انا عم فكر بالامتحان من الصبح.

In Levantine Arabic, عم marks an action as ongoing. It is often the equivalent of English am/is/are ...-ing.

So عم فكر means something like am thinking or am in the middle of thinking. Because the sentence also includes من الصبح, the most natural English translation is often I’ve been thinking about the exam since this morning.

This is a dialect and style question.

In Levantine, many speakers use عم with a verb form that drops the usual بـ:

• أنا عم فكر

Other speakers say:

• أنا عم بفكر

Both are heard, depending on region and speaker. So عم فكر is not wrong; it is just one common Levantine pattern.

Not always, but it is very natural to include it.

In Arabic, the subject pronoun is often dropped if it is already clear from the verb. But here, since the form فكر after عم does not clearly show I by itself in writing, أنا helps make the subject explicit.

So:

• أنا عم فكر بالامتحان = very clear and natural
• عم فكر بالامتحان = also possible if the context already makes I obvious

Good question. With the verb فكّر, the preposition بـ often gives the meaning think about.

So:

• فكر بالامتحان = thought about the exam / thinking about the exam

This is a verb-preposition combination you should learn together:

• فكّر بـ = to think about

Also, بالامتحان is just:

• بـ + الامتحان

Because Arabic commonly attaches short prepositions directly to the following word.

So:

• بـ = about / in / with (depending on context)
• الامتحان = the exam

Together they are written:

• بالامتحان

This is completely normal in Arabic spelling.

Literally, it means from the morning. In natural English, that usually becomes:

• since this morning
• or sometimes all morning

In this sentence, because the thinking is still continuing, since this morning is usually the best choice.

Both are connected to the same Arabic sentence, but I’ve been thinking about the exam since this morning is usually the best full translation.

Why? Because:

• عم shows an ongoing action
• من الصبح shows that it started earlier and continues until now

So the English present perfect progressive often sounds most natural here.

Yes, but the meaning changes a little.

With عم:

• أنا عم فكر بالامتحان
  This strongly suggests an action happening right now, in progress.

Without عم, you would normally say:

• أنا بفكر بالامتحان

That can mean I think about the exam or sometimes I’m thinking about the exam, but it may sound less clearly ongoing. So in this sentence, عم is very helpful because the speaker is describing a continuing mental state.

Because the speaker is probably talking about a specific exam that is already understood in context.

So:

• امتحان = an exam
• الامتحان = the exam

In everyday speech, the exam can also imply my exam or the exam we both know about, depending on context.

One natural pronunciation is:

ana ʿam fakker bel-emteḥān men eṣ-ṣobḥ

A few notes:

• ع in عم is a sound English does not really have
• ح in امتحان is a stronger, breathier h
• الصبح is often pronounced something like eṣ-ṣobḥ

Exact pronunciation varies a bit across Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan.

In careful spelling, yes, it is أنا.

But in casual typing, texting, and social media, many Arabic speakers leave out some hamzas, especially in dialect writing. So انا is extremely common and still understood immediately.

That is normal in informal Levantine writing.