هو قاعد يستنى القطر في المحطة.

Literally, yes: قاعد comes from قعد, which is related to sitting or staying.

But in this sentence, قاعد often adds the idea that the action is ongoing right now. So the sentence can feel like:

• He is sitting there waiting for the train
• or more simply He is waiting for the train

So it may or may not mean he is physically seated. In everyday Egyptian, it often helps express that someone is in the middle of doing something.

Because Arabic usually does not use a present-tense verb to be the way English does.

In English, you say he is waiting.
In Egyptian Arabic, the idea of is is built into the structure of the sentence, so you do not need a separate word.

Here, the sense of an ongoing present action comes from:

• هو = he
• قاعد = ongoing / sitting there
• يستنى = waits / is waiting

So Arabic expresses the meaning without adding a separate word for is.

That is a very common question. The short answer is: هو is often optional.

Since يستنى is a third-person masculine singular form, the verb already tells you the subject is he. So you could also hear:

• قاعد يستنى القطر في المحطة

Including هو can do a few things:

• make the sentence clearer
• make it sound more complete at the start
• add a little emphasis, like he is the one waiting

This is very normal in Egyptian Arabic.

يستنى is the everyday Egyptian Arabic verb for to wait.

A native English speaker learning Arabic will often notice that the more formal or Modern Standard Arabic verb is:

• ينتظر

But in Egyptian speech, يستنى is much more natural in daily conversation.

So:

• يستنى = colloquial Egyptian
• ينتظر = formal / MSA

A formal version of the sentence would more likely use ينتظر.

Yes, both are possible, but they are not exactly the same in feel.

1. مستني

This is very common in Egyptian.

• هو مستني القطر في المحطة

This often sounds very natural for he is waiting for the train at the station.

2. بيستنى

Also common:

• هو بيستنى القطر في المحطة

In Egyptian, بـ often marks the present. Depending on context, it can mean:

• he waits
• he is waiting

3. قاعد يستنى

This version gives extra force to the idea that the action is currently in progress, sometimes with a sense like he's there waiting or he's sitting waiting.

So all three can work, but they have slightly different shades of meaning.

Here, القطر means the train in Egyptian Arabic.

A learner may already know القطار, which is the more common Modern Standard Arabic word for train. In Egyptian speech, القطر is very common.

So:

• القطر = train in Egyptian Arabic
• القطار = train in MSA / formal Arabic

This is one of those cases where spoken Egyptian uses a different everyday word from formal Arabic.

Because Arabic في often covers both in and at, depending on context.

So:

• في = in / at

And:

• المحطة = the station

Word-for-word, في المحطة is in the station, but in natural English the best translation is often at the station.

This is very normal. Arabic prepositions do not always match English prepositions one-for-one.

Yes. This is a very natural Egyptian word order.

The structure here is:

• هو = subject
• قاعد = ongoing marker / sitting
• يستنى = verb
• القطر = object
• في المحطة = place

So the pattern is roughly:

Subject + ongoing marker + verb + object + place

Egyptian Arabic often likes subject-first word order in everyday speech, so this sentence sounds very normal.

You can also change the order for emphasis, for example:

• في المحطة هو قاعد يستنى القطر

That puts extra focus on at the station.

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

huwwa ʔāʕed yistanna l-ʔaṭar fil-maḥaṭṭa

A few notes:

• هو = huwwa
• قاعد = ʔāʕed
• يستنى = yistanna
• القطر = il-ʔaṭar or l-ʔaṭar after the previous word
• المحطة = il-maḥaṭṭa

In Cairene Egyptian, the letter ق is often pronounced as a glottal stop (ʔ), which is why قاعد and القطر sound like they begin with that sound.

A formal equivalent would usually be:

• هو ينتظر القطار في المحطة

If you want to keep the idea of sitting / being there waiting, you could also say:

• هو جالس ينتظر القطار في المحطة

So compared with the Egyptian sentence:

• يستنى becomes ينتظر
• القطر becomes القطار
• قاعد can correspond to جالس in a more literal/formal way

You need to change both the subject pronoun and the words that agree with it.

She

• هي قاعدة تستنى القطر في المحطة
• He is waiting... becomes She is waiting...

Notice:

• هو → هي
• قاعد → قاعدة
• يستنى → تستنى

They

• هم قاعدين يستنوا القطر في المحطة

Notice:

• هو → هم
• قاعد → قاعدين
• يستنى → يستنوا

This is a good example of how Egyptian Arabic shows gender and number through agreement.