يمكن المغني يتاخر.

Here يمكن most naturally means maybe / perhaps / might.

So يمكن المغني يتأخر is best understood as:

• Maybe the singer will be late
• The singer might be late

Even though يمكن can be connected to the idea of possibility, in everyday Levantine it very often works like maybe, not like English can in the sense of ability.

A rough Levantine pronunciation is:

yimkin il-mghanni yitʔaxxar

You may also hear small regional differences, such as:

• yemkin instead of yimkin
• el- instead of il-

A few sound notes:

• غ in المغني is like a French-style r
• خ in يتأخر is like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch
• the ʔ represents a small catch in the throat, the hamza

You do not need to pronounce it exactly the same in every Levantine area; variation is normal.

Because this is colloquial Levantine, and in spoken Levantine يمكن is often followed directly by a clause:

• يمكن المغني يتأخر

In more formal Arabic, you are more likely to see:

• يمكن أن يتأخر المغني

So the missing أن is not a mistake here. It is a normal spoken pattern.

In Levantine, the imperfect verb can often express a future possibility when the context already makes that clear.

Because يمكن already means maybe / might, the sentence naturally gets a future-like reading:

• يمكن المغني يتأخر = Maybe the singer will be late

You can also hear:

• يمكن المغني رح يتأخر

That version makes the future even more explicit, but the original sentence is completely natural.

يتأخر is the 3rd person masculine singular imperfect form of تأخر, meaning to be late / to arrive late / to get delayed.

Why this form?

• المغني is singular
• المغني is masculine
• so the verb is يتأخر

Related forms:

• المغنية تتأخر = the female singer might be late
• المغنيين يتأخروا = the singers might be late

So the verb agrees with the subject.

After يمكن, a very common spoken Levantine pattern is:

يمكن + subject + imperfect verb

So:

• يمكن المغني يتأخر

is very natural.

You can also hear:

• يمكن يتأخر المغني

Both are possible, but the first one is very common in everyday speech. Putting المغني first can make the sentence feel a little clearer or more topic-based: as for the singer, he might be late.

In careful spelling, it should be يتأخر.

The version يتاخر is common in casual typing because many people leave out the hamza when writing quickly online or in messages.

So:

• يتأخر = more standard / careful spelling
• يتاخر = very common informal spelling

As a learner, it is better to remember the fuller spelling يتأخر.

Here المغني means the singer.

The final ي is part of the word itself. It is not the possessive ending my in this sentence.

So:

• المغني = the singer
• not my singer

This word comes from the verb غنّى = to sing, and مغنّي means singer.

Because Arabic does not always need a separate verb like English to be.

Also, in this sentence, يتأخر is already a full verb meaning:

• to be late
• to arrive late
• to get delayed

So the idea of be late is built into the verb itself. That is why you do not need an extra word for be.

Yes. This sentence sounds strongly colloquial Levantine in structure.

A more formal MSA-style version would be something like:

• يمكن أن يتأخر المغني
• قد يتأخر المغني

So يمكن المغني يتأخر is a good example of how spoken Levantine often uses simpler, more direct syntax than formal Arabic.