هاد التغيير كان صعب.

هاد means this in Levantine Arabic.

So:

• هاد التغيير = this change

A very common pronunciation/transliteration is haad or hād.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the equivalent would be هذا.

Because هاد is pointing to a specific thing: this change.

Compare:

• تغيير = a change / change
• هاد التغيير = this change

Also, التغيير has الـ on it, which makes it definite: the change.
So literally, the phrase is something like this the-change, which is normal in Arabic.

In Arabic, when a noun comes after a demonstrative like هاد (this), the noun is usually definite.

So Levantine says:

• هاد التغيير = this change
• not usually هاد تغيير

This is different from English, where you do not say this the change. In Arabic, that structure is normal.

كان means was.

So the sentence breaks down as:

• هاد التغيير = this change
• كان = was
• صعب = difficult / hard

So the full sentence means This change was difficult.

Because the sentence is talking about the past.

In Arabic, present-tense sentences often do not use a word for is:

• هاد التغيير صعب = This change is difficult

But in the past, you normally use كان:

• هاد التغيير كان صعب = This change was difficult

So كان is the past-tense link word here.

Because التغيير is grammatically masculine singular, and the adjective agrees with it.

• تغيير is masculine
• so the adjective is صعب = difficult
• not صعبة, which is feminine

Compare:

• التغيير صعب = The change is difficult
• القصة صعبة = The story is difficult

Here, صعب is an adjective meaning difficult or hard.

It describes التغيير.

So the structure is:

• noun: التغيير = the change
• adjective: صعب = difficult

Together: التغيير كان صعب = the change was difficult

A common approximation is:

et-taghyeer or it-taghyīr

A few pronunciation notes:

• الـ before ت becomes pronounced as et-/it-
• غ is a throaty sound, often approximated as gh
• يي gives a long ee sound

So many learners hear something close to:

et-taghyeer

A common Levantine-style transliteration is:

haad et-taghyeer kaan sa3eb

You may also see:

• hād et-taġyīr kān saʿb
• haad it-taghyeer kaan sa‘eb

A natural English-friendly pronunciation guide would be roughly:

haad et-tagh-YEER kaan sa3eb

where 3 represents the Arabic letter ع.

The word صعب contains the letter ع, which does not exist in English.

That is why learners often write the word as:

• sa3b
• sa‘b
• saʿb

In actual Levantine speech, this word is often pronounced closer to:

• sa3eb
• sa‘eb

So if you find صعب hard to say at first, that is very normal.

Yes. In everyday Levantine, هاد + ال often contracts to هالـ.

So:

• هاد التغيير
• هالتغيير

both mean this change.

In natural speech, هالتغيير is often very common and sounds more fluid.

Yes. This is a very normal Levantine word order.

The sentence is:

• هاد التغيير = topic / subject
• كان = was
• صعب = difficult

So it follows a simple pattern:

this change + was + difficult

That is one of the most straightforward ways to say it.

Usually هاد means this, not that.

So the most natural meaning is:

This change was difficult.

For that, Levantine often uses forms like هداك or هديك, depending on the noun and dialect.

So:

• هاد التغيير = this change
• هداك التغيير = that change

You would usually drop كان:

• هاد التغيير صعب = This change is difficult

This is an important pattern in Arabic:

• present: no is word needed
• past: use كان

So:

• هاد التغيير صعب = is difficult
• هاد التغيير كان صعب = was difficult

A common Levantine negation is:

• هاد التغيير ما كان صعب = This change was not difficult

Here:

• ما negates
• كان stays in the sentence

So the pattern is:

ما كان = was not

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would more likely see:

• هذا التغيير كان صعبًا

Main differences:

• Levantine هاد instead of MSA هذا
• Levantine usually does not show case endings, so you get صعب instead of صعبًا

So the Levantine sentence is more natural for everyday speech, while the MSA version is more formal and written.

Both are possible.

• صعب can mean hard
• صعب can also mean difficult

In this sentence, difficult is usually the best natural translation:

• هاد التغيير كان صعب = This change was difficult

But depending on context, This change was hard could also work.

Yes, a slight pause is possible if you are emphasizing the subject:

هاد التغيير | كان صعب

But in normal speech, people often say it smoothly as one unit:

هاد التغيير كان صعب

So both are possible, but the second is more neutral and natural in everyday conversation.