دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة والغسالة عصرت الملابس.

It sounds mostly Levantine / colloquial, especially because of اخدت for took. In more formal Arabic, you would more often see أخذت or استغرقت.

A more formal version could be:

استغرقت دورة الغسيل ساعة وعصرت الغسالة الملابس.

But in everyday speech, دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة sounds natural.

In Arabic, the verb take can directly express duration without a separate word like for.

So:

اخدت ساعة = it took an hour

Literally, it is more like took an hour, not took for an hour.

This is very common in both spoken and formal Arabic:

• اخد خمس دقايق = It took five minutes
• اخدت الرحلة يومين = The trip took two days

دورة الغسيل means the washing cycle or the wash cycle.

Word by word:

• دورة = cycle / round
• الغسيل = the washing / the laundry

Together, the phrase refers to the washing machine cycle, not just the clothes themselves.

In context, دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة means the machine’s washing cycle lasted one hour.

Because the phrase is an iDaafa-like construction in meaning: دورة الغسيل = the cycle of the washing / the washing cycle.

In Arabic, when two nouns are linked like this, the second noun can carry the definiteness:

• دورة غسيل = a washing cycle
• دورة الغسيل = the washing cycle

So الغسيل makes the whole phrase definite.

Because the subject is دورة الغسيل, and دورة is a feminine noun.

So the verb agrees with it:

• دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة = The wash cycle took an hour

Likewise in the second clause:

• الغسالة عصرت الملابس

Here الغسالة is also feminine, so عصرت is feminine too.

Very often in Arabic, many machine names and nouns ending in ـة are feminine.

In Levantine, it is commonly pronounced something like akhadet or ekhadet, depending on region and speaker.

It comes from the verb أخذ = to take.

In everyday speech, speakers often simplify the classical form. So instead of a careful formal pronunciation, you may hear:

• أخدت
• اخدت

A helpful rough pronunciation is:

a-kha-det

with kh like the sound in the Scottish loch or German Bach.

Literally, عصرت comes from the idea of squeezing / wringing out.

But with a washing machine, it usually means:

• spun the clothes
• wrung the water out of the clothes

So in this sentence, the most natural meaning is that the machine did the spin cycle or spun the clothes dry.

It does not usually mean the machine physically squeezed them by hand-like pressure; it refers to the machine removing water.

Because this sentence is focusing on what the washing machine did.

• الغسالة عصرت الملابس = The washing machine spun the clothes

Here, الغسالة is the doer of the action.

If you said something like انعصرت الملابس, that would shift the focus more toward the clothes undergoing the action:

• انعصرت الملابس = The clothes got spun / got wrung out

Both are possible in Arabic, but the sentence you have is active and straightforward.

Yes, و here simply means and.

It connects two completed actions:

• دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة
• والغسالة عصرت الملابس

So the sentence means:

• the washing cycle took an hour
• and the washing machine spun the clothes

In Arabic, و is used very often, sometimes even more often than English uses and.

الملابس means the clothes.

In this context, the clothes are specific, known clothes — the ones in the washing machine. So using the definite form is natural.

You could say ملابس in some contexts, but الملابس sounds more natural here because we are talking about a particular load of clothes.

It can mean both, depending on context:

• ساعة = hour
• ساعة = clock / watch

Here, because it comes after اخدت, it clearly means an hour:

اخدت ساعة = it took an hour

Context usually makes the meaning obvious.

Because this is spoken Levantine Arabic, where short case endings are normally not pronounced.

In MSA, you might see or expect something like ساعةً in fully marked writing, but in normal everyday speech you simply say:

ساعة

That is completely normal.

Sometimes yes, but the meaning can shift a little depending on region and context.

• دورة الغسيل clearly means the washing cycle
• غسلة can sometimes mean a wash, one washing, or a load

So if you want to be precise about the machine cycle, دورة الغسيل is very clear.

If you are speaking casually, some people may use shorter expressions, but دورة الغسيل is a good, understandable choice.

Yes, but the style changes.

• اخدت ساعة = everyday spoken Arabic
• استغرقت ساعة = more formal / written / MSA-like

So:

• دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة sounds natural in conversation
• استغرقت دورة الغسيل ساعة sounds more formal

If you are learning Levantine for daily use, اخدت is the more useful choice.

Yes, it is normal.

Arabic allows both verb-first and subject-first order, and in spoken Levantine, subject-first is very common.

So this sounds natural:

• دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة

You could also hear other patterns in Arabic, but for everyday Levantine, this structure is very common and easy to understand.

A natural spoken rhythm would be something like:

دورة الغسيل اخدت ساعة، والغسالة عصرت الملابس.

There is usually a small pause after ساعة.

A rough transliteration could be:

Dawret il-ghaseel akhadet saa‘a, wil-ghassaale ‘asaret il-malaabes.

The و before الغسالة is often pronounced attached to the next word, like wil-ghassale or wal-ghassale, depending on accent.