لما بكون صوت الراديو واطي، اختي بتقدر تدرس.

Here لما means when or whenever.

In this sentence, it introduces a situation or condition:

• لما بكون صوت الراديو واطي = when the radio is low / whenever the radio volume is low

So it is not only a one-time when in the past. In everyday Levantine, لما often introduces repeated or general situations too.

بكون comes from the verb كان / يكون, meaning to be.

So:

• بكون ... واطي = is low
• more literally: is being / happens to be low

In Levantine, adding بكون can make the clause sound more like a general situation:

• لما بكون صوت الراديو واطي = when the radio is low
• You may also hear لما صوت الراديو واطي, which is shorter and also natural in many contexts.

So بكون is helping express the state clearly inside the when clause.

Many learners expect بيكون for he/it is, and that is a very reasonable question.

In Levantine, both بيكون and بكون may be heard, depending on region, speaking speed, and personal style. The ي can be reduced or dropped in everyday speech.

So:

• لما بيكون صوت الراديو واطي
• لما بكون صوت الراديو واطي

can both occur in colloquial Levantine.

If your course or teacher prefers بيكون, that is also fine. The sentence you were given reflects a common spoken-style variant.

Literally, صوت الراديو means the sound of the radio.

But in natural English, in this context, it usually means the radio volume or how loud the radio is.

This is very normal in Arabic. صوت can refer to:

• sound
• voice
• volume level

So صوت الراديو واطي is basically the radio is quiet / the radio volume is low.

This is an idafa construction, often called a possessive construction.

• صوت الراديو = the radio’s sound / the sound of the radio

In Arabic idafa:

• the first noun usually does not take ال
• the whole phrase becomes definite because the second noun is definite

So:

• صوت الراديو = the sound of the radio
• not الصوت الراديو

This is a very common pattern in Arabic:

• باب البيت = the door of the house
• كتاب الطالب = the student’s book

واطي means low in colloquial Levantine.

In this sentence, it means low in volume, not physically low.

So:

• صوت الراديو واطي = the radio volume is low

It is واطي here because صوت is grammatically masculine.

Compare:

• صوت واطي = masculine
• نغمة واطية = feminine

You will hear واطي a lot in spoken Levantine for things like volume, level, or even figurative uses. A more formal word might be منخفض, but واطي is much more conversational.

In Levantine, بـ often marks the ordinary present tense.

So:

• بتقدر = she can / she is able to

Here it matches اختي because اختي is feminine singular:

• أنا بقدر = I can
• إنتَ بتقدر = you can
• هي بتقدر = she can

So اختي بتقدر means my sister can.

Because after بتقدر, the next verb acts like to study in English.

Arabic does not use a separate word like English to here. Instead, it uses another verb form directly:

• بتقدر تدرس = she can study

So:

• بتقدر = can
• تدرس = study

This is very common with verbs like:

• بدي أروح = I want to go
• بقدر ساعدك = I can help you
• بحب اقرأ = I like to read

The second verb often appears without بـ in this kind of structure.

Formally, تدرس is an imperfect verb form, not a separate infinitive.

But in this sentence, it functions like an English infinitive:

• بتقدر تدرس = can study

This is important for English speakers, because Arabic does not have one single infinitive form like English to study. Instead, Arabic often uses a normal verb form where English would use an infinitive.

اختي means my sister.

It is made of:

• أخت / اخت = sister
• ـي = my

So:

• اختي = my sister

In informal Levantine writing, the hamza is often not written, so you will commonly see اختي instead of أختي. That is very normal in dialect writing.

Because Arabic verbs already show the subject.

بتقدر already tells you the subject is you or she depending on context, and here اختي makes it clear that it means she.

So Arabic does not need a separate pronoun like English does.

• اختي بتقدر تدرس = my sister can study
• literally, something like my sister can-study

You could add هي for emphasis in some contexts, but it is not needed here.

Yes. The given sentence uses a very natural spoken order:

• اختي بتقدر تدرس

This is basically subject + verb + verb.

Arabic can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but this version is straightforward and common in conversation. For a learner, the given order is the best one to focus on first.

A rough Levantine-style pronunciation could be:

lamma bkuun sot ir-rādyo wāṭi, ikhti btiʔdar tdrus

A few notes:

• لما → lamma
• بكون → bkuun
• صوت → often sounds like sot or ṣot
• الراديو → ir-rādyo or er-rādyo
• واطي → wāṭi
• اختي → ikhti or ekhti
• بتقدر → often bteʔdar or btiʔdar
• تدرس → tdrus

Pronunciation varies across Levantine regions, so small differences are normal.