الميزان جنب التايمر.

In Egyptian Arabic, the verb to be is usually not said in the present tense.

So:

• الميزان جنب التايمر
• literally: the scale next to the timer
• natural English: The scale is next to the timer

This is completely normal. Arabic often leaves out is/am/are in present-time sentences.

Here, جنب means next to / beside.

In Egyptian Arabic, جنب is very commonly used to show location:

• جنب الباب = next to the door
• جنب العربية = next to the car

Originally, جنب is related to the idea of a side, but in everyday speech it functions like a preposition meaning beside or next to.

Arabic commonly starts this kind of sentence with the thing being talked about first.

So:

• الميزان = the scale
• جنب التايمر = next to the timer

That structure is very natural in Arabic for saying where something is.

So the pattern is:

• [thing] + [location]

Examples:

• الكتاب على الترابيزة = The book is on the table
• الموبايل جنب المفتاح = The phone is next to the key

Because both nouns are definite:

• الميزان = the scale
• التايمر = the timer

If the meaning shown to the learner is The scale is next to the timer, then both need الـ.

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

• ميزان جنب تايمر = a scale next to a timer

So الـ works like the in English.

الميزان is commonly pronounced:

• el-mīzān or il-mīzān

In Egyptian Arabic, الـ is often heard as el- or il-.

Because م is a moon letter, the l sound of the article stays:

• el-mīzān

The word ميزان often means scale, and in other contexts it can also mean balance.

It is usually pronounced something like:

• et-taymer

Here’s why:

1. التايمر has the definite article الـ
2. The next letter is ت
3. ت is a sun letter, so the l sound of الـ assimilates to it

So instead of saying el-taymer, speakers usually say:

• et-taymer

This is a standard Arabic pronunciation rule with sun letters.

It is a borrowed word from English: timer.

Egyptian Arabic uses many borrowed words, especially for modern objects and technology. So seeing a word like تايمر is very normal.

Borrowed words are often adapted to Arabic pronunciation and spelling.

In this sentence, yes, it is about physical location: one object is beside another.

But جنب can also appear in other expressions. In everyday Egyptian, it is very common in location phrases, and that is probably the main use a learner will meet first.

For this sentence, the easiest understanding is simply:

• جنب = next to / beside

Yes, you may hear بجانب meaning beside / next to, but جنب is very common and natural in Egyptian Arabic.

So:

• الميزان جنب التايمر
• الميزان بجانب التايمر

Both can work, but جنب feels very everyday and conversational.

A natural pronunciation would be:

• el-mīzān gamb et-taymer
• or il-mīzān gamb it-taymer

A few notes:

• ج in Egyptian Arabic is usually pronounced like g in go
• جنب is often heard as gamb
• التايمر becomes et-taymer because of sun-letter assimilation

So even though the spelling is جنب, the spoken form may sound closer to gamb.

This is a pronunciation change that happens naturally in speech.

The n sound before b often becomes m in pronunciation, because m is easier to say before b.

So:

• written: جنب
• often pronounced: gamb

This kind of sound change is very common in spoken language and is normal in Egyptian Arabic.

You would switch the two nouns:

• التايمر جنب الميزان

That keeps the same pattern:

• [thing] + جنب + [other thing]

So the object at the beginning is the one you are talking about.