المقاول بيعمل التشطيب بالاسمنت.

In Egyptian Arabic, بـ on the present verb usually marks the normal present tense.

So:

• يعمل = the bare imperfect stem
• بيعمل = he does / he is doing / he works on

In this sentence, بيعمل is the natural spoken Egyptian form.

Yes. In Egyptian Arabic, بيعمل can cover both:

• a habitual meaning: he does
• a current ongoing meaning: he is doing

Context tells you which one is meant.

If you want to make right now extra clear, you can add something like دلوقتي:

• المقاول بيعمل التشطيب دلوقتي = The contractor is doing the finishing now.

Because ت is a sun letter.

In Arabic, when الـ comes before a sun letter, the ل sound assimilates to the next consonant. So:

• ال + تشطيب
• becomes pronounced اتّشطيب / et-tashṭīb

You still write التشطيب, but you do not pronounce the l of ال there.

In construction Arabic, التشطيب means finishing work or the finishing stage.

It can include things like:

• smoothing and surface work
• plaster or cement finishing
• paint prep
• tiling
• final interior work

So it is broader than just the English verb to finish. It is a construction term.

Here بـ means with or using.

So:

• بالاسمنت = with cement / using cement

Also, بـ + ال combines into بال in writing:

• بـ + الاسمنت → بالاسمنت

In speech, this is often pronounced something like bel-esmant or bil-esmant, depending on the speaker.

Because subject-first order is very common in spoken Egyptian Arabic.

So:

• المقاول بيعمل التشطيب بالاسمنت
  = The contractor is doing the finishing with cement

This is completely natural.

Arabic can also use verb-first order in many cases, but in everyday Egyptian, starting with the subject is extremely common.

المقاول usually means the contractor.

It is more specific than just builder. A مقاول is often the person or company responsible for carrying out construction work, hiring workers, and managing the job.

So contractor is usually the best translation.

The ع sound does not exist in English.

In بيعمل, it is a voiced throat sound made deep in the pharynx. A rough learner-friendly pronunciation is something like:

• biyeʕmel or byeʕmel

A few tips:

• do not pronounce it like a normal English a
• do not replace it with a strong stop like ء if you can avoid it
• even an approximate throat sound is better than dropping it completely

This is one of those sounds that improves with listening and imitation more than with explanation.

In Cairene Egyptian, ق is often pronounced as a glottal stop ء.

So المقاول is commonly pronounced something like:

• el-moʔawel

rather than the more formal muqāwil-type pronunciation.

Depending on region or level of formality, you may hear different pronunciations, but the glottal stop is very common in Egyptian Arabic.

Because this sentence is in Egyptian Arabic, not formal written MSA.

Spoken Egyptian normally drops the classical case endings such as:

• -u
• -a
• -i

So learners should not expect the full MSA ending system in normal Egyptian speech.

Not always literally.

The الـ makes the noun definite, but English and Arabic do not always use definiteness in exactly the same way.

Here:

• المقاول = the contractor
• التشطيب = the finishing / the finishing work
• بالاسمنت literally contains the cement, but in English we usually just say with cement

So yes, الـ makes the noun definite, but the English translation may sound more natural without always saying the.

You could, but it changes the feel of the sentence.

With الـ:

• المقاول بيعمل التشطيب بالاسمنت
• sounds like a specific contractor doing a specific finishing job

Without الـ:

• مقاول بيعمل تشطيب بالاسمنت
• sounds more general, less anchored, and often less natural unless you are speaking very generally

So the version with الـ is the more natural choice for a concrete situation.

Yes, اسمنت / أسمنت is the normal word for cement.

Both spellings are common, especially in informal writing:

• أسمنت
• اسمنت

In casual Arabic writing, people often omit the hamza, so seeing اسمنت is very normal.

Yes, in many construction contexts you can.

• بيعمل التشطيب = he is doing the finishing
• بيشطب = he is finishing / doing the finishing work

But there is one thing to remember: يشطب can also mean to cross out in other contexts. In a building or renovation context, though, the construction meaning is usually clear.