لما قربت من الجسر، شفت الاشارة الكبيرة.

A rough Levantine-style pronunciation is:

lama ʔrebet mn il-jiser, sheft l-ishāra l-kbīre

A few notes:

• ق in قربت may sound like ʔ for many urban speakers, but some speakers keep q.
• الـ often sounds like il- or el- depending on region.
• In connected speech, شفت الإشارة is often heard as sheft l-ishāra, because the article links smoothly to the previous word.

So the exact sound depends on whether the speaker is Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Jordanian, rural, urban, etc.

Here لما means when.

It introduces the time/background part of the sentence:

• لما قربت من الجسر = when I got close to the bridge

Then the main event follows:

• شفت الاشارة الكبيرة = I saw the big sign

In this sentence, لما is used with past events, very much like English when or sometimes as/once depending on context.

That is a very common learner question.

In Levantine, قرب من is a normal expression meaning to get close to or to approach.

So:

• قربت من الجسر = literally something like I got near to the bridge
• natural English = I approached the bridge / I got close to the bridge

So even though English often uses a direct object, Arabic commonly uses the preposition من here.

Because Arabic verbs already include the subject.

In this sentence, the verbs themselves tell you the subject:

• قربت
• شفت

Arabic does not need أنا unless the speaker wants emphasis or contrast.

So:

• قربت من الجسر already means I got close to the bridge
• شفت already means I saw

If you add أنا, it sounds more emphatic:

• أنا شفت الاشارة الكبيرة = I saw the big sign / I’m the one who saw it

The ending -ت is part of the past-tense conjugation.

In this sentence, it matches the meaning I:

• قربت = I got close / approached
• شفت = I saw

But this is important: in colloquial Arabic, that form can sometimes be ambiguous without context.

For example, شفت can mean:

• I saw
• you saw (masculine singular)

So the full sentence could also be understood as When you got close to the bridge, you saw the big sign if the context supported that. The intended meaning comes from context.

Because شفت is the normal everyday Levantine verb.

In spoken Levantine:

• شاف / يشوف = to see
• شفت = I saw

By contrast, رأيت is Standard Arabic / formal Arabic, not the usual everyday colloquial choice.

So:

• شفت sounds natural in conversation
• رأيت sounds formal, literary, or standard-language-like

إشارة is a broad word. Depending on context, it can mean:

• sign
• signal
• indication
• gesture

In this sentence, because we have the big sign near a bridge, the natural meaning is sign.

So الاشارة الكبيرة is best understood as the big sign.

Because adjectives in Arabic normally come after the noun, and they must agree with the noun.

Here:

• إشارة is feminine singular
• it is definite because it has الـ
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular and definite

That gives:

• الاشارة الكبيرة = the big sign

Compare:

• إشارة كبيرة = a big sign
• الإشارة الكبيرة = the big sign

So Arabic says literally the sign the-big, not the big sign.

Yes — in careful spelling, الإشارة is the standard form.

What you see here, الاشارة, is a very common informal spelling where the hamza is not written.

So:

• careful/standard spelling: الإشارة
• casual everyday spelling: الاشارة

They refer to the same word.

Yes.

The given sentence:

• لما قربت من الجسر، شفت الاشارة الكبيرة

is very natural and means:

• When I got close to the bridge, I saw the big sign

You can also say:

• شفت الاشارة الكبيرة لما قربت من الجسر

That is also understandable and natural, but the focus feels a little different:

• starting with لما قربت... sets the scene first
• starting with شفت... puts the main event first

Both are possible.

Not really.

The comma in:

• لما قربت من الجسر، شفت الاشارة الكبيرة

is helpful for reading, but Arabic punctuation in everyday writing is often flexible.

So you may see:

• لما قربت من الجسر شفت الاشارة الكبيرة

with no comma at all, especially in casual writing or texting.

The meaning stays the same.