زميلة من الشغل قالت لي ان الاجتماع اتاخر.

A female colleague from work told me that the meeting was delayed.

Breakdown of زميلة من الشغل قالت لي ان الاجتماع اتاخر.

• ال: the
• من: from
• شغل: work
• انا: me

Questions & Answers about زميلة من الشغل قالت لي ان الاجتماع اتاخر.

Why is it زميلة and قالت instead of زميل and قال?

Because the coworker is female.

• زميلة = a female colleague / coworker
• قالت = she said

If the coworker were male, you would usually say:

• زميل من الشغل قال لي...

So the noun and the past-tense verb both show feminine gender here.

What does من الشغل mean exactly?

Literally, it means from the work, but in natural English it means from work or at work.

So:

• زميلة من الشغل = a colleague from work / a coworker

In Egyptian Arabic, الشغل is a very common everyday word for work, job, workplace. It is more colloquial than العمل.

Why is there no word for a before زميلة?

Arabic usually does not use a separate word for a/an.

• زميلة = a female colleague
• الزميلة = the female colleague

So the absence of الـ makes the noun indefinite. That is how Arabic often expresses a/an.

Why is it قالت لي? What does لي mean?