لولا التبني، ما كان الجرو لقى بيت.

لولا means if it weren’t for, were it not for, or if not for. It introduces the reason something did happen, while implying that without it, the result would not have happened.

So:

• لولا التبني = if it weren’t for adoption

This is a very common structure in Arabic for counterfactual ideas.

Because after لولا, Arabic very often uses a noun phrase, not a full verb clause.

• التبني is the verbal noun / masdar of تبنّى = to adopt
• So لولا التبني literally means were it not for adoption

This is more compact and natural than spelling out a full clause.

A fuller spoken alternative could be something like:

• لو ما تبنّوه = if they hadn’t adopted him

But the sentence you have uses the noun form, which is very normal.

In this sentence, ما كان helps express a counterfactual past idea: would not have.

So:

• ما كان الجرو لقى بيت = the puppy wouldn’t have found a home

Compare:

• ما لقى بيت = he didn’t find a home
  This is just a simple past statement.
• ما كان لقى بيت = he wouldn’t have found a home
  This has the conditional / unreal-past feeling.

That difference is especially natural after لولا, because لولا already sets up a what would have happened otherwise situation.

لقى is a common colloquial verb meaning found. In Levantine, it is much more natural in everyday speech than وجد, which sounds more formal or more like Modern Standard Arabic.

So:

• لقى بيت = found a home

You may also see related spellings or forms in dialect writing, because colloquial Arabic is not spelled as consistently as MSA. But the important point is that لقى here is a normal spoken-style verb.

Arabic word order is flexible, and Levantine often allows the subject to appear between the auxiliary and the main verb.

So in:

• ما كان الجرو لقى بيت

the parts are roughly:

• ما كان = would not have
• الجرو = the puppy
• لقى بيت = found a home

This placement is natural in speech. It keeps الجرو clearly marked as the subject.

Because it means a home, not the home.

In Arabic:

• بيت = a house / a home
• البيت = the house / the home

So the lack of الـ makes it indefinite.

Also, in dialect writing, indefinite nouns usually just appear as the bare noun, without case endings or tanwīn. So بيت is exactly what you would expect for a home in Levantine writing.

Literally, بيت can mean both house and home. The context tells you which is more natural.

Here, because the sentence is about adoption and belonging, home is the better English choice:

• لقى بيت = found a home

If you translated it as found a house, that would sound too physical and miss the emotional sense.

This is because of sun letters and moon letters.

• In التبني, the letter ت is a sun letter, so the ل of الـ is not pronounced separately. The pronunciation is roughly et-tabanni / it-tabanni, not al-tabanni.
• In الجرو, the letter ج is a moon letter, so the ل is pronounced. Roughly: el-jirw / il-jirw.

So the spelling stays الـ in both words, but the pronunciation changes depending on the next consonant.

It is basically Levantine / colloquial, but with vocabulary that also exists in more formal Arabic.

Here is what makes it feel colloquial:

• ما كان ... لقى as a spoken counterfactual pattern
• لقى instead of the more formal وجد
• no case endings

What feels more neutral or semi-formal is:

• التبني, which is a standard word and not strongly slangy

This kind of mixing is extremely normal in real life. Spoken Levantine often combines colloquial grammar with vocabulary shared with MSA.

Yes. A native speaker could say several close variations, depending on style and how explicit they want to be.

For example:

• لو ما تبنّوه، ما كان لقى بيت
  If they hadn’t adopted him, he wouldn’t have found a home

• لولا التبنّي، ما كان الجرو لاقي بيت
  A close variant with a slightly different colloquial verb form/spelling

The original sentence is already natural, but in everyday speech people often switch between different dialectal forms.

Because Arabic usually does not need a single standalone word matching English would.

Instead, the meaning is built through the whole structure:

• لولا sets up the unreal condition
• ما كان marks the negative counterfactual result
• the main verb لقى gives the action

So English uses wouldn’t have found, while Arabic expresses that meaning through the pattern:

• لولا ... ما كان ... لقى

In other words, the grammar as a whole carries the would have / would not have meaning.