دي شقة صغيرة، بس الصالة فيها كنبة كبيرة.

دي means this.

In Egyptian Arabic, دي is the common feminine singular demonstrative. Since شقة (apartment/flat) is a feminine noun, you use دي:

• دي شقة صغيرة = This is a small apartment

In natural Egyptian speech, you often start a sentence like this without a separate word for is.

شقة is a feminine noun in Arabic. One clue is that it ends in ـة (the taa marbuuTa shape), which very often marks feminine nouns.

Because شقة is feminine, the adjective also has to be feminine:

• شقة صغيرة = a small apartment

If the noun were masculine, the adjective would usually look different.

Because adjectives in Arabic must agree with the noun in gender.

• شقة is feminine
• so small becomes صغيرة

This is called adjective agreement.

So:

• شقة صغيرة = a small apartment
• not شقة صغير

The same thing happens later in the sentence:

• كنبة كبيرة = a big couch/sofa

Since كنبة is also feminine, the adjective is كبيرة.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So English:

• This is a small apartment

comes out in Arabic as:

• دي شقة صغيرة

Literally, it looks like:

• this apartment small

But it naturally means This is a small apartment.

If you were talking about the past or future, Arabic would use a verb.

Here بس means but.

So:

• دي شقة صغيرة، بس...
• This is a small apartment, but...

A very useful thing to know is that بس can also mean only/just in other contexts, depending on the sentence.

الصالة usually means the living room, the lounge, or sometimes the hall depending on context.

In this sentence, the natural meaning is probably the living room:

• الصالة فيها كنبة كبيرة
• The living room has a big couch
• literally: In the living room, there is a big couch / The living room has in it a big couch

The word has الـ because it is definite: the living room.

فيها is made of:

• في = in
• ها = it / her

So فيها literally means in it.

In this sentence:

• الصالة فيها كنبة كبيرة

the literal structure is something like:

• The living room — in it, a big couch

Natural English:

• The living room has a big couch
• or There is a big couch in the living room

This is a very common Arabic way to express that something is in a place.

You can say that too.

• في كنبة كبيرة في الصالة = There is a big couch in the living room

That is also natural.

But الصالة فيها كنبة كبيرة puts the focus on the living room first, almost like:

• As for the living room, it has a big couch
• The living room has a big couch

So both are possible, but the sentence you were given uses a very common topic + comment style.

Because the sentence is introducing the couch as new information.

• كنبة كبيرة = a big couch
• الكنبة الكبيرة = the big couch

Here the meaning is not about a specific already-known couch. It is simply saying that there is a big couch in the living room.

Also notice the adjective pattern:

• indefinite noun + indefinite adjective
  كنبة كبيرة

If the noun were definite, the adjective would also be definite:

• الكنبة الكبيرة = the big couch

In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun.

So:

• شقة صغيرة = small apartment
• literally: apartment small

and

• كنبة كبيرة = big couch
• literally: couch big

This is normal Arabic word order.

In Egyptian Arabic, شقة is commonly pronounced something like sha''a.

A few pronunciation notes:

• ش = sh
• the middle consonant is historically ق, but in Egyptian Arabic it is usually pronounced as a glottal stop (like the break in uh-oh)
• the consonant is doubled, so there is a stronger pause there

So it sounds roughly like:

• sha-'a
• with a noticeable catch in the throat

You may also hear careful or influenced pronunciations, but the everyday Egyptian form usually has that glottal stop.

A helpful breakdown is:

• الصالة = the living room
• فيها = in it
• كنبة = a couch/sofa
• كبيرة = big

So literally:

• The living room, in it a big couch

Natural English:

• The living room has a big couch
• There is a big couch in the living room

Both are good ways to understand it.

It is Egyptian Arabic.

Some clues:

• دي for this is colloquial Egyptian
• بس is a very common colloquial word for but
• the overall phrasing is natural spoken Arabic, especially Egyptian

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would expect different wording, such as هذه instead of دي, and often more formal vocabulary or structure.

Its basic role is feminine singular this, yes. In this sentence that fits because شقة is feminine.

For comparison in Egyptian Arabic:

• ده = masculine this
• دي = feminine this

So:

• ده بيت = This is a house
• دي شقة = This is an apartment

That said, spoken Arabic can be flexible in some real-life situations, but as a learner, this is the right basic rule to follow.