اليوم بعد الشغل رحت عالمكتبة واشتريت دفتر وقلمين.

In informal Levantine writing, short prepositions often get attached to the following word. So عالمكتبة is basically:

• عَ / عَـ = a very common colloquial preposition
• المكتبة = the library

So عالمكتبة means to the library here. You may also see it written separately as عَ المكتبة. Both are normal in casual writing.

In Levantine, عَ is very flexible. It can mean things like:

• to
• at
• on

So with motion verbs like رحت (I went), رحت عَالمكتبة naturally means I went to the library.

This is one of those places where colloquial Arabic does not match English word-for-word.

Because the verbs already show the subject.

• رحت = I went
• اشتريت = I bought

So Arabic does not need أنا unless you want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• أنا رحت = I went / I’m the one who went

Without أنا, the sentence still clearly means I.

رحت is the past tense, first person singular, of the verb راح in Levantine, which means to go.

So:

• راح = he went
• رحت = I went
• رحنا = we went

It’s a very common everyday verb in spoken Arabic.

الشغل means work or the job/workplace context, and it is extremely common in Levantine speech.

A native speaker would often say:

• بعد الشغل = after work

العمل is more formal and more associated with Modern Standard Arabic. In everyday Levantine, الشغل sounds more natural.

Because ش is a sun letter. In Arabic, when الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound assimilates.

So الشغل is written with ال, but pronounced more like:

• ish-sheghl / esh-sheghel / ish-shoghol

The exact vowel sounds vary by region, but the important point is that you do not usually say al-shughul in natural speech.

Yes. اشتريت means I bought.

It comes from the verb اشترى / شرا depending on how you analyze the spoken form. In Levantine, you may hear both:

• اشتريت
• شريت

Both can mean I bought, depending on dialect and speaker. اشتريت is a very recognizable and common form.

Arabic does not have an indefinite article like English a/an.

So:

• دفتر = a notebook
• قلمين = two pens

A bare noun can be indefinite by itself. That is completely normal.

قلمين is the dual form meaning two pens.

A few useful points:

• In spoken Levantine, -ين is the usual dual ending you hear most of the time.
• Even in Modern Standard Arabic, a direct object in the dual would also be -ين, not -ان.

Since قلمين is the object of اشتريت (I bought), it makes perfect sense here.

So:

• قلمين = two pens

Yes, in some kinds of spoken Arabic you can hear number + singular/plural combinations like that, and speakers may vary.

But قلمين is a very natural, compact, common way to say two pens in Levantine. For a learner, it’s a very useful form to know.

It is clearly colloquial Levantine.

Signs of that include:

• رحت with the spoken verb راح
• عَ for to
• الشغل instead of the more formal العمل
• overall casual spoken style

A more Modern Standard Arabic version would be something like:

• اليوم بعد العمل ذهبتُ إلى المكتبة واشتريتُ دفترًا وقلمين.

So the meaning is the same, but the style is much more formal.

A rough Levantine-style pronunciation would be something like:

il-yōm baʿd ish-sheghel / ish-shoghol, riḥt ʿal-maktabe w-ishtarēt daftar w-qalamēn

A few notes:

• اليوم is often pronounced roughly il-yōm
• عالمكتبة sounds like ʿal-maktabe
• المكتبة in Levantine is often maktabe, not maktaba
• قلمين may sound like qalamēn or sometimes with a glottal stop instead of q, depending on dialect

Exact pronunciation will vary across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.