حاولت انتبه، بس نسيت المحفظة عالكنباية قبل ما اطلع.

In Levantine Arabic, speakers usually do not use the formal particle أن after a verb like حاول.

So:

• حاولت انتبه = I tried to pay attention

This is a very normal colloquial pattern:

• حاولت افهم = I tried to understand
• حاولت احكي معه = I tried to talk to him

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would more likely see حاولت أن أنتبه, but in Levantine that sounds formal/bookish.

Because after حاولت the next verb is usually in the bare imperfect form, without بـ.

So:

• انتبه here means pay attention / to pay attention
• بنتبه would usually mean I pay attention / I am paying attention in a normal present-tense statement

Compare:

• بنتبه بالصف = I pay attention in class
• حاولت انتبه = I tried to pay attention

This is a very common Levantine pattern after verbs like:

• حاول = try
• بدي = want
• لازم = must
• ممكن = can / possible

انتبه means to pay attention, to notice, or to be careful/alert, depending on context.

In this sentence, the meaning is closest to:

• pay attention
• be mindful

So حاولت انتبه gives the sense of:

• I tried to stay attentive
• I tried to be careful
• I tried to pay attention

Arabic verbs usually already show the subject, so the pronoun is often omitted.

For example:

• حاولت = I tried
• نسيت = I forgot
• اطلع = I leave / I go out in this context after قبل ما

So saying أنا is not necessary unless you want emphasis.

You could say:

• أنا حاولت انتبه but it is not required.

Here بس means but.

So:

• حاولت انتبه، بس... = I tried to pay attention, but...

A useful thing to know is that بس can also mean only / just in other contexts.

Examples:

• بس بدي اسأل سؤال = I just want to ask one question
• بدي قهوة بس = I only want coffee

So the meaning of بس depends on context. In your sentence, it clearly means but.

المحفظة means the wallet. In some contexts it can also mean purse, depending on the speaker and situation.

Yes, it is grammatically feminine, because it ends in ـة.

Without the article:

• محفظة = wallet / purse

With the article:

• المحفظة = the wallet

You may also hear slight pronunciation differences depending on region, but the word itself is very common.

عالكنباية is a contraction of:

• على = on
• الـ = the

So:

• على الكنباية becomes عالكنباية

This is extremely common in spoken Arabic.

The noun كنباية means sofa / couch. You may also see or hear related forms like:

• كنباية
• كنباي
• كنبة

depending on region and speaker.

So:

• عالكنباية = on the couch / on the sofa

Because that is how Levantine speech naturally flows.

Very often, prepositions combine with the definite article الـ:

• على + الـ → عال
• في + الـ → بالـ? No — careful:
  • بـ + الـ → بال
• لـ + الـ → لل

Common examples:

• عالبيت = on/to the house, depending on context
• بالسيارة = in/by the car
• للمدرسة = to the school

So عالكنباية is just the normal spoken contraction.

قبل ما means before followed by a verb, often something like before I leave, before he comes, and so on.

So:

• قبل ما اطلع = before I leave / before I go out

The ما is a normal part of this Levantine structure. You should learn قبل ما as a chunk.

Examples:

• قبل ما نام = before I sleep
• قبل ما يجي = before he comes
• قبل ما نبلش = before we start

It does not mean negation here. It is just part of the expression.

Yes, طلع / يطلع can have several related meanings, including:

• go up
• come up
• go out
• leave
• turn out / appear in some expressions

In this sentence, اطلع means:

• leave
• go out

So قبل ما اطلع means:

• before I left
• before going out
• before I went out

The exact English wording depends on the translation style, but the idea is clear from context.

Because in Levantine, after certain words and structures, the verb often appears in the bare imperfect rather than the b- present form.

That is why you get:

• قبل ما اطلع not usually
• قبل ما بطلع

The version without بـ is the natural one here.

So both parts of the sentence show an important Levantine pattern:

• حاولت انتبه
• قبل ما اطلع

In both cases, the following verb is not marked with بـ.

It is clearly colloquial Levantine.

Some clues:

• بس for but
• حاولت انتبه instead of a more formal structure with أن
• عالكنباية as a spoken contraction
• the overall conversational style

A more formal MSA-style sentence would look different, for example:

• حاولت أن أنتبه، لكنني نسيت المحفظة على الأريكة قبل أن أخرج.

That is grammatically fine in MSA, but it does not sound like everyday Levantine speech.

A helpful broad pronunciation is:

ḥāwalt intibeh, bas nsīt il-maḥfaẓa ʿal-kanbāye, ʾabl ma ʾoṭlaʿ

A few notes:

• حاولت ≈ ḥāwalt
• انتبه ≈ intibeh
• نسيت ≈ nsīt
• المحفظة ≈ il-maḥfaẓa
• عالكنباية ≈ ʿal-kanbāye
• اطلع ≈ oṭlaʿ

Pronunciation varies by region, but this will get you close.