اول ما دورت على النظارة، لقيتها على الترابيزة.

أول ما is a very common Egyptian Arabic expression meaning when, once, or as soon as. It introduces the first action in a sequence.

So in this sentence, أول ما دورت على النظارة sets up the moment when the speaker started looking for the glasses.

Because دوّر على is the normal Egyptian expression for look for / search for.

• دوّر على شيء = look for something
• دوّر by itself often has the idea of turn, spin, or make go around

Also, in informal writing, دوّرت is often written as دورت without the shadda, even though the pronunciation still usually has the doubled consonant.

Not quite.

• In دورت على النظارة, على is part of the fixed expression دوّر على = look for
• In على الترابيزة, على has its literal meaning: on

So it is the same preposition, but it plays two different roles here.

دورت is past tense, first person singular: I looked / I searched.

In Egyptian storytelling, using the past tense after أول ما is very natural when describing a sequence of events.

Because Arabic attaches object pronouns directly to the verb.

Here is the breakdown:

• لقيت = I found
• ها = it / her

So:

• لقيتها = I found it

This is very normal Arabic structure. English uses a separate word (it), but Arabic often attaches it to the verb.

Because نظارة is grammatically feminine singular in Arabic, even though it refers to a pair of glasses.

So Arabic treats it like one feminine noun, and that is why the speaker says:

• لقيتها = I found it
  not
• لقيتهم = I found them

This is one of those places where Arabic grammar and English grammar do not match directly.

الترابيزة means the table.

It is a very common Egyptian Arabic word, but it is not the usual Modern Standard Arabic word. In more formal Arabic, you would more likely see:

• الطاولة
• sometimes المائدة, depending on the kind of table

So الترابيزة is one clear sign that this sentence is in Egyptian dialect.

In both words, the ل of الـ is not pronounced clearly because the next letter is a sun letter.

So:

• النظارة is pronounced roughly like en-nezāra / en-neẓẓāra
• الترابيزة is pronounced roughly like et-tarabeeza

This happens because:

• ن is a sun letter
• ت is a sun letter

So the l sound of الـ assimilates to the next consonant.

Arabic does not always match English tense choices directly.

In this sentence, the speaker is telling a simple sequence of completed events:

1. I looked for the glasses
2. I found them on the table

Egyptian Arabic often uses the past tense like this after أول ما. If you wanted to emphasize an ongoing action more strongly, you could use a different structure, such as وأنا بدور for while I was looking.

A more formal version could be:

أول ما بحثتُ عن النظارة، وجدتها على الطاولة.

Main differences:

• بحثتُ عن instead of دورت على
• وجدتها instead of لقيتها
• الطاولة instead of الترابيزة

The original sentence is natural everyday Egyptian Arabic, while this version sounds more formal and closer to Modern Standard Arabic.