بدك تروح عالشغل بالباص ولا بتاكسي؟

بدك means you want or, in a question, do you want.

In Levantine Arabic, this word is built from:

• بدّ = want / desire
• -ك = you (singular)

So بدك is roughly you want.

Depending on intonation, it can be:

• بدك تروح = you want to go
• بدك تروح؟ = do you want to go?

You may also see it transliterated as baddak, biddak, or beddak, depending on the region and the system used.

As written, it is most naturally understood as being addressed to a man.

That is because:

• تروح = you go / go for masculine singular
• for a woman, you would usually say تروحي

So the feminine version would normally be:

• بدك تروحي عالشغل بالباص ولا بتاكسي؟

One small complication: بدك by itself is often written the same way for both masculine and feminine in normal Arabic spelling, because short vowels are usually not written. But the verb تروح / تروحي makes the gender clear.

Because in Levantine Arabic, after بدك (want), you normally use the present/imperfect verb form, not a separate infinitive like English to go.

So:

• بدك تروح = literally something like you want you-go
• natural English: you want to go

Arabic does not have an infinitive in the same way English does here.

The verb is from راح / يروح = to go.

عالشغل is a shortened everyday form of على الشغل.

Here is what is happening:

• على = on / to
• in speech, على often gets reduced to عَ
• when it comes before الـ, it often becomes عالـ

So:

• على الشغل
• becomes عالشغل

This is very common in spoken Levantine and sounds natural.

In this sentence, عالشغل means to work or to the workplace.

الشغل can mean several related things, including:

• work
• job
• the workplace

In this sentence, because it comes after تروح (go), it means something like:

• to work
• to your workplace

So the whole phrase تروح عالشغل is the normal spoken way to say go to work.

The prefix/preposition بـ here is used to express the means of transportation, so it works like:

• by bus
• by taxi

So:

• بالباص = by bus
• بتاكسي = by taxi

This بـ is very common in Arabic and can mean in, with, or by, depending on context.

Both patterns can exist in spoken Arabic, but in this sentence:

• بالباص = by bus
• بتاكسي = by taxi

With words like تاكسي, speakers often drop the article and just use the noun directly after بـ. So بتاكسي sounds very natural.

You may also hear بالتاكسي in some places or from some speakers. Both are understandable, but بتاكسي is very common in everyday speech.

Here, ولا means or.

In spoken Levantine, ولا is very commonly used in choice questions like:

• شاي ولا قهوة؟ = Tea or coffee?
• بالباص ولا بتاكسي؟ = By bus or by taxi?

أو also means or, but ولا often sounds more natural and conversational in this kind of everyday either/or question.

Because Arabic often does not need an explicit subject pronoun when the grammar already shows who the subject is.

In this sentence:

• بدك already tells you the person is you
• تروح matches that structure

So there is no need to add إنت unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• بدك تروح...؟ = neutral
• إنت بدك تروح...؟ = you want to go...?

The second one sounds more emphatic.

A useful rough pronunciation is:

baddak trou7 ʿa sh-sheghl bil-baas wala b-taaksi?

A few notes:

• بدك ≈ baddak / biddak
• تروح ≈ trou7
• عالشغل ≈ ʿa sh-sheghl
• بالباص ≈ bil-baass
• ولا ≈ wala
• بتاكسي ≈ b-taaksi

The exact vowels can vary by country and city, but this will get you close.

Yes. على الشغل is correct and fully understandable.

But in everyday Levantine speech, عالشغل is much more natural and common. Native speakers regularly shorten prepositions like this in fast speech.

So:

• على الشغل = correct
• عالشغل = more colloquial and more natural in conversation

You may also see it written as ع الشغل in informal writing.

A very short answer could be:

• بالباص = By bus
• بتاكسي = By taxi

If you want to give a fuller answer, you could say:

• بدي روح بالباص = I want to go by bus
• بدّي روح بتاكسي = I want to go by taxi

So the question invites either a short transport answer or a full sentence.