هو في المدرسة.

In Egyptian Arabic, there is usually no present-tense verb meaning “to be” in sentences like this.

So:

• هو = he
• في = in / at
• المدرسة = the school

Arabic simply says He in the school / He at school, and that means He is in the school / He is at school.

This is very normal in both Egyptian Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic for the present tense.

هو means he.

In Egyptian Arabic, it is often pronounced more like howwa or huwwa, even though it is written هو.

So the sentence begins with the subject:

• هو = he

This word does not mean is by itself. The idea of is is understood from the sentence structure.

في usually means in, but in many everyday situations it can also correspond to English at.

So هو في المدرسة can often be understood as either:

• He is in the school
• He is at school

Which English translation sounds best depends on context.

In Arabic, في is the normal preposition used here.

The الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• مدرسة = school / a school
• المدرسة = the school

In this sentence, the noun is definite, so it means the school.

In Egyptian Arabic pronunciation, المدرسة is usually said el-madrasa.

A natural pronunciation is:

howwa fil-madrasa

or

huwwa fil-madrasa

A few notes:

• هو is often pronounced howwa / huwwa
• في المدرسة is often said smoothly as fil-madrasa
• المدرسة is commonly pronounced el-madrasa, but after في, people often say fil-madrasa in connected speech

So although it is written:

هو في المدرسة

you will often hear something close to:

howwa fil-madrasa

In normal speech, Arabic words often run together smoothly.

So:

• في
  • المدرسة
• becomes something like fil-madrasa

This is very common in Egyptian Arabic. The writing usually stays separate:

• في المدرسة

But the pronunciation often becomes more connected.

So this is a pronunciation issue, not a grammar change.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Arabic uses في very broadly, and English chooses between in and at depending on what sounds natural.

For example:

• If you are talking about location physically, in the school may fit.
• If you are talking about where someone is during the day, English often says at school.

So the Arabic sentence itself is normal for both kinds of meaning.

Yes, sometimes you can, if the subject is already clear from context.

For example, if someone asks Where is he?, you could answer simply:

• في المدرسة = At school / In the school

But if you want a full standalone sentence, هو في المدرسة is the clearer form.

So:

• هو في المدرسة = full sentence
• في المدرسة = possible short answer

It works in both, but the pronunciation differs.

In Modern Standard Arabic, it would also be written:

هو في المدرسة

But the pronunciation would be more like:

huwa fi al-madrasah

In Egyptian Arabic, the same sentence is commonly pronounced more like:

howwa fil-madrasa

So the structure is basically the same, but the spoken form changes.

In Egyptian Arabic, a very common way is to use مش before the phrase:

• هو مش في المدرسة = He is not in/at school

So:

• هو في المدرسة = He is in/at school
• هو مش في المدرسة = He is not in/at school

This is one of the most useful everyday patterns to learn.

Yes, مدرسة is grammatically feminine.

You can often tell because it ends in ـة (called taa marbuuTa).

However, in this sentence, that does not change anything important, because the subject is هو (he), and المدرسة is just the place noun after the preposition في.

So here, you do not need to make any special agreement changes because of المدرسة being feminine.

You would change the subject pronoun:

• هي في المدرسة

In Egyptian pronunciation, that is often:

• heyya fil-madrasa

So:

• هو في المدرسة = He is in/at school
• هي في المدرسة = She is in/at school

This is a very useful pair to compare.