زميلي غايب اليوم عن الدوام لانه مريض.

زميلي is made of:

• زميل = colleague / classmate / coworker
• ـي = my

So:

• زميل → colleague
• زميلي → my colleague

This ـي is a attached possessive ending, very common in Arabic. English uses a separate word (my), but Arabic often attaches it directly to the noun.

In Arabic, especially in the present tense, you usually do not say is / am / are.

So:

• زميلي غايب literally looks like my colleague absent
• but it means my colleague is absent

This is called a nominal sentence. In present-time statements, Arabic normally leaves out the verb to be.

If you wanted the past, then Arabic would use a verb, for example something like كان غايب = was absent.

غايب means absent or not present.

It comes from the verb غاب = to be absent / to be away.

In everyday Arabic, غايب is very common and can describe someone who is not there:

• هو غايب = he’s absent / he’s away
• زميلي غايب = my colleague is absent

So here it functions like the main description of the subject.

Yes, the word order can change.

In this sentence:

• زميلي = my colleague
• غايب = absent
• اليوم = today

So the sentence says:

• My colleague is absent today

But Arabic word order is often more flexible than English. You could also hear:

• اليوم زميلي غايب
• زميلي اليوم غايب

These all sound natural, though the emphasis changes a little.

The given version is completely normal.

عن الدوام means something like from work, from duty, or from attendance at work.

Here is the breakdown:

• عن = from / away from / regarding, depending on context
• الدوام = work attendance, office hours, duty, going to work

In this sentence, غايب عن الدوام is an expression meaning:

• absent from work
• off work
• not attending work today

In Levantine, الدوام is commonly used for the idea of going to work / being on duty / being at the workplace.

Not exactly, though they are often close in meaning.

• الشغل = work / job
• الدوام = the work schedule, attendance, being at work, duty hours

So:

• غايب عن الشغل = absent from work
• غايب عن الدوام = absent from duty / not attending work

In many situations, both work. But الدوام has a stronger sense of showing up for work / being on shift / being on duty.

In everyday Levantine, some speakers may prefer الشغل in casual conversation, while الدوام is also very common.

Yes, these are related.

The sentence has لانه, which means because he is / simply because in this context.

You may also see:

• لأنه
• لأنه
• لأنو in more colloquial Levantine-style writing

A few important points:

1. Informal Arabic writing often drops hamza spelling details, especially in texting.

   • So لانه is a casual spelling.

2. In Levantine speech, people often pronounce this more like:

   • laʔanno
   • or something close to la2anno

3. In very colloquial writing, many people use:

   • لأنو = because

So yes, لانه here is basically a casual written form of because.

Just like غايب, مريض is used as a description.

• مريض = sick / ill

So:

• لانه مريض = because he is sick

Again, Arabic does not need a present-tense is here. It literally looks like:

• because he sick

but it naturally means:

• because he is sick

A natural pronunciation would be roughly:

zmīli ghāyeb il-yōm ʿan id-dawām laʔanno marīḍ

A few notes:

• زميلي → zmīli
• غايب → ghāyeb
• اليوم → il-yōm / el-yōm
• الدوام → id-dawām / ed-dawām
• لانه → laʔanno
• مريض → marīḍ

Also notice that ال changes in pronunciation depending on the next letter. In الدوام, the د causes assimilation, so it sounds like ed-dawām, not fully al-dawām.

It is understandable and natural, but it sits a little between standard and colloquial depending on who says it.

Why?

• زميلي is normal in both formal and everyday speech.
• غايب is very common in colloquial speech.
• الدوام is also common in everyday Levantine.
• لانه is casual spelling.

A very everyday Levantine version might also be:

• زميلي غايب اليوم عن الشغل لأنه مريض
• زميلي اليوم مو بالدوام لأنه مريض

So the given sentence is fine, but there are other equally natural colloquial ways to say it.

Yes, sometimes, but the meaning shifts a little.

• غايب = absent
• مش موجود = not there / not present

In this sentence, غايب is better because it matches the idea of absent from work.

Compare:

• زميلي غايب عن الدوام = my colleague is absent from work
• زميلي مش موجود = my colleague isn’t here / isn’t present

So مش موجود is possible in some contexts, but غايب is the more precise choice here.

You would change the adjectives to feminine forms.

Masculine:

• زميلي غايب اليوم عن الدوام لانه مريض
• My male colleague is absent today from work because he is sick

Feminine:

• زميلتي غايبة اليوم عن الدوام لأنها مريضة
• My female colleague is absent today from work because she is sick

Changes:

• زميلي → زميلتي = my female colleague
• غايب → غايبة
• لانه → لأنها
• مريض → مريضة

So Arabic adjectives must match the gender of the person they describe.

You can do a rough word-for-word breakdown, but it will not sound natural English.

Word-for-word:

• زميلي = my colleague
• غايب = absent
• اليوم = today
• عن الدوام = from work / from duty
• لانه = because he is / because
• مريض = sick

So a literal version would be something like:

• My colleague absent today from work because he sick

Natural English adds the missing is:

• My colleague is absent from work today because he is sick.

So word-for-word is useful for learning structure, but not for producing natural English.