لما بكون زهقان، بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون.

Here لما means when or whenever.

In this sentence, it introduces a repeated situation:

• لما بكون زهقان = when I’m bored / whenever I’m bored

So the whole sentence has a habitual meaning, not just a one-time event.

In Levantine, لما is very common in everyday speech. A more formal equivalent would be عندما, but that sounds much more written or formal.

بكون is the Levantine imperfect form of كان (to be), with the بـ prefix that often marks the present or habitual tense.

So:

• بكون = I am / I end up being / I’m in the state of being, depending on context

In this sentence:

• لما بكون زهقان = when I’m bored

A more formal or MSA-style version might use أكون, but in Levantine everyday speech بكون is natural.

In Levantine, بـ usually marks the present habitual or ongoing form.

So:

• بكون = I am / I tend to be
• بحكي = I talk / I speak

In this sentence, the بـ helps show a repeated or usual action:

• When I’m bored, I talk to my friend on the phone

So this is not I talked or I will talk, but something like I usually talk.

Yes. It most naturally expresses a habitual or repeated action.

• لما بكون زهقان، بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون.
• When I’m bored, I talk to my friend on the phone.

Because both verbs are in the بـ-imperfect, the meaning is something like:

• Whenever I’m bored, I talk...
• When I get bored, I usually talk...

If you wanted a one-time past meaning, the Arabic would look different.

زهقان means bored in Levantine Arabic.

It describes a person’s state:

• أنا زهقان = I’m bored if the speaker is male
• أنا زهقانة = I’m bored if the speaker is female

So in your sentence, زهقان suggests the speaker is male. If the speaker were female, it would usually be:

• لما بكون زهقانة، بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون.

Because Arabic verbs already show the subject.

• بكون already means I am
• بحكي already means I talk

So أنا is optional here. Native speakers often leave it out unless they want emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• لما بكون زهقان، بحكي... = neutral
• لما أنا بكون زهقان، بحكي... = more emphatic, and less natural in many everyday contexts

In Levantine, حكى / بحكي is a very common verb and can cover meanings like:

• talk
• speak
• sometimes say / tell, depending on context

Here, because it is followed by مع (with), it clearly means:

• بحكي مع صديقي = I talk with my friend / I talk to my friend

So in this sentence, talk is the best translation.

مع means with, and after بحكي it gives the idea of talking with someone or to someone.

• بحكي مع صديقي = I talk with my friend / I talk to my friend

English often says talk to, while Arabic commonly uses مع. So even though the literal meaning is closer to with, the natural English translation is often just talk to my friend.

صديقي means my friend.

It breaks down like this:

• صديق = friend
• ـي = my

So:

• صديقي = my friend

If the friend were female, it would usually be:

• صديقتي = my female friend

Also note that the ـي ending is a possessive suffix, so Arabic does not need a separate word for my here.

عالتلفون is a very common spoken contraction of:

• على التلفون = on the phone

In fast everyday speech, على الـ often becomes عالـ.

So:

• على التلفون → عالتلفون

This is extremely normal in Levantine and sounds natural in conversation.

Yes, literally it comes from on the telephone/phone, but in natural English it usually means:

• on the phone
• by phone

So:

• بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون = I talk to my friend on the phone

This implies the conversation happens by phone, not face-to-face.

No, but it is a very common one.

You may also hear:

• تلفون
• هاتف — more formal
• موبايل / مِبايل — mobile phone / cell phone

In this sentence, عالتلفون sounds natural and everyday.

If you specifically wanted on the mobile, speakers might say something like:

• عالموبايل

Yes, the word order can change, though the original sentence is very natural.

Original:

• لما بكون زهقان، بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون.

You could also say:

• بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون لما بكون زهقان.

Both are understandable. The version starting with لما puts the condition first:

• When I’m bored, ...

That is often a very natural way to say it.

A female speaker would normally change زهقان to زهقانة:

• لما بكون زهقانة، بحكي مع صديقي عالتلفون.

If the friend is also female, then صديقي would usually become صديقتي:

• لما بكون زهقانة، بحكي مع صديقتي عالتلفون.

So the changes depend on:

• the speaker’s gender: زهقان / زهقانة
• the friend’s gender: صديقي / صديقتي

A rough pronunciation would be:

• lamma bakuun zah’aan, baHki maʿ sadii’i ʿat-telefoon

A few notes:

• لما = lamma
• بكون = bakuun or sometimes closer to bkuun depending on speech speed
• زهقان = zah’aan or zah2aan if you like marking the glottal stop-like break
• بحكي = baHki — the ح is a deeper h sound than English h
• عالتلفون = ʿat-telefoon or ʿal-telefoon, depending on local pronunciation and speed

The ع sound in مع and عالتلفون has no exact English equivalent, so learners often need practice with it.