اختي نجحت بالمادة، بس صاحبتي رسبت لان علامتها كانت واطية.

A common Levantine-style pronunciation would be:

ikhti najaḥit bil-mādde, bas ṣāḥbti risbit laʔan ʿalāmitha kānit wāṭye.

A few notes:

• Pronunciation varies by country and city.
• لان is usually pronounced something like laʔan.
• واطية is often pronounced wāṭye in fast speech.

The -ي means my.

So:

• أخت / اخت = sister
• أختي / اختي = my sister

In casual writing, people often drop the hamza and write اختي instead of أختي. That is very common in texting and informal Arabic.

That -ت marks the past tense feminine singular.

Here, the subjects are:

• اختي = my sister
• صاحبتي = my female friend

Both are feminine singular, so the verbs are feminine singular too:

• نجحت = she passed
• رسبت = she failed

This is normal agreement in Arabic.

The بـ here is the preposition in / in the matter of / in.

With school subjects, Levantine Arabic often uses نجح بـ... and رسب بـ... to talk about passing or failing in a subject.

So:

• نجحت بالمادة = she passed in the subject / she passed the course
• رسبت بالمادة = she failed the subject

English usually says pass a subject, but Arabic often uses a preposition here.

المادة means the subject / the course.

Using الـ makes it definite:

• مادة = a subject
• المادة = the subject

In this sentence, it sounds like a specific school subject is meant, something already known from context. That is why المادة is natural here.

بس here means but.

It is very common in Levantine speech and informal writing.

Compare:

• بس = but
• لكن = but/however (more formal or more MSA-like)

So in everyday Levantine, بس is the normal choice.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, because of the school context, صاحبتي is best understood as my female friend or my friend.

Breakdown:

• صاحبة = female friend / companion
• صاحبتي = my female friend

In real life, context is very important, because صاحبتي can also mean my girlfriend.

لان means because.

In formal Arabic, it is normally written لأن. In informal writing, especially in chat or casual texts, people often leave out the hamza and write لان.

So:

• لأن = formal spelling
• لان = very common informal spelling

Both represent the same word here.

علامتها is made of:

• علامة = mark / grade
• -ها = her

So علامتها literally means her grade or her mark.

This is a very common Arabic pattern:

• noun + attached pronoun

Examples:

• كتابها = her book
• اسمها = her name
• علامتها = her grade

Because the sentence is talking about a past situation: her grade was low.

In Arabic:

• In the present, you usually do not use a word for is:
  • علامتها واطية = her grade is low
• In the past, you usually use كان / كانت:
  • علامتها كانت واطية = her grade was low

So كانت is the past form of to be here.

Because علامة is a feminine noun.

The thing that was low is علامتها = her grade, and grade/mark (علامة) is feminine. So the verb agrees with علامة, not with the friend.

That is why you get:

• كانت = it was (feminine) not
• كان = it was (masculine)

Because واطي / واطية is an adjective, and it agrees with the noun it describes.

Since علامة is feminine, the adjective is feminine too:

• واطي = low (masculine)
• واطية = low (feminine)

So:

• علامة واطية = a low grade

This agreement is very important in Arabic.

Yes, in everyday Levantine it is very natural.

So:

• علامتها كانت واطية = her grade was low

You might also hear other words depending on region and style, but واطية is a normal colloquial choice.

Yes. Both are possible.

• اختي نجحت = my sister passed
• نجحت اختي = my sister passed

In Levantine, subject + verb is very common in everyday speech, especially when introducing the topic naturally. Using verb + subject is also possible, but it can sound a little different in rhythm or emphasis.

So the sentence as written is very natural conversational Levantine.

Yes, the verbs already contain she:

• نجحت = she passed
• رسبت = she failed

But Arabic often still states the noun explicitly for clarity, contrast, or emphasis.

Here the sentence contrasts two people:

• my sister passed
• but my friend failed

So mentioning both nouns makes the contrast clear and natural.