المدرسة كبيرة.

In Egyptian Arabic, it is usually pronounced:

el-madrasa kibiira

A rough stress pattern is:

MÁD-ra-sa ki-BII-ra

A few notes:

• ال is usually pronounced el- or il- in Egyptian.
• مدرسة ends in an -a sound in normal speech.
• كبيرة is often pronounced kibiira in Egyptian, even though learners may first meet the more formal kabiira.

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• مدرسة = school
• المدرسة = the school

In Egyptian Arabic, ال is commonly pronounced el-. Since م is not a sun letter, the l sound stays clear here: el-madrasa.

Because Arabic usually does not use a present-tense to be in simple sentences like this.

So Arabic says literally:

the school big

but it means:

the school is big

This is completely normal in both Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic.

Because in Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So Arabic word order is:

• المدرسة الكبيرة = the big school
  • literally: the-school the-big

And in your sentence:

• المدرسة كبيرة = the school is big

So seeing the descriptive word after the noun is standard Arabic grammar.

Because المدرسة is a feminine noun, and the adjective must agree with it.

So:

• masculine: كبير = big
• feminine: كبيرة = big for a feminine noun

Since مدرسة is feminine, you say:

المدرسة كبيرة

not

المدرسة كبير

One big clue is the ending ـة, called taa marbuuTa.

In many Arabic words, this ending marks a feminine noun. So:

• مدرسة is feminine
• therefore its adjective also has to be feminine: كبيرة

This same ending appears in both words here:

• المدرسة
• كبيرة

In Egyptian pronunciation, this ending usually sounds like -a when you stop at the word.

Because here كبيرة is the predicate of the sentence, not an adjective inside a noun phrase.

There is an important difference:

• المدرسة كبيرة = The school is big
• المدرسة الكبيرة = the big school

In the first sentence, كبيرة is telling you something about the school, so it does not take ال.

In the second phrase, الكبيرة is directly modifying المدرسة, so it does take ال.

This is one of the most important patterns in Arabic.

Yes, the basic sentence works in both.

The main difference is pronunciation:

• Standard Arabic: al-madrasah kabiirah
• Egyptian Arabic: el-madrasa kibiira

So the spelling is the same, but an Egyptian speaker will usually pronounce it in the Egyptian way.

Not as the normal neutral version of this sentence.

For a beginner, the natural pattern is:

المدرسة كبيرة

Arabic usually starts this kind of sentence with the noun/topic, then gives information about it.

So if you want to say The school is big, stick with:

المدرسة كبيرة

They look very similar, but they mean different things:

• المدرسة كبيرة = The school is big
• المدرسة الكبيرة = the big school

So:

• without ال on كبيرة: it is the predicate of the sentence
• with ال on الكبيرة: it is an adjective attached to the noun

This is a very useful contrast to learn early.

In Egyptian Arabic, you would usually use مش:

المدرسة مش كبيرة el-madrasa mish kibiira

This means:

The school is not big

So for simple present-tense nominal sentences in Egyptian Arabic:

• positive: المدرسة كبيرة
• negative: المدرسة مش كبيرة

Usually, no.

In normal pause pronunciation, especially in Egyptian Arabic, ـة is usually pronounced as -a:

• madrasa
• kibiira

The t sound can appear in other grammatical contexts, but in this sentence as spoken normally, you would not pronounce a final t.