عند جارتي قطة صغيرة بتنام تحت الشجرة.

In Levantine Arabic, عند often expresses possession, especially with people.

So:

• عند جارتي قطة literally means At my neighbor, there is a cat
• But the natural English meaning is My neighbor has a small cat

Arabic dialects usually do not use a direct everyday verb equivalent to English have in this kind of sentence. Instead, they often use expressions like:

• عندي = I have
• عندك = you have
• عندها = she has

So عند جارتي means my female neighbor has.

جارتي breaks down like this:

• جارة = a female neighbor
• -ي = my

When the my suffix is added, the ـة at the end becomes a pronounced t sound:

• جارة → جارتي

So:

• جارتي = my female neighbor

If you wanted my male neighbor, you would usually say:

• جاري

This is a very common pattern in Arabic with feminine nouns ending in ـة.

In Arabic, the present tense usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are.

So in a sentence like:

• قطة صغيرة = a small cat

there is no need to add is between the words.

Likewise:

• بتنام تحت الشجرة = sleeps / is sleeping under the tree

Arabic simply states the idea without a present-tense to be.

In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• قطة = cat
• صغيرة = small

Together:

• قطة صغيرة = a small cat

This is the normal Arabic word order:

• noun + adjective

Compare with English:

• small cat
• adjective + noun

So this is one of the basic word-order differences learners need to get used to.

Because قطة is feminine.

In Arabic, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender. Since قطة is feminine, the adjective must also be feminine:

• صغير = small (masculine)
• صغيرة = small (feminine)

So:

• ولد صغير = a small boy
• قطة صغيرة = a small cat

This agreement is very important in Arabic.

بتنام comes from the verb نام = to sleep.

In Levantine Arabic, the prefix بـ is commonly used for the present tense. So:

• تنام = you (feminine) sleep / she sleep(s), depending on context in some forms
• بتنام = she sleeps / she is sleeping

Here, because the subject is قطة and that noun is feminine singular, بتنام means:

• she sleeps
• or in natural English, it sleeps / it is sleeping

In everyday Levantine, the بـ present form is extremely common.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In Levantine Arabic, the present form with بـ often covers meanings that English separates into:

• sleeps
• is sleeping

So بتنام تحت الشجرة could mean:

• it sleeps under the tree
• it is sleeping under the tree

Usually, the wider context tells you whether it is a habitual action or something happening right now.

Starting with عند جارتي puts the focus on possession or location first.

So the structure is something like:

• At my neighbor’s place, there is a small cat sleeping under the tree
• Natural English: My neighbor has a small cat that sleeps / is sleeping under the tree

This type of structure is very natural in Arabic. It is not unusual for Arabic sentences to begin with a prepositional phrase like عند جارتي.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• تحت الشجرة = under the tree
• تحت شجرة = under a tree

In your sentence, الشجرة is definite because it has الـ:

• شجرة = a tree
• الشجرة = the tree

So the sentence specifically says the cat sleeps under the tree, not just any tree.

تحت means under / beneath.

It is a very common preposition of place. Examples:

• تحت الطاولة = under the table
• تحت البيت = under the house
• تحت الشجرة = under the tree

So بتنام تحت الشجرة simply tells you where the cat sleeps.

The letter ـة (taa marbuuTa) is often pronounced like a or eh at the end of a word when you pause.

So in Levantine pronunciation, you might hear something like:

• قطة ≈ 'itta / 'etta depending on dialect and pronunciation style
• صغيرة ≈ zghiire / sghiireh

But when a suffix is added, that ـة often becomes a clear t sound:

• جارة → جارتي

So learners should remember:

• final ـة often sounds like -a / -eh
• but before suffixes it often becomes t

Not necessarily. قطة is grammatically feminine as a word.

In Arabic, nouns have grammatical gender, and قطة is feminine, so the sentence uses feminine agreement:

• قطة صغيرة
• بتنام

Even if you are not specifically talking about a biologically female cat, the word itself is feminine, so the grammar follows that.

You can do a rough literal breakdown, but it will not sound natural in English.

A very literal gloss would be:

• عند = at / with
• جارتي = my female neighbor
• قطة = a cat
• صغيرة = small
• بتنام = sleeps / is sleeping
• تحت الشجرة = under the tree

So the literal order is something like:

At my female neighbor, a small cat sleeps under the tree.

That helps you see the Arabic structure, but the natural English translation would be more like:

My neighbor has a small cat that sleeps under the tree or My neighbor has a small cat sleeping under the tree

It is best understood as Levantine / colloquial because of بتنام.

Why?

• In Levantine, present tense verbs often use بـ
• بتنام is a clear colloquial feature

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would normally expect a form without that colloquial بـ prefix in a simple present statement.

So this sentence feels like everyday spoken Arabic, not formal written MSA.