السواق بيقول ان الشارع زحمة.

A common Cairene Egyptian pronunciation is:

es-sawwāʔ biyʔūl inn ish-shāreʿ zaḥma

A few notes:

• السواق → es-sawwāʔ
• بيقول → biyʔūl
• ان → often inn or en
• الشارع → ish-shāreʿ
• زحمة → zaḥma

Some sounds may feel new:

• ʔ = a glottal stop, like the break in uh-oh
• ḥ = a stronger, breathier h
• ʿ = the Arabic letter ع, a throat sound with no exact English equivalent

Here is the basic breakdown:

• السواق = the driver
• بيقول = says / is saying
• ان = that
• الشارع = the street
• زحمة = crowded / busy / full of traffic

So literally, it is something like:

The driver says that the street crowded.

In natural English, we add is:

The driver says that the street is crowded.

In Egyptian Arabic, the form بيقول is a present-tense form, and it often covers both of these English ideas:

• he says
• he is saying

The prefix بيـ is a very common marker for the present tense in Egyptian Arabic.

So:

• يقول is not the normal everyday Egyptian present form here
• بيقول is the usual colloquial form

Which English translation fits best depends on context.

ان here means that and introduces the second clause:

• السواق بيقول = the driver says
• ان الشارع زحمة = that the street is crowded

So it works like English that in a sentence like:

The driver says that the street is crowded.

In everyday speech, Egyptians sometimes omit it, especially when the meaning is already clear. So you may also hear:

السواق بيقول الشارع زحمة

That is still natural in conversation.

Because in Arabic, the present-tense verb to be is usually omitted.

So in Egyptian Arabic:

• الشارع زحمة literally looks like the street crowded
• but it means the street is crowded

This is completely normal.

If you wanted the past, you would need a verb like كان:

• الشارع كان زحمة = the street was crowded

زحمة is a very common Egyptian word. Depending on context, it can mean:

• crowded
• busy
• packed
• full of traffic
• congested

With الشارع, it often suggests traffic congestion or that the street is very busy.

So this sentence could be understood as:

• The street is crowded
• The street is busy
• There’s a lot of traffic on the street

All of those are reasonable depending on the situation.

In Egyptian Arabic, the definite article is usually pronounced more like il- or el-, not al-.

Also, both س and ش are sun letters, which means the l sound of the article blends into the next consonant.

So:

• السواق is pronounced es-sawwāʔ, not el-sawwāʔ
• الشارع is pronounced ish-shāreʿ, not il-shāreʿ

You hear a doubled consonant at the beginning:

• s-s
• sh-sh

This is a very important pronunciation pattern in Arabic.

Because in Cairene Egyptian Arabic, the letter ق is often pronounced as ʔ.

So:

• سواق is written with ق
• but in Cairo pronunciation it sounds like sawwāʔ

This is one of the best-known features of Egyptian Arabic.

In other dialects, ق may sound different, including:

• q
• g
• or still ʔ

So the spelling stays Arabic-standard, but the pronunciation changes by dialect.

السواق is a very normal colloquial Egyptian word for the driver.

A more formal or Modern Standard Arabic word would be:

السائق

In Egyptian everyday speech, السواق is much more natural in this kind of sentence.

So if you are learning Egyptian Arabic, السواق is exactly the kind of word you want to know.

In Egyptian Arabic, زحمة is used very naturally for places, roads, and streets.

So speakers commonly say things like:

• الشارع زحمة = the street is crowded / traffic is bad
• الدنيا زحمة = it’s very crowded out
• المكان زحمة = the place is crowded

Even though English may phrase it differently, Egyptian Arabic comfortably uses زحمة for a street when traffic or movement is congested.

Yes. A few natural variations are possible, depending on style and context:

• السواق بيقول الشارع زحمة
  = The driver says the street is crowded

• السواق قال إن الشارع زحمة
  = The driver said that the street is crowded

• السواق بيقول إن في زحمة في الشارع
  = The driver says there’s traffic in the street / on the street

The version you gave is already very natural and useful.

Usually it describes the current situation, not a permanent fact.

So in real life, it most often means something like:

• The street is crowded right now
• Traffic is bad there at the moment

Arabic does not have to mark this difference the same way English does. Context usually tells you whether it is a general statement or something happening now.