لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاسال الصيدلي عن الاثار الجانبية.

Because Egyptian Arabic often uses this pattern for an unreal / hypothetical situation:

• لو كنت مكانك = If I were in your place / If I were you
• كنت هاسأل... = I would ask...

So the first كنت sets up the hypothetical situation, and the second كنت helps express the result: I would...

This is very natural in Egyptian Arabic.
A learner may expect something more directly like لو أنا مكانك، هاسأل..., and that can be understood, but لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاسأل... sounds more idiomatic for If I were you, I would...

لو introduces a conditional sentence, like if in English.

In this sentence, it introduces a hypothetical condition:

• لو كنت مكانك = If I were you

In Egyptian Arabic, لو is very commonly used for unreal or imagined situations, especially with past forms like كنت.

More or less, yes, literally it is something like I was in your place, but idiomatically it means:

• If I were you
• If I were in your position

The word مكان means place, and مكانك means your place / your position.

So:

• مكان = place
• مكانك = your place
• لو كنت مكانك = if I were in your place

The -ك is the attached pronoun meaning your or you, addressed to one person.

So:

• مكان = place
• مكانك = your place

This -ك is very common in Arabic. For example:

• اسمك = your name
• بيتك = your house
• معاك = with you

In this sentence, it is addressing one person informally: your place.

The ها- here is the future marker in Egyptian Arabic. It means something like will / going to.

So:

• أسأل / اسأل = ask
• هاسأل = I will ask / I would ask in this context

In Egyptian Arabic, you will also often see or hear حـ instead of ها-:

• حاسأل
• هسأل
• هاسأل

These are related colloquial spellings/pronunciations depending on the speaker and how carefully they are writing.

In this sentence, because it is inside a hypothetical structure with كنت, هاسأل gives the sense of would ask.

Because هاسأل gives a future-like sense, and in this conditional sentence that becomes would ask.

Compare:

• بسأل = I ask / I am asking
• سألت = I asked
• هاسأل = I will ask

In لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاسأل..., the speaker is not talking about a real action happening now. They are talking about what they would do in that imagined situation. So هاسأل fits well.

Yes, this is a good question. In informal Egyptian writing, spelling is often flexible.

You may see:

• هسأل
• هاسأل
• حاسأل
• even spellings that leave out the hamza clearly, like هاسال

These all aim to represent colloquial pronunciation. A more careful spelling would usually show the hamza somehow, because the verb is from سأل to ask.

So for learners, it is useful to recognize that informal Arabic writing, especially dialect writing, is often not fully standardized.

The verb is سأل = to ask.

In the first person singular in Egyptian Arabic:

• بسأل = I ask / I’m asking
• سألت = I asked
• هسأل / هاسأل = I will ask

So هاسأل الصيدلي means I will ask the pharmacist, or in this sentence, I would ask the pharmacist.

الصيدلي means the pharmacist.

Breakdown:

• صيدلي = pharmacist
• الـ = the
• الصيدلي = the pharmacist

In Egyptian pronunciation, ال often sounds like el-, so this is commonly pronounced something like eṣ-ṣēdali because the ص is a sun letter, so the l of ال assimilates.

So learners often hear:

• written: الصيدلي
• pronounced roughly: eṣ-ṣēdali

Because ص is a sun letter. In Arabic, when الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound assimilates to the next consonant.

So:

• ال + صيدلي becomes pronounced roughly eṣ-ṣēdali

The same thing happens in many words, for example:

• الشمس is pronounced esh-shams
• الراجل is pronounced er-ragel

This is a pronunciation rule, not a meaning change.

عن means about.

So:

• سأل عن = ask about
• هاسأل الصيدلي عن الآثار الجانبية = I would ask the pharmacist about the side effects

This is a very common combination:

• يسأل عن = ask about
• سألته عن... = I asked him about...

Word by word:

• الآثار / الاثار = the effects
• الجانبية = side / secondary

Together:

• الآثار الجانبية = side effects

A small note: in more careful standard spelling, this is usually written الآثار الجانبية with a long آ at the beginning. In informal writing, people may simplify the spelling.

It is understandable and correct, especially because it is close to Modern Standard Arabic. But in everyday speech, many Egyptians also say:

• الأعراض الجانبية

That is also very common for side effects in medical contexts.

So a learner should recognize both:

• الآثار الجانبية
• الأعراض الجانبية

Both can be used, though الأعراض الجانبية may sound more common in everyday medical talk.

A rough pronunciation would be:

law kont makanak, kont has'al eṣ-ṣēdali ʿan el-āsār el-ganbeyya

A few notes:

• لو = law
• كنت = kont
• مكانك = makanak
• هاسأل = has'al or has2al if you like to mark the glottal stop
• الصيدلي = eṣ-ṣēdali
• عن = ʿan
• الآثار الجانبية = el-āsār el-ganbeyya

Pronunciation varies a bit by speaker, but this is a good practical guide.

Yes, you may hear shorter versions in speech, such as:

• لو كنت مكانك، هاسأل الصيدلي...

This is also understandable and natural. But the version with the second كنت:

• لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاسأل...

makes the hypothetical would meaning especially clear. Both patterns exist, but the version in your sentence is a very useful one to learn.

As written, مكانك could be said to either a man or a woman in many informal contexts, because the attached -ك can represent masculine you in writing, and informal dialect writing often does not mark everything very strictly.

If someone wanted to write more explicitly for a female addressee, they might write:

• مكانِك with a kasra in fully marked text, though dialect writing usually omits short vowels

In normal everyday unvowelled writing, this sentence could easily be read as addressing either one person in conversation, depending on context.

A very useful pattern is:

• لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاعمل...
• If I were you, I would do...

You can reuse it with many verbs:

• لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاروح للدكتور.
  If I were you, I would go to the doctor.

• لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاستنى شوية.
  If I were you, I would wait a little.

• لو كنت مكانك، كنت هاسأل الأول.
  If I were you, I would ask first.

This is one of the most useful Egyptian Arabic structures for giving advice politely.