الطفل تعبان.

A common Levantine pronunciation is roughly eṭ-ṭefel taʿbān.

A few notes:

• الطفل is often pronounced more like eṭ-ṭefel or et-tefel, depending on the region.
• تعبان is taʿbān.
• The aa in -bān is a long vowel.

So an English-friendly approximation is et-TE-fel taʕ-BAAN.

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• طفل = child
• الطفل = the child

In this sentence, the noun is definite: the child.

Because ط is a sun letter. In Arabic, when ال comes before a sun letter, the l sound assimilates to the next consonant.

So:

• It is written الطفل
• But pronounced more like اṭ-ṭفل / eṭ-ṭefel

The spelling does not change, only the pronunciation does.

In Arabic, present-tense sentences like this usually do not use a separate word for is.

So الطفل تعبان literally looks like:

• the child tired

But it means:

• the child is tired

This is completely normal in both Levantine and Standard Arabic.

This is one of the most important things to notice.

• الطفل تعبان = the child is tired
• الطفل التعبان = the tired child

Why? Because in الطفل تعبان, تعبان is the predicate of the sentence. It describes the child, but it is not directly attached as a modifying adjective.

If you want the tired child, the adjective must also be definite:

• الطفل التعبان

Yes. It agrees in gender and number.

Here:

• الطفل is masculine singular
• so the adjective is تعبان, also masculine singular

For example:

• الطفلة تعبانة = the girl/the female child is tired
• الأطفال تعبانين = the children are tired in Levantine

One useful detail: in this kind of sentence, the adjective agrees in gender and number, but it does not take ال unless it is directly modifying the noun.

تعبان is an adjective meaning tired.

It is very common in spoken Arabic, including Levantine. You will hear it a lot in everyday conversation.

Examples:

• أنا تعبان = I’m tired
• هي تعبانة = she’s tired
• نحنا تعبانين = we’re tired

The ع is the letter ʿayn, and it does not have a true English equivalent.

A simple learner-friendly way to think about it:

• it is a throat sound
• it is deeper than a normal vowel
• it is not a regular a sound

If you cannot say it perfectly yet, that is normal. Try not to replace it with a hard English consonant. Listening to native speakers and imitating them is the best way to improve it.

Yes, it is correct and understandable, but it can sound a bit more formal or neutral than some everyday alternatives.

In casual speech, speakers might also say:

• الولد for the boy
• البنت for the girl

But الطفل is still a real and useful word, especially in general statements, school language, parenting contexts, news, and more careful speech.

Because this is Levantine, not fully inflected Standard Arabic.

In Standard Arabic, you might see or hear something like:

• الطِّفلُ تَعبانُ

But in Levantine, case endings are not used in normal speech, so you simply say:

• الطفل تعبان

That is one reason spoken Arabic often sounds shorter and smoother than fully vocalized Standard Arabic.

Yes, but it usually means a tired child, not the child is tired.

So:

• الطفل تعبان = the child is tired
• طفل تعبان = a tired child

As a full sentence, Arabic usually prefers a definite subject here, or a different structure if you mean there is a tired child. So for beginners, الطفل تعبان is the safer pattern to learn first.

The normal beginner-friendly order is:

• الطفل تعبان

This is the most straightforward way to say it.

In conversation, Arabic can sometimes move things around for emphasis, but that is more advanced. If you are learning the basic pattern, stick with:

• noun + adjective/predicate

So:

• الطفل تعبان = the standard, natural pattern to learn first