التمثال كبير.

A common Levantine-style pronunciation is roughly it-timsaal kbiir.

A few notes:

• الـ is often pronounced more like il-/el- in Levantine.
• Because ت is a sun letter, the l sound of الـ disappears, so التمثال sounds like it-t... rather than al-t...
• كبير is usually pronounced kbiir, with a consonant cluster at the beginning.

You may also hear a more careful pronunciation closer to it-timthaal kbiir.

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

So:

• التمثال كبير = The statue is big

This is called a nominal sentence.

But in the past or future, Arabic does use other words:

• التمثال كان كبير = The statue was big

In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So the basic order is:

• noun + adjective

Example:

• تمثال كبير = a big statue

However, in التمثال كبير, the second word is not just an adjective inside a noun phrase. It is the predicate of the sentence, so the whole sentence means:

• The statue is big

So even though كبير is an adjective, here it is functioning as the second part of a full sentence.

Because التمثال is the subject the statue, while كبير is the predicate big.

In Arabic, when an adjective is used as the predicate in a sentence like this, it is usually indefinite, so it does not take الـ.

So:

• التمثال كبير = The statue is big

But if you say:

• التمثال الكبير

that means:

• the big statue

So the presence or absence of الـ changes the structure.

This is a very important difference:

• التمثال كبير = The statue is big

  • This is a complete sentence.

• التمثال الكبير = the big statue

  • This is just a noun phrase, not a full sentence.

So:

• no الـ on كبير -> predicate adjective -> full sentence
• الـ on both words -> adjective describing a noun -> noun phrase

Yes. Arabic adjectives normally agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here:

• تمثال is masculine singular
• so the adjective is كبير = big masculine singular

If the noun were feminine, you would usually use:

• كبيرة

For example:

• السيارة كبيرة = The car is big

Because ت is one of the sun letters.

When الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound assimilates to the next consonant.

So:

• written: التمثال
• pronounced more like: اتتمثال / التمثال with doubled t
• in Levantine, often roughly: it-timsaal

This happens in many common words:

• الشمس -> ish-shams
• الطاولة -> it-taawle
• التفاحة -> it-tuffaaHa

It works in both.

The writing:

• التمثال كبير

is perfectly understandable in both Standard Arabic and Levantine.

The main difference is usually in pronunciation, not in the basic structure:

• Standard Arabic: something like at-timthālu kabīr
• Levantine: something like it-timsaal kbiir

So for a learner of Levantine, this sentence is fine, but you would pronounce it in a more Levantine way.

No, not in Levantine.

In everyday Levantine speech, you do not use the formal case endings of Standard Arabic. So you simply say:

• التمثال كبير
• roughly: it-timsaal kbiir

In formal Standard Arabic grammar, the fully inflected version would be something like:

• التمثالُ كبيرٌ

But in Levantine, you can ignore those endings.

A very common way is to use مو or مش, depending on the variety of Levantine.

For example:

• التمثال مو كبير = The statue is not big
• التمثال مش كبير = The statue is not big

Both are common, but which one sounds more natural depends on the region.