الطبلة جنب الجيتار.

In Levantine Arabic, the present tense of to be is usually not stated in simple sentences like this.

So:

• الطبلة جنب الجيتار literally looks like the drum next to the guitar but it means the drum is next to the guitar.

This is very normal in Arabic. In the present tense, you usually just put the subject and then the description/location.

If you wanted a past meaning, you would use a form of كان:

• الطبلة كانت جنب الجيتار = The drum was next to the guitar

جنب means next to, beside, or by the side of.

In this sentence:

• جنب الجيتار = next to the guitar

It is very common in Levantine for talking about location:

• الكتاب جنب الشنطة = The book is next to the bag
• الكرسي جنب الباب = The chair is next to the door

You may also hear similar expressions in other contexts, but here it is simply a location word.

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• الطبلة = the drum
• الجيتار = the guitar

In this sentence, both nouns are definite because we are talking about specific, known objects:

• the drum
• the guitar

That is why both words take ال.

It is a borrowed word, but it is completely normal in spoken Arabic.

• جيتار = guitar
• الجيتار = the guitar

Levantine Arabic uses many loanwords, especially for modern objects, instruments, technology, and everyday items. So a learner should not be surprised to see words that sound similar to English or other European languages.

A helpful pronunciation is:

• il-tab-leh or et-tab-leh, depending on dialect and speed

A few details:

• ال is often pronounced il- or el- in Levantine
• ط is an emphatic t sound, heavier than English t
• ب = b
• the final ة in pause is usually pronounced -eh

So الطبلة sounds roughly like it-tab-leh / et-tab-leh.

Also, because ط is a sun letter, the l of ال assimilates:

• not al-tabla
• but more like at-tabla / et-tabla

In Levantine pronunciation, the exact vowel may vary, but the doubled t feeling is important.

These are related but not identical.

• طبل often refers to drum in a more general sense
• طبلة can refer to a drum and is also a very common colloquial form for a drum/percussion instrument

In spoken Levantine, طبلة is a natural everyday word. Depending on context, it may refer to a specific kind of drum or just a drum generally.

For a learner, the important thing in this sentence is simply:

• الطبلة = the drum

This is the normal and simplest word order in Arabic for this kind of sentence.

Structure:

• الطبلة = subject
• جنب الجيتار = location phrase

So the pattern is:

[thing] + [location]

Examples:

• الولد بالبيت = The boy is at home
• الموبايل عالطاولة = The phone is on the table
• الطبلة جنب الجيتار = The drum is next to the guitar

This is very common in Levantine.

For learning purposes, it is fine to think of جنب as working like a preposition meaning next to / beside.

Historically and grammatically, Arabic location words can behave a bit differently from English prepositions, but at the beginner level, the most useful thing is:

• جنب + noun = next to + noun

So:

• جنب الجيتار = next to the guitar

That is how you can safely use it in everyday speech.

Because after جنب, the noun just follows directly in the form used in everyday Levantine speech.

In formal Arabic, case endings would matter more, but in Levantine spoken Arabic, those endings are generally not pronounced. So learners usually hear and say:

• جنب الجيتار
• جنب الباب
• جنب البيت

without worrying about case endings.

That is one reason spoken Arabic often feels simpler than formal Arabic in everyday conversation.

Yes. طبلة is grammatically feminine.

You can often recognize feminine nouns because many of them end in ـة.

So:

• طبلة = feminine noun

That matters when you refer back to it with pronouns or adjectives. For example:

• الطبلة كبيرة = The drum is big
• هي جنب الجيتار = It / she is next to the guitar
  (for objects, Arabic still uses grammatical gender)

جيتار is usually treated as masculine.

A natural Levantine-style pronunciation might be something like:

• et-tablé janb il-jitaar
• or it-tablé janb il-jitaar

A few things to notice:

• ال often sounds like il- / el-
• before ط, the l assimilates, so you hear a doubled t
• جنب is often pronounced janb
• جيتار is commonly pronounced close to jitaar

Exact pronunciation varies by country and speaker, but this gives you a good Levantine feel.

Yes, but the meaning would change.

• طبلة جنب جيتار would sound more like a drum next to a guitar
• الطبلة جنب الجيتار means the drum is next to the guitar

So if the objects are specific and already known, using ال is the natural choice.

In Levantine, you can often make a yes/no question just by using questioning intonation:

• الطبلة جنب الجيتار؟ = Is the drum next to the guitar?

You could also add a question word in a fuller conversation, but intonation alone is very common in speech.