امي حكتلي انو ابي لسه بالشغل.

حكتلي is made of:

• حكت = she said / she told
• لي = to me

So together it means she told me or she said to me.

In fast speech, حكت لي becomes حكتلي as one chunk.

In Levantine, حكى / تحكي / حكت is very commonly used for to say / tell in everyday speech.

So:

• حكتلي = she told me
• قالتلي = also she told me

Both can work, but حكى is especially common in Levantine colloquial Arabic. A learner will hear both.

A rough idea:

• حكتلي can feel very natural and conversational in Levantine
• قالتلي is also common and may feel a bit closer to Standard Arabic

انو means that.

It introduces the content of what was said:

• امي حكتلي انو... = My mother told me that...

This is a very common colloquial connector in Levantine. You may also see it written as:

• إنو
• إنه
• انو

In informal writing, spelling varies a lot, but the function is the same.

Because the ending ـي means my.

So:

• أم = mother
• أمي = my mother

and

• أب = father
• أبي = my father

This is a normal possessive ending in Arabic. You do not need a separate word for my.

It is understandable, but in everyday spoken Levantine, people often say other forms too, such as:

• أبوي
• بابا

So أبي is correct and clear, but depending on the speaker and region, it may sound a bit more formal or less conversational than some other choices.

Similarly, for my mother, people may say:

• أمي
• ماما

Because in Arabic, present-tense sentences often do not use a separate word for is / am / are.

So:

• أبي لسه بالشغل literally looks like my father still at work
• but it means my father is still at work

This is completely normal in Arabic.

Here, لسه means still.

So:

• أبي لسه بالشغل = My father is still at work

A very useful extra note: with negatives, لسه often corresponds to yet in English.

For example:

• لسه ما إجا = He hasn’t come yet

So لسه is a very common everyday word.

بالشغل literally means at the work / in the work, but naturally in English it means:

• at work
• sometimes at his job

It is made of:

• بـ = in / at
• الشغل = the work / work / job

In context, بالشغل usually means at work rather than doing work in a general sense.

Because الشغل begins with ش, and ش is one of the sun letters. In pronunciation, the ل of الـ is absorbed into the next consonant.

So although it is written الشغل, it is pronounced roughly like:

• ish-shughl
• or with بـ: bish-shughl

That is why learners often hear a doubled sh sound.

Sometimes yes, especially in casual speech, but keeping it is very common and often clearer.

So both of these may be heard:

• أمي حكتلي انو أبي لسه بالشغل
• أمي حكتلي أبي لسه بالشغل

The version with انو is especially helpful for learners because it clearly marks the start of the reported statement.

It is very natural.

The sentence structure is basically:

• أمي = my mother
• حكتلي = told me
• انو = that
• أبي لسه بالشغل = my father is still at work

This is a very typical spoken Arabic pattern: [subject] + [said/told] + [that] + [statement]

You could also hear close alternatives, such as:

• أمي قالتلي انو أبي لسه بالشغل

But the original word order is normal and natural.

A Standard Arabic version could be:

• قالت لي أمي إن أبي ما زال في العمل

or

• أخبرتني أمي أن أبي ما يزال في العمل

Compared with the Levantine sentence:

• امي حكتلي انو ابي لسه بالشغل

the colloquial version is:

• shorter
• more conversational
• much more like everyday speech

A common Levantine-style pronunciation might be roughly:

• immi hkatli enno abi lissa bish-shughul

But pronunciation varies by country, city, and speaker. You may also hear slightly different vowels, such as:

• enno / inno
• lissa / lissa
• shughul / sheghl

The most important thing is to recognize the chunks:

• أمي
• حكتلي
• انو
• أبي
• لسه
• بالشغل

If you can hear those pieces, you will understand the sentence even if the accent changes.