فجأة السيارة تعطلت.

• فجأة = suddenly
• السيارة = the car
• تعطلت = broke down or stopped working

So the sentence is built as:

• adverb
  • subject
    • verb

Even though the meaning is already known, this helps show how the sentence is put together grammatically.

Because السيارة is grammatically feminine singular in Arabic.

The verb تعطلت is the past tense, 3rd person feminine singular form, so it matches السيارة.

• هو تعطّل = he/it broke down for a masculine noun
• هي تعطّلت = she/it broke down for a feminine noun

Since car in Arabic is feminine, the feminine verb form is used.

Yes. In Arabic, grammatical gender is not the same as real-life biological gender.

سيارة is a grammatically feminine noun, so adjectives and past-tense verbs often agree with it in the feminine form.

This is very normal in Arabic:

• السيارة جديدة = the car is new
• السيارة تعطلت = the car broke down

So the feminine agreement here is purely grammatical.

تعطلت is a past tense verb.

The dictionary form is تَعَطَّل which means to break down, to stop functioning, or to be out of order.

In this sentence:

• تعطلت = it broke down / it stopped working
• specifically feminine singular, because of السيارة

This verb is very useful for machines, cars, devices, elevators, and similar things:

• المكيف تعطّل = the air conditioner broke down
• الطابعة تعطّلت = the printer broke down

It absolutely can be.

Arabic word order is more flexible than English. All of these are possible:

• فجأة السيارة تعطلت
• السيارة تعطلت فجأة
• فجأة تعطلت السيارة

They are very close in meaning, but the emphasis shifts a little:

• فجأة السيارة تعطلت puts suddenly right at the front, so it feels dramatic or attention-grabbing.
• السيارة تعطلت فجأة may sound a bit more neutral in everyday speech.
• فجأة تعطلت السيارة is also very natural and often feels especially smooth in Arabic.

So the given sentence is possible, but it is not the only natural order.

It is understandable in Levantine, but it can sound a little more standard/formal because of تعطلت and the overall phrasing.

In everyday Levantine, many speakers might more naturally say something like:

• فجأة خربت السيارة
• السيارة خربت فجأة
• فجأة السيارة خربت

Here خربت is very common colloquial speech for broke down or got messed up.

So:

• تعطلت = perfectly understandable, somewhat more neutral/standard
• خربت = often more everyday colloquial Levantine

It is usually pronounced something like fajʔa.

The important part is the hamza ء, which is a small glottal stop. So there is a little break in the word:

• فجأة ≈ faj-a, with a catch in the throat between the two parts

Some learners write it informally as faj2a to show the hamza.

In casual speech, pronunciation may vary a bit depending on the speaker and region, but the key point is that it is not one smooth syllable all the way through.

Because Arabic verbs already include subject information inside the verb itself.

تعطلت already means:

• she broke down
• or it broke down for a feminine noun

Since السيارة is present, Arabic does not need a separate word for it.

So unlike English, Arabic often does not say a separate pronoun when the verb already shows the person, number, and gender.

Yes, definitely.

That order is very natural too:

• تعطلت السيارة فجأة = The car broke down suddenly

This begins with the verb, which is a very common Arabic sentence pattern.

So you may see all of these:

• فجأة السيارة تعطلت
• السيارة تعطلت فجأة
• تعطلت السيارة فجأة
• فجأة تعطلت السيارة

They all work, with slightly different rhythm or emphasis.

Because it means the car, not a car.

• سيارة = a car
• السيارة = the car

So the sentence is talking about a specific car already known from context.

If you wanted A car suddenly broke down, Arabic would usually be phrased differently, because indefinite subjects often behave differently in word order. For example, a verb-first structure is often more natural with an indefinite noun.

In normal Arabic writing, a comma is optional here.

You may see:

• فجأة السيارة تعطلت.
• فجأة، السيارة تعطلت.

Both are possible. The comma just reflects a pause in reading. It is not required for the grammar.

In speech, many people would make a slight pause after فجأة, especially if they want to sound dramatic.