خليت المفتاح بالشنطة.

A common Levantine pronunciation is khallēt il-miftāḥ bish-shanTa.

A few notes:

• خ sounds like a throaty kh
• المفتاح is often pronounced il-miftāḥ
• بالشنطة is pronounced bish-shanTa because the ال in الشنطة changes in pronunciation before ش

You may also hear slightly different vowels depending on the country or city.

Here, خليت means something like I left, I put, or I kept.

So the sentence can suggest:

• I left the key in the bag
• I put the key in the bag

The exact shade of meaning depends on context. Even though خلّى can also mean to let in other sentences, that is not the meaning here.

The -ت marks first person singular in the past tense, so it means I.

So:

• خليت = I left / I put

Because the verb already shows the subject, you do not need to say أنا.
You can say أنا خليت المفتاح بالشنطة for emphasis, but it is not required.

The dictionary form is خلّى.

That is the basic verb. In Levantine, it can mean:

• to leave
• to keep
• to let
• sometimes to put, depending on context

So:

• خلّى = base form
• خليت = I left / I put

In Levantine, بـ is very flexible. It can often mean:

• in
• at
• with
• by

In this sentence, بالشنطة means in the bag.

So:

• بالشنطة = in the bag

This is very normal in Levantine.
You may also hear في الشنطة, which is also understandable and can sound a bit more explicitly like inside the bag.

Because الـ means the.

So:

• المفتاح = the key
• الشنطة = the bag

This usually means the speaker is talking about a specific key and a specific bag that are already known from the situation or conversation.

If you removed الـ, the meaning would become less specific:

• مفتاح = a key
• شنطة = a bag

Because ش is a sun letter.

In Arabic, when الـ comes before a sun letter, the ل is not pronounced. Instead, the following consonant is doubled in pronunciation.

So:

• written: الشنطة
• pronounced: ish-shanTa or esh-shanTa, depending on dialect

And with بـ attached:

• بالشنطة is pronounced bish-shanTa

The spelling does not change, only the pronunciation.

It can mean either one. The sentence by itself does not force only one interpretation.

Depending on context, it could mean:

• I put the key in the bag
• I left the key in the bag

If you want to be more specific, Levantine often uses other verbs:

• حطّيت المفتاح بالشنطة = I put the key in the bag
• نسيت المفتاح بالشنطة = I forgot the key in the bag / I left the key in the bag by mistake

Yes. حطّيت المفتاح بالشنطة is very common and often more directly means I put the key in the bag.

The difference is roughly:

• حطّيت = clearly put
• خليت = left / kept / put, depending on context

So if you want the most straightforward idea of physically placing something somewhere, حطّيت is often the clearer choice.

It can mean different kinds of bags depending on context, including:

• bag
• purse
• handbag
• sometimes even suitcase in some contexts, though other words can also be used

So in English, the best translation depends on the situation.
If the context is a woman’s handbag, purse may be the most natural translation.
If the context is general, bag is safest.

Not exactly. This sentence is clearly colloquial Levantine.

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would more likely say something like:

• تركتُ المفتاحَ في الحقيبةِ = I left the key in the bag
• وضعتُ المفتاحَ في الحقيبةِ = I put the key in the bag

Compared with that:

• Levantine: خليت المفتاح بالشنطة
• MSA: تركتُ المفتاحَ في الحقيبةِ or وضعتُ المفتاحَ في الحقيبةِ

So the Levantine sentence is natural in everyday speech, but it is not the standard written version.