الكلب عض صاحبي.

Because subject–verb–object order is very common in Levantine Arabic.

So this sentence is:

• الكلب = the dog
• عضّ = bit
• صاحبي = my friend

Starting with الكلب makes the dog the topic: The dog bit my friend.

Arabic can also use verb–subject–object order, especially in more formal or narrative styles, for example عضّ الكلب صاحبي. But the version you have is very natural in spoken Levantine.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• كلب = dog
• الكلب = the dog

In careful Standard Arabic it is pronounced al-, but in Levantine it is often pronounced more like il- or el-, so الكلب may sound like il-kalb or el-kalb.

Because Arabic usually adds possessive pronouns directly to the noun as a suffix.

Here:

• صاحب = friend / companion
• -ي = my

So:

• صاحبي = my friend

Arabic does not need a separate word like English my here.

Because a noun with a possessive suffix is already definite.

صاحبي already means my friend, which is a specific person, so it is automatically definite. For that reason, you do not add الـ to it.

So:

• صاحب = a friend / friend
• صاحبي = my friend

Not الصاحبي.

In this sentence it is pronounced ʿaḍḍ and means bit.

A few important points:

• ع is the sound ʿ, a deep throat sound that English does not have.
• ض is an emphatic/heavy d sound.
• The final consonant is actually doubled.

In fully marked spelling, it would be عضّ with a shadda over the last letter to show that doubling. In normal everyday writing, that mark is often left out, so you may see عض even though it is read as عضّ.

A common Levantine-style pronunciation is ṣāḥbi.

Roughly:

• ص = a heavy/emphatic s
• ا = long aa
• ح = a strong breathy throat h
• ب = b
• ي = i, giving the meaning my

In more careful Standard Arabic pronunciation, you may hear ṣāḥibī. In Levantine, short vowels are often reduced, so ṣāḥbi is very common.

Usually, yes. صاحبي normally means my male friend or my buddy.

If you want to say my female friend, you would usually say صاحبتي.

Important: the -ي means my, but it does not tell you whether the speaker is male or female. It only tells you that the friend belongs to me.

Also, depending on context, صاحبي can sometimes mean my boyfriend/partner, but in a sentence like this, my friend is the natural reading.

In this sentence, word order tells you.

• الكلب comes first and is understood as the subject/topic.
• عضّ is the verb.
• صاحبي comes after the verb and is understood as the object.

So the meaning is:

• the dog = the one doing the biting
• my friend = the one who got bitten

In spoken Levantine, context and normal sentence order usually make this clear. In formal Standard Arabic, case endings can also help show subject and object, but those endings are usually not written in everyday text.

It works in both, but it feels very comfortable in Levantine.

Why?

• SVO word order is very common in Levantine.
• صاحبي is a very natural colloquial way to say my friend / my buddy.

In fully formal Standard Arabic, you might expect something like:

• الكلبُ عضَّ صاحبي
• or عضَّ الكلبُ صاحبي

But in normal writing without vowel marks, الكلب عض صاحبي is perfectly understandable.

Because Arabic is usually written without short-vowel marks in everyday texts.

Native speakers rely on:

• familiar word patterns
• grammar
• context

So even though you see عض, the sentence structure makes it clear that here it should be read as the past-tense verb ʿaḍḍ = bit.

This is normal in Arabic. Learners often find it difficult at first, but over time you start recognizing common patterns automatically.

Arabic does not need a separate helper word here.

The verb itself already contains the past meaning:

• عضّ = bit

So الكلب عض صاحبي already means The dog bit my friend.

English sometimes uses helper words, but Arabic often puts that information directly into the verb form itself.