الكاسة ناشفة، بس الصحن لسه بالمجلى.

Because Levantine Arabic usually drops the present-tense verb to be.

So الكاسة ناشفة literally looks like the-cup dry, but it means the cup is dry.

This is called a nominal sentence. In the present tense, Arabic often does this:

• هو تعبان = he is tired
• الأكل جاهز = the food is ready
• الكاسة ناشفة = the cup is dry

If you wanted past or future, then a verb would appear:

• الكاسة كانت ناشفة = the cup was dry
• الكاسة رح تكون ناشفة = the cup will be dry

Because الكاسة is a feminine noun, and the adjective agrees with it.

• كاسة = feminine
• so the adjective is ناشفة = feminine form of dry

Compare:

• الكاسة ناشفة = the cup is dry
• الصحن ناشف = the plate is dry

A very common pattern is:

• masculine adjective: ناشف
• feminine adjective: ناشفة

Because ناشفة here is a predicate adjective, not a regular attributive adjective.

There is an important difference:

• الكاسة ناشفة = the cup is dry
• الكاسة الناشفة = the dry cup

So:

• after a noun, if the adjective is part of the statement, it stays indefinite
• if the adjective is directly describing the noun inside a noun phrase, it becomes definite too

That is why الكاسة ناشفة is correct here.

Here بس means but.

So:

• الكاسة ناشفة، بس الصحن لسه بالمجلى = The cup is dry, but the plate is still in the sink

In Levantine, بس is very common and can mean different things depending on context, including:

• but
• only / just
• enough / stop

But in this sentence, it clearly means but because it connects two contrasting ideas.

Yes. لسه and لسا are regional/spelling variants of the same common Levantine word.

Here it means still:

• الصحن لسه بالمجلى = the plate is still in the sink

In other contexts, it can also mean yet:

• لسه ما أكلت = I haven’t eaten yet

So the core idea is that something is continuing or has not happened yet.

You may see or hear:

• لسه
• لسا

Both are very normal in Levantine.

بالمجلى is made of:

• بـ = in / at / on (very common preposition in Levantine)
• المجلى = the sink

So بالمجلى means in the sink.

In Levantine, بـ is used a lot where English would say in or at:

• بالبيت = at home / in the house
• بالمدرسة = at school
• بالمجلى = in the sink

You could also hear في المجلى, but بالمجلى sounds very natural in everyday speech.

The ص in الصحن is a sun letter, so the ل of ال is not pronounced.

So it is said roughly like:

• iṣ-ṣaḥen or eṣ-ṣaḥen

Not:

• al-saḥen

Two useful things to notice:

• the l of ال disappears in pronunciation
• ص is an emphatic s, heavier than a plain s

Even if your pronunciation is not perfect yet, understanding this pattern is very helpful because it happens with many words.

In this sentence, المجلى means the sink, especially the kitchen sink or washing-up area.

It does not usually mean dishwasher.

If someone wants to say dishwasher, many Levantine speakers would say:

• جلاية

So:

• بالمجلى = in the sink
• بالجلاية = in the dishwasher

They are very common, but there are alternatives.

For كاسة:

• often means cup or glass
• كوب is also common
• فنجان is used for a small cup, especially coffee

For صحن:

• very common for plate or sometimes dish
• in some situations you may also hear طبق

So the sentence sounds natural, but other everyday words are possible depending on region and context.

It is another nominal sentence, just like الكاسة ناشفة.

Its parts are:

• الصحن = the plate
• لسه = still
• بالمجلى = in the sink

So the structure is basically:

• the plate + still + in the sink

There is no spoken present-tense is, but the meaning is:

• the plate is still in the sink

So both halves of the full sentence work in the same general way:

• الكاسة ناشفة
• الصحن لسه بالمجلى

Yes, this is clearly colloquial Levantine.

Some Levantine features here are:

• كاسة
• بس
• لسه
• بالمجلى

A more Standard Arabic-style version could be:

• الكأس جافّة، لكن الصحن لا يزال في المغسلة

That said, if you are learning Levantine for conversation, the original sentence is exactly the kind of everyday phrasing you want to know.