اول ما الامتحان يخلص، هرد على الرسالة.

أول ما is a very common Egyptian expression meaning as soon as, once, or the moment that.

It introduces the first action:

• أول ما الامتحان يخلص = as soon as the exam finishes

Literally, أول means first, and ما helps form this time expression. Learners should usually treat أول ما as one chunk.

In Egyptian Arabic, it is very natural in this kind of clause to say:

• الامتحان يخلص = the exam finishes

So the subject الامتحان comes before the verb يخلص. This feels normal and conversational in Egyptian.

A learner who knows Standard Arabic may expect more verb-first structures, but Egyptian often uses subject-first order very comfortably, especially in everyday speech.

Because after time expressions like أول ما, Egyptian Arabic commonly uses the imperfect/present form even when the meaning is future.

So:

• أول ما الامتحان يخلص literally looks like as soon as the exam finishes
• but the real meaning is future: when the exam is over

This is similar to English:

• When the exam ends, I’ll reply not
• When the exam will end, I’ll reply

Here يخلص means to finish or to be over.

So:

• الامتحان يخلص = the exam finishes / the exam is over

In Egyptian, خلص is extremely common for the idea of finishing or being done. It is often more everyday and conversational than a more formal word like ينتهي.

هرد means I will reply.

It is made from:

• the future marker هـ
• plus the verb رد in the I form

So:

• هرد = I’ll reply

In Egyptian Arabic, هـ is a very common way to mark the future:

• هكتب = I’ll write
• هروح = I’ll go
• هرد = I’ll reply

Because the verb already shows the subject.

In هرد, the speaker is already understood as I, so أنا is not necessary.

You could say:

• أنا هرد على الرسالة

But in many situations, Egyptian Arabic leaves أنا out unless you want emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity.

Because the verb رد normally goes with على when it means reply to.

So:

• رد على الرسالة = reply to the message

This is just the normal verb pattern:

• رد على سؤال = reply to a question
• رد على الإيميل = reply to the email
• رد على الرسالة = reply to the message

For an English speaker, it helps to learn رد على as one unit.

It can mean any of those, depending on context.

In modern everyday Egyptian, رسالة often means:

• a text message
• a message
• sometimes a letter

So without more context, الرسالة could be understood broadly as the message.

Yes, often you can.

For example:

• لما الامتحان يخلص، هرد على الرسالة

This also means when the exam finishes, I’ll reply to the message.

The difference is that أول ما often adds a stronger sense of immediately after or as soon as.
So if you want to stress quickness, أول ما is especially good.

A rough pronunciation is:

• awwal ma l-emtiḥān yikhlaṣ, harodd ʿala r-risāla

A few helpful notes:

• الامتحان is often heard as l-emtiḥān in connected speech
• هرد is commonly pronounced something like harodd
• الرسالة sounds like er-risāla because ر is a sun letter, so the ل of ال assimilates

So the whole sentence flows something like:

• awwal ma l-emtiḥān yikhlaṣ, harodd ʿala r-risāla

It is clearly Egyptian Arabic.

The strongest clue is هرد:

• the future marker هـ is very typical of Egyptian speech

A more Standard Arabic version would look more like:

• عندما ينتهي الامتحان، سأرد على الرسالة or
• حالما ينتهي الامتحان، سأرد على الرسالة

So the sentence you have is natural spoken Egyptian, not formal Standard Arabic.