifying the color of the shirt, use القميص كحلي.

If you are talking about a specific shirt as an object, use القميص الكحلي. For example:

• عايز القميص الكحلي = I want the navy-blue shirt

A common Egyptian-style pronunciation would be roughly:

il-ʔamīṣ koḥli
or more simply for learners: el-amīs kohli

A few useful notes:

• الـ is usually pronounced il- or el- in Egyptian, not al-
• ق in القميص is often pronounced as a glottal stop in Egyptian speech
• ح in كحلي is a deeper, throatier h sound
• ص is a heavier, emphatic s

You do not need perfect pronunciation right away, but those are the main Egyptian features to notice.

Not exactly. كحلي usually means navy blue, dark blue, or a very deep blue shade.

It is more specific than أزرق, which is the general word for blue.

So if something is كحلي, it is usually a darker, richer blue, not a bright or medium blue.

Yes. Arabic adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here, القميص is masculine singular, so كحلي is also masculine singular.

With a feminine noun, you would typically use كحلية. For example:

• البلوزة كحلية = The blouse is navy blue

Plural agreement can get more complicated, especially with non-human nouns, but the main beginner pattern to remember is:

• masculine singular: كحلي
• feminine singular: كحلية

Then you usually get a noun phrase instead of this definite sentence.

• قميص كحلي = a navy-blue shirt
• القميص كحلي = The shirt is navy blue
• القميص الكحلي = the navy-blue shirt

This is a very useful contrast in Arabic, because definiteness often helps show whether you are looking at:

• a full sentence
• an indefinite noun phrase
• a definite noun phrase