لولا الممرضة، ما كنت عرفت كيف اغير الضماد واحط كريم عالجرح.

لولا means if it weren’t for or were it not for.

So لولا الممرضة means if it weren’t for the nurse.

In Arabic, لولا is often used with a noun, not a full verb clause:

• لولا أمي... = if it weren’t for my mother...
• لولا المطر... = if it weren’t for the rain...

It sets up a counterfactual idea: something would not have happened without that person or thing.

Because ما كنت عرفت gives the meaning I wouldn’t have known, not just I didn’t know.

• ما عرفت = I didn’t know / I didn’t find out
• ما كنت عرفت = I wouldn’t have known

This is a very common Levantine way to express a past unreal result, especially after something like لولا.

So the structure is roughly:

لولا + noun, ما كنت + past verb

Example:

• لولاك، ما كنت وصلت = If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have arrived.
• لولا الممرضة، ما كنت عرفت... = If it weren’t for the nurse, I wouldn’t have known...

It can mean either, depending on context.

The verb عرف often covers:

• know
• find out
• learn / come to know

In this sentence, ما كنت عرفت كيف... is best understood as I wouldn’t have known how...

So it is not just abstract knowledge. It can imply that the speaker learned the method or figured it out.

Because Arabic does not usually use an infinitive the way English does.

English says:

• how to change
• how to put

Arabic normally says:

• كيف أغيّر
• كيف أحطّ

Literally, that is closer to how I change / how I put, but the natural English translation is how to change / how to put.

So:

• كيف اغير الضماد = how to change the bandage/dressing
• واحط كريم = and put cream

This is completely normal Arabic structure.

It is built into the verb.

In Arabic, the verb itself shows the subject. Here the speaker is I, which normally appears with أ- at the beginning:

• أغيّر = I change
• أحطّ = I put

In informal Levantine writing, the hamza is often not written, so you may see:

• اغير instead of أغيّر
• احط instead of أحطّ

So there is no need to add أنا unless you want emphasis.

Because حطّ is the everyday colloquial Levantine verb for put/place/apply.

It is very common in speech:

• حط الموبايل هون = put the phone here
• حط كريم = put/apply cream

A more formal or MSA-style verb would be أضع, but in natural Levantine conversation حطّ is much more common.

So احط كريم sounds very normal and idiomatic.

عالجرح is a contraction of على الجرح.

So:

• على = on
• الجرح = the wound
• على الجرح becomes عالجرح in everyday Levantine pronunciation and writing

This kind of contraction is extremely common:

• عالبيت = على البيت
• عالطاولة = على الطاولة
• عالجرح = on the wound

So this is a very useful spoken pattern to recognize.

Because كريم here is being used as a general, non-specific substance: cream or some cream.

Arabic often leaves mass nouns indefinite in this kind of context:

• اشرب مي = drink water
• حط ملح = add salt
• احط كريم = put cream

If the speaker said الكريم, it would sound more like a specific cream already known from context:

• احط الكريم اللي وصفه الدكتور = put the cream that the doctor prescribed

So in this sentence, كريم without ال is natural.

الضماد can mean bandage or dressing, depending on context.

In a medical context, غيّر الضماد often means:

• change the dressing
• change the bandage

If you translate it as bandage, that is fine for learners, but dressing may be slightly more precise in some situations.

It simply means and.

So:

• كيف اغير الضماد = how to change the bandage
• واحط كريم عالجرح = and put cream on the wound

This is just linking the two actions together:

1. change the dressing
2. put cream on the wound

Yes, it sounds clearly Levantine because of things like:

• ما كنت عرفت
• احط
• عالجرح
• informal spelling like اغير instead of أغيّر

A more formal/MSA-style version could be:

لولا الممرضة، لما عرفتُ كيف أُغيّر الضماد وأضع كريمًا على الجرح.

But the original sentence sounds more natural for everyday Levantine speech.