جربت ساندوتش السمك، وكان احسن من ساندوتش اللحمة.

I tried the fish sandwich, and it was better than the meat sandwich.

Breakdown of جربت ساندوتش السمك، وكان احسن من ساندوتش اللحمة.

• ال: the
• و: and
• يكون: to be
• من: than

Questions & Answers about جربت ساندوتش السمك، وكان احسن من ساندوتش اللحمة.

How would I pronounce the whole sentence in Egyptian Arabic?

A natural pronunciation is:

garrabt sandoš es-samak, w kān aḥsan min sandoš el-laḥma.

A few notes:

• ج in Egyptian Arabic is usually pronounced like g in go.
  • So جربت = garrabt
• ش sounds like sh.
  • So ساندوتش = sandoš / sandawich depending on the speaker
• السمك is often pronounced es-samak
• اللحمة is often pronounced el-laḥma
• احسن = aḥsan, with ḥ being a stronger, breathier h

So the flow is roughly:

garrabt sandoš es-samak, w kān aḥsan min sandoš el-laḥma

What does جربت mean exactly, and why does it already mean I tried?

جربت means I tried.

It comes from the verb جرّب = to try / test.

In Egyptian Arabic, the past tense often includes the subject inside the verb itself.
So:

• جربت = I tried
• The -ت ending marks I in the past tense

That is why you do not need a separate word for I here.

Why is there no separate word for I in the sentence?