المقاول بيحفر جنب الماسورة.

A rough pronunciation in Egyptian Arabic is:

el-moʔāwel beyiḥfar gamb el-māsūra

A few helpful notes:

• ق in المقاول is often pronounced as a glottal stop ʔ in Egyptian speech.
• ج in Egyptian Arabic is usually pronounced like g in go, so جنب sounds like gamb.
• Different transliteration systems write the vowels differently, so you may also see slightly different spellings in Latin letters.

The clearest clue is بيحفر.

In Egyptian Arabic, the prefix بيـ is commonly used with present-tense verbs. So بيحفر is a very Egyptian-style form.

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would more likely see something like:

المقاول يحفر بجانب الأنبوب

So this sentence feels colloquial and Egyptian because of:

• بيـ on the verb
• the general spoken style
• the common everyday word الماسورة for pipe

In Egyptian Arabic, بيـ usually marks the normal present tense.

So بيحفر can mean:

• he digs
• he is digging

The exact meaning depends on context.

This is one of the most important features of Egyptian verbs. When learners see بيـ, they should usually think of the everyday present tense.

It can mean both.

In Egyptian Arabic, the present form with بيـ often covers both:

• simple present: he digs
• present progressive: he is digging

Context tells you which one is meant.

So in this sentence, المقاول بيحفر جنب الماسورة could mean either:

• the contractor digs next to the pipe
• the contractor is digging next to the pipe

If you want to make right now clearer, speakers often add a time word such as دلوقتي.

جنب means beside, next to, or by the side of.

In this sentence:

جنب الماسورة = next to the pipe

A useful point for learners: in Egyptian Arabic, جنب can work directly like a preposition, so you do not need an extra word before it here.

Because جنب itself is already doing the job of beside/next to.

So:

• جنب الماسورة = beside the pipe
• not something like في جنب الماسورة in this sentence

This is normal in Egyptian Arabic. Learners sometimes expect a separate preposition because English uses a different structure, but جنب can stand on its own.

الماسورة means the pipe or the tube.

In everyday Egyptian Arabic, it often refers to a physical pipe, such as:

• a water pipe
• a drain pipe
• a metal or plastic tube

It is a very common everyday word in Egypt.

Because both nouns are definite.

• المقاول = the contractor
• الماسورة = the pipe

Arabic marks definiteness directly on the noun with الـ.

If you removed الـ, the meaning would become more like:

• a contractor
• a pipe

So the sentence as written is talking about a specific contractor and a specific pipe.

Yes.

In both المقاول and الماسورة, the ل of الـ is pronounced, because م is a moon letter, not a sun letter.

So you say:

• el-moʔāwel
• el-māsūra

You do not merge the l into the next consonant here.

In everyday Egyptian Arabic, ق is often pronounced as a glottal stop.

So المقاول is commonly pronounced something like:

el-moʔāwel

rather than a pronunciation with a clear q sound.

This is very typical of Cairene and much of Egyptian Arabic. In more formal speech, or in some other dialects, you may hear q, but the glottal stop is what many learners should expect in normal Egyptian conversation.

Because Egyptian Arabic allows subject-first word order very naturally.

So:

المقاول بيحفر جنب الماسورة

is a normal way to say that the contractor is digging next to the pipe.

Starting with the subject can feel especially natural when you are already talking about that person and now describing what he is doing.

Arabic can also use verb-first order in many situations, but the subject-first pattern is very common in everyday Egyptian speech.

A natural negative version is:

المقاول مش بيحفر جنب الماسورة

This means:

The contractor is not digging next to the pipe
or
The contractor does not dig next to the pipe

For present-tense verbs in Egyptian Arabic, مش is commonly used before the بيـ verb form.