قبل ساعة كان في حدا قدام البيت.

In Levantine, قبل + a time expression is a very common way to say ago.

So:

• قبل ساعة = an hour ago
• قبل يومين = two days ago
• قبل شوي = a little while ago

Literally, قبل means before, but in this kind of time phrase, English usually translates it as ago.

Also, ساعة here does not need واحدة. In everyday speech, قبل ساعة naturally means an hour ago.

Because كان في is a very common Levantine way to say there was / there were.

Think of it like this:

• في حدا = there is someone
• كان في حدا = there was someone

Here, في works as an existential marker, not just as the preposition in. Adding كان puts that idea in the past.

So the core structure is:

• كان في + noun = there was / there were + noun

This is one of the most useful spoken patterns in Levantine.

Here it means there is / there are.

The word في can do two different jobs:

• في البيت = in the house
• في حدا = there is someone

In this sentence, because it comes after كان and before an indefinite noun (حدا), it is clearly the existential there was pattern:

• كان في حدا = there was someone

If you wanted in, the structure would be different, for example:

• كان حدا في البيت = someone was in the house

حدا is the everyday Levantine word for someone / anyone.

It is much more common in conversation than شخص, which sounds more formal or bookish.

Its exact translation depends on context:

• in a statement: someone
• in a question: anyone
• in a negative sentence: anyone / no one

Examples:

• في حدا هون؟ = Is there anyone here?
• ما في حدا = There is no one / There isn’t anyone

So in your sentence, حدا simply means someone.

Because قدام is the normal colloquial Levantine word for in front of.

• قدام البيت = in front of the house

The more formal or Standard Arabic equivalent is أمام.

So:

• قدام = everyday spoken Levantine
• أمام = more formal / MSA

A learner should definitely know قدام, because you will hear it all the time in real speech.

البيت means the house or the home.

The definite article ال is used because the speaker is talking about a specific house, usually one that is already understood from context. Very often, البيت in everyday Arabic can mean the home in a natural, familiar way.

Compare:

• قدام البيت = in front of the house / home
• قدام بيت = in front of a house

So the version with ال sounds more natural if the speaker means a particular house.

Both can be correct, depending on context.

Literally, بيت is house, but in everyday Arabic it often also means home. So البيت can refer to:

• the physical house
• the home as the place where someone lives

In many contexts, Arabic uses البيت where English might prefer home.

So قدام البيت could be:

• in front of the house
• in front of the home

Both are possible.

Yes, it could come later.

Starting with قبل ساعة is very natural because it sets the time right away:

• قبل ساعة كان في حدا قدام البيت = An hour ago, there was someone in front of the house.

You could also say:

• كان في حدا قدام البيت قبل ساعة

That is still understandable and natural, but it places the time information later. Putting قبل ساعة first gives it a little more prominence, like setting the scene first.

In this kind of existential structure, كان في often behaves almost like a fixed expression meaning there was / there were.

So learners should think of:

• كان في = there was / there were

rather than trying to match it exactly like normal subject-verb agreement in English.

Even with plural nouns, spoken Levantine very often still uses singular كان:

• كان في ناس = there were people

So in your sentence, كان is not something you need to overanalyze as agreeing in a strict way with حدا. The whole chunk كان في is the key pattern.

You can negate it with ما before كان:

• قبل ساعة ما كان في حدا قدام البيت
  = An hour ago, there wasn’t anyone in front of the house.

This is a very important pattern:

• ما كان في... = there wasn’t...

Examples:

• ما كان في وقت = there wasn’t time
• ما كان في سيارات = there weren’t any cars

So:

• كان في حدا = there was someone
• ما كان في حدا = there wasn’t anyone / there was no one

Yes, it is clearly colloquial Levantine.

The most obvious spoken features are:

• حدا instead of more formal شخص
• قدام instead of أمام
• the common spoken existential pattern كان في

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

• قبل ساعة كان هناك شخص أمام البيت

That is grammatical and formal, but it does not sound like everyday Levantine conversation.

So this sentence is exactly the kind of Arabic you would expect to hear in normal speech.