المضاد الحيوي كبسولة.

Because Arabic often leaves out the present-tense verb to be.

So المضاد الحيوي كبسولة literally looks like the antibiotic capsule, but grammatically it means The antibiotic is a capsule.

This is called a nominal sentence. In the present tense, Egyptian Arabic usually does not say is/am/are.

• Present: المضاد الحيوي كبسولة
• Past: كان المضاد الحيوي كبسولة / in Egyptian speech you might hear كان ...
• Future: in Egyptian, something like هيبقى ...

Arabic does not have a separate word for a/an.

Instead:

• الكبسولة = the capsule
• كبسولة = a capsule

So the lack of الـ makes كبسولة indefinite.

In spoken Egyptian, you usually do not hear the formal indefinite ending that exists in Standard Arabic, so just كبسولة is exactly what you expect.

That is a very common pattern in Arabic:

• definite subject
• indefinite predicate

So المضاد الحيوي كبسولة means that the definite thing, the antibiotic, is being classified as a capsule.

This is similar to saying:

• الولد طالب = The boy is a student
• الكتاب جديد = The book is new

If you made both parts definite, the structure and meaning would change.

It is a noun phrase made of:

• المضاد = the anti-/countering one or the agent that opposes
• الحيوي = biological / vital

Together, مضاد حيوي is the normal Arabic term for antibiotic.

In Arabic, adjectives usually come after the noun, so حيوي follows مضاد.

Also, because المضاد is definite, the adjective is definite too:

• مضاد حيوي = an antibiotic
• المضاد الحيوي = the antibiotic

Because الحيوي describes المضاد, not كبسولة.

• المضاد is masculine singular
• so the adjective is also masculine singular: الحيوي

Even though كبسولة is feminine, it is not the noun being modified by الحيوي. It is the predicate of the whole sentence.

So the structure is:

• المضاد الحيوي = one unit, the antibiotic
• كبسولة = what it is

A rough Egyptian pronunciation would be:

el-moDAAD el-ḥaYAwi kabSUUla

A few notes:

• el- = the article الـ
• ḍ / heavy d in مضاد sounds darker/emphatic than a plain English d
• ḥ in حيوي is a stronger, breathier h
• كبسولة is usually pronounced kabSUUla

If you want a simpler learner-friendly version, you can say:

el-modaad el-hayawi kapsuula

That will still help you remember it, even if it is not perfectly precise.

It is understandable, but it sounds a bit formal or textbook-like.

In everyday Egyptian, people might say something more explicit, especially if they mean the dosage form:

• المضاد الحيوي ده كبسولة = This antibiotic is a capsule
• المضاد الحيوي على شكل كبسولة = The antibiotic is in capsule form

So the original sentence is fine, but it feels somewhat compact and formal.

The meaning changes a lot.

• المضاد الحيوي كبسولة = The antibiotic is a capsule / The antibiotic comes as a capsule
• كبسولة مضاد حيوي = an antibiotic capsule

So:

• the original is a full sentence
• كبسولة مضاد حيوي is just a noun phrase

That second phrase would be what you use on packaging, in a list, or when naming the item itself.

The given order is the most straightforward for this kind of sentence:

• المضاد الحيوي = subject
• كبسولة = predicate

In colloquial Egyptian, you can also add ده if you are pointing something out:

• المضاد الحيوي ده كبسولة

That sounds more conversational.

If you move كبسولة to the front, it usually needs special context or emphasis, and it may sound less neutral to a learner.

Yes, a little.

An English speaker may hear The antibiotic is a capsule and think, Wait, an antibiotic is a medicine, not a capsule. But in context, the sentence usually means:

This antibiotic comes in capsule form.

Arabic often uses short classification sentences like this, especially in medical or instructional contexts.

If you want to make that meaning clearer in Egyptian Arabic, you could say:

• المضاد الحيوي على شكل كبسولة
• المضاد الحيوي ده كبسولة

Both make the intended idea easier to catch.