تقريبا خلصت الطبخة، بس لسه بدي احط ملح.

Yes, تقريبا literally often means approximately or roughly, but in everyday speech it can also mean almost / nearly, depending on context.

In this sentence, it comes before خلصت الطبخة, so the sense is the dish is nearly finished or it’s almost done, not a numerical approximation.

So:

• تقريبا الساعة خمسة = approximately five o’clock
• تقريبا خلصت = I’m almost done / it’s almost finished

This is a great question, because in Levantine the form خلصت can be ambiguous.

It can mean:

• I finished
• she finished
• it finished / it’s finished, if the noun is feminine

Here, because الطبخة is feminine and comes right after the verb, the most natural reading is that the dish / the cooking is almost finished.

Context helps a lot:

• تقريبا خلصت الطبخة، بس لسه بدي احط ملح strongly suggests the dish is almost done, because the speaker still wants to add salt.
• If the speaker wanted to make I finished clearer, they could say أنا خلصت الطبخة.

طبخة is a feminine noun. You can tell from the ending ـة.

Because the subject is feminine singular, the verb is also in the feminine singular form:

• خلصت الطبخة = the dish finished / the dish is done

So the -ت here matches a feminine singular subject.

One thing that can confuse learners is that this same verb form also matches I in the past tense, which is why context matters.

الطبخة literally comes from the root related to cooking, and in Levantine it can mean:

• the dish
• the food being cooked
• the meal
• sometimes the cooking in a very concrete sense

In this sentence, it most naturally means the dish / the food I’m cooking.

It is a bit more specific and concrete than الطبخ, which often refers more generally to cooking or cooked food as a category.

Here, بس means but.

That is very common in Levantine:

• بدي اجي، بس ما بقدر = I want to come, but I can’t

But بس can also mean only / just, depending on context:

• بس هيك = just like that
• بس واحد = only one

So بس is one of those very common words whose meaning depends on how it is being used in the sentence.

لسه means still or yet, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• لسه بدي احط ملح = I still want / need to add salt

Yes, لسه and لسا are basically the same word. Which one you hear depends on region, speaker, and style.

Very common uses:

• لسه هون = still here
• لسه ما خلصت = I haven’t finished yet
• لسه بدري = it’s still early

So here it adds the idea that one step remains unfinished.

بدي is a very common Levantine word that usually means I want, but in many situations it can also sound like:

• I need
• I intend to
• I’m about to / going to

In this sentence, English could naturally translate it as:

• I still want to add salt
• I still need to add salt

Both are reasonable, depending on tone and context.

A useful pattern:

• بدي = I want
• بدك = you want
• بده = he wants
• بدها = she wants

When بدي is followed by a verb, it often expresses intention:

• بدي احط = I want to put / add

In Levantine, حط is the normal everyday verb for put / place / add.

So:

• احط ملح = add salt / put salt

In Modern Standard Arabic, you are more likely to see أضع for I put, but in spoken Levantine حط is much more natural.

A few extra notes:

• The base verb is حط
• احط is the first-person present/subjunctive-style form in colloquial speech
• In pronunciation, the last consonant is usually doubled, even if everyday writing often does not mark that clearly

So this is a very typical spoken-dialect choice.

Because ملح here is being used as a mass noun, like salt in English.

In Arabic, mass nouns are often left indefinite when you mean some salt or salt in general:

• احط ملح = add salt / add some salt

Using الملح would usually sound more specific, like:

• the salt
• a particular salt already known in the conversation

So the bare noun is the natural choice here.

Because the subject is already built into بدي.

بدي already means I want, so saying أنا is optional:

• بدي احط ملح = I want to add salt
• أنا بدي احط ملح = I want to add salt, with extra emphasis on I

Arabic often leaves subject pronouns out when the verb or expression already makes the subject clear.

Yes, that is possible.

Both are understandable:

• تقريبا خلصت الطبخة
• الطبخة تقريبا خلصت

The difference is mostly emphasis and style:

• تقريبا خلصت الطبخة sounds very natural in casual speech and starts with the idea almost
• الطبخة تقريبا خلصت puts more focus on the dish

Levantine Arabic allows fairly flexible word order, especially in everyday speech, as long as the context remains clear.

Yes. In Levantine, verbs like خلص are often used where English might prefer an adjective or passive-style expression.

So خلصت الطبخة naturally means:

• the dish is done
• the food is finished
• the cooking is done

Even though word-for-word it may look like the dish finished, it is a completely normal everyday way to express that something is ready or nearly ready.