لما شاف الاشارة الحمرا، وقف.

لما here means when.

In this sentence, it introduces a completed event in the past:

• لما شاف الاشارة الحمرا، وقف.
• When he saw the red light, he stopped.

In Levantine, لما is very commonly used for when in past-time storytelling. It often sets up one action, followed by the main result or next action.

Because Arabic verbs often already include the subject.

شاف means he saw all by itself. You do not need to add a separate word for he unless you want emphasis.

So:

• شاف = he saw

The subject is built into the verb form.

That is very normal in Arabic, including Levantine.

شاف is usually pronounced shaaf.

It is the past tense form meaning he saw.

A few useful related forms:

• شاف = he saw
• شافت = she saw
• شفت = I saw / you saw
• شافوا = they saw

This is a very common colloquial verb in Levantine.

Because الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• إشارة / اشارة = a signal, a sign
• الإشارة / الاشارة = the signal, the sign

In casual Levantine writing, people often write الاشارة without the hamza spelling found in more formal Arabic. So you may see:

• الإشارة in more formal spelling
• الاشارة in casual everyday spelling

Both refer to the same word here.

Literally, إشارة / اشارة can mean sign, signal, or indication.

But in everyday context, especially with red, it often means traffic light.

So:

• الاشارة الحمرا = the red light / the red traffic light

Native speakers often use إشارة this way in traffic situations.

Because in Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So the order is:

• noun first
• adjective second

Here:

• الاشارة = the signal / traffic light
• الحمرا = the red

Together:

• الاشارة الحمرا = the red light

This is the normal Arabic word order for noun + adjective.

Because the noun اشارة is feminine, so the adjective must also be feminine.

In Arabic:

• masculine red = أحمر
• feminine red = حمرا in Levantine

So since اشارة is feminine, you say:

• الاشارة الحمرا

not:

• الاشارة الأحمر

This is adjective agreement: the adjective matches the noun in gender.

Because in Arabic, if the noun is definite, the adjective usually must also be definite.

So:

• اشارة حمرا = a red light
• الاشارة الحمرا = the red light

Both the noun and the adjective take الـ when the whole phrase is definite.

This is a very important Arabic pattern.

Yes, basically.

In Levantine colloquial, the feminine form is often written and said as:

• حمرا

while in Modern Standard Arabic you would usually see:

• حمراء

So:

• الحمرا = colloquial Levantine
• الحمراء = formal / MSA spelling

They correspond to the same adjective, but the colloquial form is simpler.

Here وقف means he stopped.

In Levantine pronunciation, it may be said differently depending on region, often something like:

• wi'ef
• we'ef
• sometimes closer to wa'af

The important point for a learner is that in this sentence it is the past tense meaning he stopped.

Also, Arabic script does not usually show short vowels, so the exact pronunciation has to be learned separately.

Arabic often does not need an extra word like then if the sequence is already clear from context.

So:

• لما شاف الاشارة الحمرا، وقف.

naturally means:

• When he saw the red light, he stopped.

The order of events is obvious, so no extra connector is necessary.

English sometimes uses then, but Arabic often leaves it unstated.

Yes, but the meaning or emphasis would shift a bit.

The given sentence starts with the when-clause:

• لما شاف الاشارة الحمرا، وقف.

This focuses first on the situation, then the result.

You could also hear other structures in speech, but this version is very natural for telling a sequence of events.

So the current word order feels like:

1. he saw the red light
2. as a result, he stopped

A little, yes.

The Arabic definite article الـ changes in pronunciation depending on the first letter of the next word.

• In الحمرا, the first consonant is ح, which is a moon letter, so the l sound is pronounced:
  il-hamra / el-hamra

• In الاشارة, the spelling is a bit different because the word begins with a hamza/alif sound, and in natural speech it is often pronounced something like:
  il-ishaara / el-ishaara

So in both words, learners will often hear il- or el- in Levantine pronunciation.

It is clearly colloquial Levantine-style because of forms like:

• الحمرا instead of formal الحمراء
• casual spelling like الاشارة
• the general spoken narrative style

But most Arabic speakers would probably understand it, especially from context.

A more formal MSA version would look more like:

• لما رأى الإشارة الحمراء، توقف.

So the sentence you have is natural spoken-style Arabic, not formal textbook Arabic.