اول ما صحيت، غسلت سناني بالمعجون.

أول ما is a very common Egyptian Arabic way to say as soon as or when... first.

So:

• أول ما صحيت = as soon as I woke up
• very natural in everyday speech

It introduces the first action in a sequence.

A close alternative is:

• لما صحيت = when I woke up

But أول ما gives a stronger sense of the very first thing that happened next.

In Egyptian Arabic, the verb itself often already shows the subject.

• صحيت = I woke up

The -ت ending marks I in the past tense.

So you do not need to add a separate word for I unless you want emphasis.

Compare:

• صحيت = I woke up
• أنا صحيت = I woke up / I woke up

The second one is more emphatic.

The base verb is صحي / يصحى in Egyptian Arabic, meaning to wake up.

In the past tense:

• صحيت = I woke up
• صحيتِ can also be you woke up if speaking to a woman, but pronunciation/context helps distinguish it
• صحيتوا = you all woke up
• صحي or صحيت forms vary in transliteration, but the Arabic spelling here is normal

In this sentence, صحيت clearly means I woke up because the next verb is also first person: غسلت.

Egyptian Arabic often just puts the actions in sequence, and the meaning then / after that is understood from context.

So:

• أول ما صحيت، غسلت سناني بالمعجون.

naturally means:

• As soon as I woke up, I brushed/cleaned my teeth with toothpaste.

You could add a connector in other sentences, but it is not necessary here.

Yes, غسلت literally means I washed.

• غسل = to wash
• غسلت = I washed

But in Arabic, saying I washed my teeth can be a natural way to express what English usually says as I brushed my teeth, especially when followed by بالمعجون (with toothpaste).

So the full phrase sounds natural and clearly refers to tooth-cleaning.

A learner should know:

• غسلت سناني = natural everyday expression
• فرشت سناني can also be heard for I brushed my teeth

سناني means my teeth.

Breakdown:

• سنان = teeth in colloquial Egyptian
• -ي = my

So:

• سناني = my teeth

This is a possessive form. Egyptian Arabic often attaches pronouns directly to nouns.

Other examples:

• بيتي = my house
• كتابي = my book
• اسمي = my name

Because when talking about this daily action, Arabic—like English—normally uses the plural.

• غسلت سناني = I cleaned/brushed my teeth

Using the singular would sound wrong in this context unless you really mean only one tooth.

The بـ here means with / using.

So:

• بالمعجون = with the toothpaste

Breakdown:

• بـ = with / by means of
• ال = the
• معجون = paste, here meaning toothpaste

So the phrase tells you the instrument or substance used.

Similar examples:

• بالسكينة = with the knife
• بالقلم = with the pen
• بالصابون = with soap

In context, yes.

Literally, معجون means paste. But in a sentence about cleaning teeth, المعجون is naturally understood as toothpaste.

If you want to be more explicit, people may also say:

• معجون الأسنان = toothpaste

But in everyday speech, just المعجون is often enough when the context is obvious.

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

• awwal ma saḥeet, ghasalt سناني bil-maʿgoon

More naturally in Egyptian-style transliteration:

• awwal ma saḥiit, ghasalt سنaani bil-maʿguun

A few notes:

• أول = awwal
• صحيت = saḥiit
• غسلت = often pronounced something like ghasalt
• بالمعجون = bil-maʿguun

The ع in معجون is a sound English does not have, so learners often just approximate it at first.

Because Egyptian Arabic does not need subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

Both verbs are first person singular:

• صحيت = I woke up
• غسلت = I washed/brushed

So saying أنا would be optional, not required.

The sentence is more natural and less heavy without repeating I.

Yes, absolutely.

That would mean:

• As soon as I woke up, I brushed my teeth.

Both are understandable and natural, but they feel slightly different:

• غسلت سناني بالمعجون = emphasizes cleaning the teeth, literally washed my teeth with toothpaste
• فرشت سناني = emphasizes the brushing action itself

Which one sounds best can depend on the speaker and situation.

It is clearly colloquial, especially Egyptian-style everyday Arabic.

Signs of that include:

• صحيت instead of a more formal verb like استيقظت
• the overall conversational phrasing
• سناني as a colloquial possessive form

In Modern Standard Arabic, the sentence would usually be expressed differently and more formally.

So this is the kind of sentence you would expect in normal daily conversation, not in formal writing.