مبارح كنت عم بشوف الايميل لما وصلت رسالة من الشغل.

مبارح means yesterday in Levantine Arabic.

A very common beginner confusion is with last night.

• مبارح = yesterday
• مبارح بالليل = last night

So in this sentence, مبارح is simply setting the time: yesterday.

Because كنت عم بشوف is a very common way to say I was checking / I was looking at in Levantine.

It breaks down like this:

• كنت = I was
• عم = marks an ongoing action
• بشوف = I see / I look / I check

Together, كنت عم بشوف means I was in the middle of checking / looking at something.

This fits the sentence because one action was already in progress, and then another action happened.

عم is a progressive marker in Levantine Arabic. It tells you the action is ongoing.

So:

• بشوف = I look / I see / I check
• عم بشوف = I am looking / I am checking
• كنت عم بشوف = I was looking / I was checking

English speakers often think of عم as one of the main tools for expressing -ing actions in Levantine.

Because in Levantine, the past part is carried by كنت, while the ongoing action part is shown by عم + imperfect verb.

So:

• كنت = puts the whole thing in the past
• عم بشوف = the action itself is ongoing

That is why you do not say something like كنت عم شفت.
After عم, you normally use the imperfect/present-type form, here بشوف.

Yes, شاف / يشوف literally means to see, but in everyday Levantine it often extends to meanings like:

• look at
• check
• have a look at
• watch

So عم بشوف الايميل can naturally mean:

• I’m looking at the email
• I’m checking email
• I’m checking the email

This is very normal colloquial usage. It does not have to mean only literal visual seeing.

Because borrowed nouns in Arabic can take the definite article ال just like native Arabic words.

So الايميل literally looks like the email, but in real usage it can mean different things depending on context:

• the email
• my email
• email as a general thing I’m checking

In colloquial speech, this kind of definiteness is often broader than in English. So عم بشوف الايميل can sound natural even where English might say I was checking email.

Here لما means when.

It introduces the second action that happened during the first one:

• كنت عم بشوف الايميل = I was checking the email
• لما وصلت رسالة من الشغل = when a message from work arrived

So لما connects the background action with the interrupting event.

In this sentence, it works very much like when in English.

Because رسالة is a feminine noun, and the verb agrees with it.

• رسالة = message, letter
• feminine singular noun

So:

• وصلت رسالة = a message arrived

The -ت on وصلت shows feminine singular agreement.

This is very common in Arabic, and learners should always watch the gender of nouns because it often affects the verb.

رسالة literally means message or letter, but in modern everyday speech it often means a message in a broad sense.

Depending on context, it could be:

• a text message
• an app message
• an email message
• a work notification

So in this sentence, رسالة من الشغل most naturally means a message from work, not necessarily a physical letter.

Because الشغل is the normal everyday colloquial word for work in Levantine.

• الشغل = work, the job, the workplace
• العمل = work, but more formal / Modern Standard Arabic

So رسالة من الشغل sounds natural and conversational.

Also, الشغل with ال is very idiomatic. It does not have to mean a specific literal the work in English. It usually just means work in the practical everyday sense.

Yes. Levantine has several natural alternatives. For example:

• مبارح كنت عم بتفقد الايميل لما وصلت رسالة من الشغل.
• مبارح كنت عم بشيك الايميل لما إجت رسالة من الشغل.
• مبارح لما وصلت رسالة من الشغل، كنت عم بشوف الايميل.

These all stay close in meaning, but the original sentence is already very natural.

A small nuance:

• بشوف = checking / looking at
• بتفقد = checking more explicitly
• بشيك = an English loan, common in casual speech
• إجت رسالة = a message came
• وصلت رسالة = a message arrived

All of these are things you may hear in real Levantine conversation.