اللمبة جديدة، بس ما بتشتغل.

Because اللمبة is a feminine noun in Arabic, so the adjective has to match it.

• اللمبة = the bulb / the lamp
• جديد = new (masculine)
• جديدة = new (feminine)

So اللمبة جديدة means the bulb is new.

In Levantine, the ending ـة is often pronounced -e, so جديدة is usually said something like jdeede.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not said in the present tense.

So:

• اللمبة جديدة literally looks like the bulb new
• but it means the bulb is new

This is completely normal in both Levantine and Standard Arabic.

If you wanted past tense, then Arabic would use a verb, for example:

• اللمبة كانت جديدة = the bulb was new

Here بس means but.

So:

• اللمبة جديدة = the bulb is new
• بس = but
• ما بتشتغل = it doesn’t work

Together: The bulb is new, but it doesn’t work.

A useful thing to know is that بس can also mean only / just in other contexts, so the meaning depends on the sentence.

Let’s break it down:

• ما = negation marker, here meaning not / doesn’t
• بتشتغل = it works / it is working

So:

• بتشتغل = it works
• ما بتشتغل = it doesn’t work

In Levantine, اشتغل / يشتغل can mean to work, to function, or to operate. For a machine, appliance, or light bulb, بتشتغل means it works / it turns on / it functions.

In Levantine Arabic, the prefix بـ is very common in the present tense.

So:

• تشتغل = work / work(s)
• بتشتغل = works / is working / does work

In everyday Levantine, the b- prefix often marks a present or habitual meaning. That is why بتشتغل is the normal colloquial form here.

The تـ here shows third person feminine singular.

Since اللمبة is feminine, the verb agrees with it:

• هو masculine: بيشتغل = it/he works
• هي feminine: بتشتغل = it/she works

Because اللمبة is feminine, Arabic uses the feminine verb form:

• اللمبة بتشتغل = the bulb works

This kind of agreement is very common in Arabic.

In Levantine, لمبة usually means light bulb, though in some contexts English speakers may translate it as lamp.

In this sentence, light bulb is probably the most natural interpretation:

• The bulb is new, but it doesn’t work.

The word لمبة is a common everyday word in Levantine and comes from a borrowing related to lamp.

It is usually pronounced something like illambe or el-lambe, depending on the speaker and region.

Why? Because the word has:

• الـ = the
• لمبة = bulb

The first letter of لمبة is ل, and ل is a sun letter, so the l of the article merges with the l of the noun. That gives a doubled l sound.

So instead of pronouncing it like al-lamba with two clearly separate parts, speakers usually say something closer to:

• illambe

Yes, this is a natural Levantine Arabic sentence.

A more Standard Arabic version would be something like:

• المصباح جديد، لكنه لا يعمل.

Some differences:

• اللمبة is colloquial and everyday
• المصباح is more formal / Standard Arabic
• بس is colloquial for but
• ما بتشتغل is colloquial
• لا يعمل is Standard Arabic

So the original sentence sounds like normal spoken Levantine.

It can often cover both ideas, depending on context.

So اللمبة ما بتشتغل can mean:

• the bulb doesn’t work
  or
• the bulb isn’t working

In this sentence, the most natural English translation is usually The bulb is new, but it doesn’t work.

If a speaker wanted to emphasize that something is not working right now, they might use other wording, but this sentence by itself is perfectly natural for the general idea that it fails to function.

No, not in this sentence.

Although بس can mean only / just in some contexts, here it clearly means but because it connects two contrasting ideas:

• The bulb is new
• but
• it doesn’t work

So here the meaning is contrast, not limitation.