امي كانت عم تكنس بالمكنسة لما اتصلت فيها صديقتها.

Here is a simple breakdown:

• امي / أمي = my mother
• كانت عم تكنس = was sweeping
• بالمكنسة = with the broom
• لما = when
• اتصلت فيها = called her / contacted her
• صديقتها = her friend

So the whole sentence means: My mother was sweeping with the broom when her friend called her.

Because this is how Levantine commonly forms the past progressive.

• عم + imperfect verb = an action in progress
• كان / كانت + عم + imperfect verb = was/were doing

So:

• عم تكنس = she is sweeping
• كانت عم تكنس = she was sweeping

This shows that the sweeping was already in progress when the phone call happened.

The verb is from كنس, which means to sweep.

In the imperfect, تكنس can mean several things depending on context, but here it means she sweeps / she is sweeping, because the subject is أمي, which is feminine singular.

So:

• هي تكنس = she sweeps
• أمي كانت عم تكنس = my mother was sweeping

The تـ at the beginning matches the feminine singular subject.

In Levantine, عم is a marker of an action that is ongoing or in progress.

It does not really translate as a separate English word by itself. Its job is grammatical.

For example:

• بكتب = I write / I am writing depending on context
• عم بكتب = more clearly I am writing
• كنت عم بكتب = I was writing

So in your sentence, عم helps express was sweeping, not just swept.

Because بالمكنسة adds the tool being used: with the broom.

That kind of extra detail is normal in Arabic, just like in English you can say:

• She was sweeping
• She was sweeping with a broom

Both are possible. The second is just more specific.

Also, depending on region and context, مكنسة can refer to a sweeping tool more generally, so the phrase helps make the image clearer.

Here, لما means when.

It introduces the event that happened during the ongoing action:

• كانت عم تكنس = the background action already in progress
• لما اتصلت فيها صديقتها = the event that happened during that time

So the structure is very much:

She was doing X when Y happened.

In Levantine, لما is extremely common in everyday speech.

Because Arabic does not always use verbs the way English does.

With اتصل in this sentence, the person receiving the call is expressed through a preposition + pronoun, not as a direct object.

So:

• فيها = her
• literally, something like called/contacted to her
• naturally in English: called her

The important point is that you should learn اتصل together with the way it connects to the person after it, rather than expecting it to behave exactly like English call.

صديقتها breaks down like this:

• صديقة = female friend
• ـها = her

So صديقتها means her friend, specifically her female friend.

If it were a male friend, it would be:

• صديقها = her male friend

So in this sentence, the caller is a female friend.

Because Arabic very often allows — and often prefers — verb-first word order, especially in narration.

So:

• اتصلت فيها صديقتها = literally called her her-friend
• natural English order: her friend called her

This is normal Arabic structure. The subject can come after the verb.

You could also say:

• لما صديقتها اتصلت فيها

That is also understandable, but the given sentence has a very natural storytelling feel.

We know from the grammar:

• اتصلت is feminine singular past = she called
• صديقتها is the subject = her friend
• فيها refers to the person receiving the call = her

So:

• the friend did the calling
• the mother received the call

Even though both people are feminine, Arabic makes the roles clear through the structure of the clause.

Yes. In informal Levantine writing, people often leave out hamzas and other spelling details.

So:

• أمي and امي both mean my mother

In texting, chat, subtitles, and casual online writing, this is very common. It does not change the meaning.

It is clearly Levantine-style Arabic.

The biggest clue is:

• كانت عم تكنس

That عم + imperfect progressive structure is very characteristic of Levantine.

In Modern Standard Arabic, a more standard version would be something like:

• كانت أمي تكنس بالمكنسة عندما اتصلت بها صديقتها

So the sentence you gave is natural for spoken Levantine, not formal written MSA.