القهوة اللي في البيت احسن من القهوة اللي في الشغل.

A common pronunciation is:

el-ʔahwa elli fil-bēt aḥsan men el-ʔahwa elli fish-shoghl

A more learner-friendly spelling could be:

il-'ahwa illi fil-bēt a7san min il-'ahwa illi fish-shoghl

A few notes:

• القهوة is pronounced something like 'ahwa in Egyptian Arabic.
• اللي is usually illi or elli.
• في البيت often becomes fil-bēt in fast speech.
• في الشغل often becomes fish-shoghl because في joins with the following word.

اللي means that, which, or the one that.

In this sentence, it appears twice because both instances of القهوة are being described:

• القهوة اللي في البيت = the coffee that is at home
• القهوة اللي في الشغل = the coffee that is at work

So اللي introduces a relative clause, just like that or which in English.

In Arabic, especially in the present tense, the verb to be is usually not stated.

So instead of saying:

• The coffee that is at home is better...

Arabic simply says:

• The coffee that at home better...

This is completely normal. The meaning is is understood automatically.

Because احسن here is a comparative adjective meaning better, and in Egyptian Arabic comparatives like this do not change for gender.

So:

• القهوة احسن = the coffee is better
• الشاي احسن = the tea is better

The form احسن stays the same whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

احسن من means better than.

This is a very common comparative pattern in Egyptian Arabic:

• احسن من = better than
• اكبر من = bigger than
• اصغر من = smaller than

So in your sentence:

• احسن من القهوة اللي في الشغل = better than the coffee at work

Literally, في البيت means in the house. But in everyday English translation, it often means at home.

So:

• القهوة اللي في البيت can naturally be understood as the coffee at home

Likewise:

• في الشغل literally means in the work
• but naturally it means at work or in the workplace

In Egyptian Arabic, الشغل can mean several related things depending on context:

• work
• job
• workplace

In this sentence, القهوة اللي في الشغل most naturally means:

• the coffee at work or
• the coffee in the workplace

So it refers more to the location or work setting than to the abstract idea of work.

Arabic often repeats the noun where English might prefer the one.

So:

• القهوة اللي في البيت احسن من القهوة اللي في الشغل

is very natural Arabic.

You could sometimes rephrase things differently, but repeating القهوة is clear and normal. Arabic often prefers this kind of explicit repetition more than English does.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

Here:

• القهوة = the coffee
• البيت = the house / home
• الشغل = the work / workplace

In the relative clauses:

• اللي في البيت = that is in the house / at home
• اللي في الشغل = that is at work

Since the speaker is comparing two specific coffees, the noun القهوة is definite in both cases.

This is the normal way in Egyptian Arabic to say the noun that...

Pattern:

• noun + اللي + description

Examples:

• الراجل اللي هناك = the man who is there
• البنت اللي بتتكلم = the girl who is speaking
• القهوة اللي في البيت = the coffee that is at home

So once you learn اللي, you can build a lot of useful descriptions very easily.

It is definitely natural in Egyptian Arabic, and it would also be understood in many other Arabic dialects.

What makes it feel colloquial rather than Modern Standard Arabic is mainly:

• اللي instead of MSA forms like التي
• احسن in everyday speech
• الشغل in the colloquial sense of work / workplace

A Modern Standard Arabic version would be something more like:

• القهوة التي في البيت أفضل من القهوة التي في العمل

But the sentence you gave is much more natural for everyday Egyptian speech.

Yes. In fast Egyptian speech, في often attaches to the following word.

So:

• في البيت often sounds like fil-bēt
• في الشغل often sounds like fish-shoghl

This is normal and very common. Learners should recognize both the careful form and the connected spoken form.

Sometimes yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• احسن = better in a broad, general sense
• أحلى literally means sweeter or nicer / more pleasant, and in spoken Arabic it can mean better in some contexts

For coffee, احسن is the safer, more neutral choice if you mean overall quality.
أحلى might sound more like:

• tastier
• nicer
• more enjoyable

So احسن fits this sentence very well.

A rough breakdown is:

• القهوة = the coffee
• اللي = that / which
• في البيت = in the house / at home
• احسن = better
• من = than
• القهوة = the coffee
• اللي = that / which
• في الشغل = at work

So very literally:

The coffee that is at home better than the coffee that is at work.

Then in natural English: The coffee at home is better than the coffee at work.