حكيت له عن الشغلانة والمشروع في الشركة.

In Egyptian Arabic, حكيت is the past tense of حكى and here it means I told or I talked.

With له عن after it, the whole idea is usually:

حكيت له عن... = I told him about... / I talked to him about...

So it is not just to tell a story. In everyday Egyptian, حكى is a very common verb for telling or talking about something.

Because the verb already tells you the subject.

In حكيت, the ending -ت shows that the subject is I. So أنا is not necessary.

You could say أنا حكيت له... if you want emphasis, but normally Egyptian Arabic just uses the verb by itself.

حكى is the he form: he told.

When you change it to I told, the form becomes حكيت.

This happens because حكى is a weak verb ending in ى. When a suffix is added, that final sound changes:

• حكى = he told
• حكيت = I told
• حكينا = we told

So حكيت is the normal first-person past form.

له means to him.

So:

• حكيت = I told
• له = to him

Together: حكيت له = I told him

In careful writing, له is written separately. In very informal online writing, you may also see حكيتله, because in speech it sounds closely connected.

عن means about.

So:

حكيت له عن الشغلانة = I told him about the job

This is the normal preposition after حكى when you are saying what topic you talked about. A learner can think of the pattern as:

حكى لِـ someone عن something

الشغلانة is a very Egyptian, everyday word meaning the job, the work thing, or sometimes the position/gig, depending on context.

It is more colloquial than الوظيفة, which sounds more formal and closer to the job/position in a formal sense.

A useful comparison:

• شغل = work
• شغلانة = a job / a piece of work / a work situation
• وظيفة = a job, especially in a more formal sense

So الشغلانة sounds natural and conversational.

Because both nouns are definite: the job and the project.

Arabic usually repeats the definite article on each noun:

• الشغلانة والمشروع = the job and the project

English sometimes says the job and project, but Arabic normally keeps the article with each definite noun.

In Arabic writing, short words like و (and) are attached directly to the following word.

So:

• و + المشروع becomes
• والمشروع

This is completely normal Arabic spelling.

The same thing happens with other short particles too.

Not all الـ is pronounced the same.

• الشغلانة: the ل of الـ disappears in pronunciation because ش is a sun letter. So it sounds like ish-shoghlāna or esh-shoghlāna.
• الشركة: same idea, because it also starts with ش. So it sounds like ish-sherka or esh-sherka.
• المشروع: here the ل stays, because م is a moon letter. So it sounds like el-mashrūʿ.

This is why learners often hear different pronunciations of the in Arabic.

Literally it means in the company, but in natural English it is often better understood as at the company.

In this sentence, في الشركة most naturally describes where the job/project is, especially the project in/at the company. But depending on context, a listener could also take it more broadly.

So the phrase can be a little flexible unless the wider context makes it clear.

A natural pronunciation would be something like:

ḥakēt lu ʿan ish-shoghlāna wel-mashrūʿ fi sh-sherka

A more English-friendly approximation is:

ha-KEET lu ʕan ish-sho-gh-LA-na wel-mash-ROOʕ fi sh-SHER-ka

A few notes:

• له is usually pronounced lu
• والمشروع often sounds like wel-mashrūʿ
• في الشركة often runs together smoothly in speech

It is clearly colloquial Egyptian.

The biggest clue is الشغلانة, which is very everyday Egyptian speech. The whole sentence sounds natural in conversation.

A more formal version might use الوظيفة instead of الشغلانة.

A very natural negated version is:

ماحكيتلوش عن الشغلانة والمشروع في الشركة.

This means I didn’t tell him about the job and the project in/at the company.

Egyptian commonly negates verbs with ما...ش around the verb:

• حكيت = I told
• ماحكيتش = I didn’t tell

With the pronoun included, you often get:

• ماحكيتلوش = I didn’t tell him

Yes, depending on the nuance.

For example:

اتكلمت معاه عن الشغلانة والمشروع في الشركة
= I talked with him about the job and the project in/at the company

The difference is:

• حكيت له suggests I told him / I explained to him
• اتكلمت معاه suggests more of a conversation with him

So حكيت له works well if you were mainly giving him the information.