لقيت الكاوية بالصندوق يلي تحت السرير، وكويت البنطلون كمان.

Here لقيت means I found. It is a past-tense verb in Levantine Arabic.

A useful breakdown:

• لقي = to find
• لقيت = I found

In this sentence, the speaker is telling a completed action, so the past tense is used.

Because Arabic verbs usually already include the subject.

So لقيت by itself can already mean I found. You do not need أنا unless you want emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity.

For example:

• لقيت الكاوية... = I found the iron...
• أنا لقيت الكاوية... = I found the iron... with extra emphasis on I

Yes. In Levantine, the past-tense form with -ت can be ambiguous in writing:

• I found
• you found (masculine singular)

Usually context tells you which one is meant. In this sentence, the meaning shown to the learner makes it clear that it is I found.

الكاوية means the iron, as in a clothes iron.

A few helpful notes:

• كاوية = an iron
• الكاوية = the iron
• It is a feminine noun, which is very common for nouns ending in ـة

In colloquial Levantine, كاوية is a very natural everyday word. You may also hear مكواة in other varieties or in more formal Arabic.

In Levantine, بـ is very commonly used for location, often with the meaning in or inside.

So:

• بالصندوق = in the box

This is:

• بـ = in
• ال = the
• صندوق = box

So بـ + ال + صندوق becomes بالصندوق.

You may also hear في الصندوق in Arabic, but بـ is extremely common and natural in Levantine speech.

يلي means that, which, or that is in relative clauses.

So:

• الصندوق يلي تحت السرير = the box that is under the bed

This is the everyday Levantine relative word. It corresponds roughly to formal Arabic words like الذي / التي / الذين, but يلي is much simpler because it does not change for gender or number.

Because in Arabic, the verb to be in the present tense is usually omitted.

So Arabic often says the equivalent of:

• the box that under the bed

But in natural English we translate it as:

• the box that is under the bed

That is completely normal in Arabic. The is is understood.

تحت السرير means under the bed.

Breakdown:

• تحت = under
• السرير = the bed

So the phrase يلي تحت السرير describes which box: the one under the bed.

Yes. كويت means I ironed, and it is directly related in meaning to الكاوية.

So:

• الكاوية = the iron (the object)
• كويت = I ironed (the action)

This kind of noun-verb relationship is very common in Arabic vocabulary.

Because Arabic usually treats a pair of pants/trousers as one garment, so the noun is singular.

So:

• البنطلون literally looks singular
• but in English the natural translation is often the pants or the trousers

This is similar to how languages sometimes divide clothing items differently. English uses a plural form, but Arabic often uses a singular noun for the same item.

كمان means also, too, or as well.

So:

• وكويت البنطلون كمان = and I ironed the pants too / as well

In Levantine, كمان is very common and fairly flexible in position, but it often comes near the end of the phrase, as it does here.

Starting with the verb is very natural in Arabic, including Levantine, especially when telling a sequence of actions.

So this pattern:

• لقيت... وكويت... feels like:
• I found... and I ironed...

You can also use a subject-first structure, such as أنا لقيت..., but the verb-first style is very common and natural.

Because ص and س are sun letters. When ال comes before a sun letter, the l sound of ال assimilates into the next consonant.

So in pronunciation:

• الصندوق sounds like aṣ-ṣandūʔ / iṣ-ṣandūʔ depending accent
• السرير sounds like is-sarīr

This happens in many Arabic words and is something learners hear all the time. The spelling still keeps ال, but the pronunciation changes.