شنطتي كانت ضايعة مبارح، بس هلا هي هون.

my

Breakdown of شنطتي كانت ضايعة مبارح، بس هلا هي هون.

• هون: here
• هلا: now
• بس: but

Questions & Answers about شنطتي كانت ضايعة مبارح، بس هلا هي هون.

Is this sentence Modern Standard Arabic, or is it Levantine Arabic?

It is Levantine Arabic.

A few clear clues are:

• مبارح = yesterday in Levantine
  
  • In Modern Standard Arabic, you would usually see أمس
• هلا = now in Levantine
  
  • In MSA, you would usually see الآن
• هون = here in Levantine
  
  • In MSA, this is هنا
• بس often means but in spoken Levantine

So this sentence sounds natural in everyday spoken Levantine, not formal written Arabic.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

A common Levantine-style pronunciation is:

shanṭti kānet ḍāyʿa mbāreḥ, bas hallaʾ hiyye hōn

You may also hear slightly different pronunciations depending on the region, for example:

• halla
• hallaʾ
• hiyye
• hī

A rough word-by-word pronunciation guide:

• شنطتي → shanṭti / sometimes shanṭeti
• كانت → kānet
• ضايعة → ḍāyʿa
• مبارح → mbāreḥ
• بس → bas
• هلا → halla / hallaʾ
• هي → hiyye
• هون → hōn

What does شنطتي mean exactly, and how is it built?