لا تتركي الغطا جنب المجلى.

The -ي shows that the speaker is talking to one female.

So تتركي here means you leave / you should leave addressed to a woman or girl. In this sentence, with لا, it becomes a negative command: don’t leave.

This is a very common thing to notice in Arabic: verbs often change depending on whether you are speaking to a man, a woman, or a group.

To one man, you would say:

لا تترك الغطا جنب المجلى.

To more than one person, you would usually say:

لا تتركوا الغطا جنب المجلى.

So the important part that changes is the verb:

• تتركي = to one female
• تترك = to one male
• تتركوا = to a group

Here لا means don’t. It is making the sentence into a negative command or prohibition.

So:

• تتركي = you leave
• لا تتركي = don’t leave

In everyday Levantine, you may also hear ما تتركي for don’t leave. The version with لا is very clear and widely understood, and it can sound a bit closer to more formal Arabic as well.

In Arabic, negative commands are usually built with لا plus a present/imperfect-style verb form, not with the plain positive imperative.

So:

• positive command to a woman: اتركي or dialectally a shortened colloquial form depending on the variety
• negative command: لا تتركي

That pattern is very normal:

• اعملي = do!
• لا تعملي = don’t do!

So even though the sentence is a command, the verb after لا is not the plain positive imperative form.

الغطا means the cover or the lid.

In Levantine speech, الغطا is a very common colloquial word. It corresponds to the more formal/MSA word الغطاء.

So compared with MSA:

• Levantine: الغطا
• MSA: الغطاء

In everyday speech, the final hamza of the formal word is often dropped, giving the shorter colloquial form.

جنب means next to, beside, or by the side of.

In this sentence:

• جنب المجلى = next to the sink

It works very naturally before a noun, without needing an extra word like English to:

• جنب الباب = next to the door
• جنب البيت = next to the house

You may also see or hear related expressions like حد or قرب in some dialect situations, but جنب is extremely common.

المجلى means the sink, usually a kitchen sink or washing basin.

The final ى is alif maqṣūra. In words like this, it usually represents a final -a sound, not an -ee sound. So المجلى is pronounced roughly like il-majla in Levantine.

So the spelling may look unusual to an English-speaking learner, but the ending is normal in Arabic writing.

Because both nouns are definite.

• الغطا = the lid
• المجلى = the sink

Arabic uses الـ to mark definiteness, like English the. In this sentence, both things are specific: a particular lid and a particular sink.

That is completely normal in Arabic:

• حطّ الكاسة عالطاولة = put the cup on the table
• لا تتركي الغطا جنب المجلى = don’t leave the lid next to the sink

Because verb-first order is very common and natural in Arabic, especially in commands.

So this order:

• لا تتركي الغطا جنب المجلى

feels direct and normal: don’t leave the lid next to the sink.

You could change word order for emphasis in some contexts, but the given version is the basic, natural way to say it.

It is Levantine-leaning, especially because of words like الغطا and المجلى, which feel colloquial rather than fully formal.

At the same time, the structure is close enough to more general Arabic that many Arabic speakers outside the Levant would still understand it, especially from context.

A more formal/MSA-like version would be something like: لا تتركي الغطاء بجانب المغسلة
or another regional/formal equivalent depending on the exact meaning intended.

So this sentence is a good example of everyday spoken Arabic that is still quite transparent.

A few things may stand out:

• الغطا has غ, a deep throaty sound that does not exist in English.
• ط in غطا is an emphatic t, heavier than a normal English t.
• جنب is usually said very smoothly, roughly janb.
• المجلى is roughly il-majla in Levantine pronunciation.

The whole sentence will sound something like:

la t...rki l-ghaṭa janb il-majla

The exact vowels can vary a bit by country and speaker, which is very normal in Levantine Arabic.