فيه ضلمة في الشارع.

فيه in Egyptian Arabic often means there is / there are.

So فيه ضلمة literally means there is darkness. In natural English, that often comes out as it’s dark.

A very useful pattern is:

• فيه + noun = there is/are + noun

Examples:

• فيه ناس = there are people
• فيه مشكلة = there is a problem
• فيه ضلمة = it’s dark / there is darkness

في by itself usually means in.

But فيه in Egyptian Arabic is commonly used as an existential expression, meaning there is / there are. It is extremely common in speech.

So compare:

• في الشارع = in the street
• فيه ضلمة = there is darkness / it’s dark

Even though فيه historically contains في, learners should usually treat فيه here as a fixed spoken form meaning there is/are.

ضلمة means darkness or dark in Egyptian Arabic.

In this sentence, it refers to the condition of the place being dark.

A few notes:

• It is a very common Egyptian word.
• It is more colloquial than Standard Arabic.
• In English, you often translate it naturally as it’s dark, not literally as there is darkness.

You may also hear:

• الدنيا ضلمة = it’s dark out / things are dark

Yes. ضلمة is a colloquial Egyptian word.

In Standard Arabic, you are more likely to see words related to:

• ظلام = darkness
• مظلم = dark

So:

• Egyptian: فيه ضلمة
• More formal/Standard-style idea: هناك ظلام or something similar depending on context

If your goal is Egyptian Arabic conversation, ضلمة is exactly the kind of everyday word you want to know.

The sentence starts with فيه because the speaker is introducing the existence of something: there is darkness.

The structure is:

• فيه = there is
• ضلمة = darkness
• في الشارع = in the street

So the full logic is: There is darkness in the street.

You can sometimes rearrange parts for emphasis, but this version is very natural and neutral.

في الشارع means in the street.

Breakdown:

• في = in
• الشارع = the street

So:

• فيه ضلمة في الشارع = there is darkness in the street / it’s dark in the street

Depending on context, English might also say:

• outside on the street
• the street is dark

In Egyptian Arabic, الشارع is commonly pronounced something like ish-shaareʿ.

A few pronunciation points:

• ال becomes اش in pronunciation here because ش is a “sun letter,” so the l sound assimilates.
• The ع at the end is a real consonant in Arabic, though many English speakers need time to get used to it.

So although it is written الشارع, it is pronounced approximately:

• ish-shaareʿ

In Arabic, present-tense sentences often do not use a separate word for is / are the way English does.

So Arabic can simply say:

• فيه ضلمة = there is darkness / it’s dark

This is normal. Arabic does not need to insert a present-tense is here.

That is one reason the sentence may feel shorter or more compact than the English translation.

Yes. That is very common.

The Arabic wording is closer to:

• There is darkness in the street

But in natural English, the best translation is often:

• It’s dark in the street

So one Arabic sentence can correspond to more than one natural English phrasing.

Yes, this sounds natural in everyday Egyptian Arabic.

It is a normal colloquial way to describe a place as dark. Depending on context, speakers might also say things like:

• الشارع ضلمة = the street is dark
• الدنيا ضلمة في الشارع = it’s dark out in the street

But فيه ضلمة في الشارع is perfectly understandable and natural.

A common negative would be:

• مفيش ضلمة في الشارع = there isn’t darkness in the street / it isn’t dark in the street

This is a very useful pair to learn:

• فيه = there is / are
• مفيش = there isn’t / aren’t

Examples:

• فيه مشكلة = there is a problem
• مفيش مشكلة = there isn’t a problem

So for this sentence:

• فيه ضلمة في الشارع = it’s dark in the street
• مفيش ضلمة في الشارع = it’s not dark in the street

The most important sound is ض, which does not exist in English.

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation of ضلمة is something like:

• Dalma or Zolma/Dolma depending on how close you are getting to the Arabic sound

But ideally:

• ض is a heavy/emphatic consonant
• the word is often pronounced close to ḍalma or ḍulma depending on speaker and transcription style

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately. What matters most at first is recognizing and producing it consistently enough to be understood.

In this use, فيه can work for both there is and there are in everyday Egyptian Arabic.

Examples:

• فيه ولد = there is a boy
• فيه ولاد = there are boys

So in your sentence, it does not tell you singular/plural by itself. The noun after it does that.

Here:

• ضلمة is a singular abstract noun, so the meaning is there is darkness / it’s dark.