الحكم معه صفارة.

A common Levantine pronunciation is il-ḥakam maʿo ṣaffāra.

A few notes:

• ال is often pronounced il- or el- in Levantine.
• ح is a strong throaty ḥ, not a regular English h.
• معه is often pronounced maʿo or maʿu in speech.
• صفارة has a doubled f sound: ṣaf-fāra.

Here, الحكم means the referee.

This can be confusing because Arabic spelling usually leaves out short vowels, so الحكم can represent different words depending on pronunciation:

• il-ḥakam = the referee
• il-ḥukm = the rule / judgment / ruling

In this sentence, because of صفارة, the meaning referee is the natural one.

معه literally means with him.

It is made of:

• مع = with
• ـه = him

So معه = with him.

In Levantine writing online, you may also see معو, which reflects the everyday pronunciation more closely.

In Arabic, possession is often expressed without a separate verb like English have.

So instead of saying the referee has a whistle, Arabic often says something more like:

• the referee
• with him
• a whistle

That is a normal way to express possession in Levantine. So الحكم معه صفارة naturally means The referee has a whistle.

Yes, it is a complete sentence.

Arabic often uses sentences without an explicit present-tense verb. In this case:

• الحكم is the topic: the referee
• معه صفارة tells you something about him: he has a whistle

So this is a normal and complete present-tense sentence in Arabic.

Because it means a whistle, not the whistle.

• صفارة = a whistle
• الصفارة = the whistle

So:

• الحكم معه صفارة = The referee has a whistle
• الحكم معه الصفارة = The referee has the whistle

Without ال, the noun is indefinite, which fits the meaning a whistle.

Yes, absolutely. الحكم عنده صفارة is also natural in Levantine.

Both معه and عنده can express possession, but there is a slight nuance:

• معه often suggests the thing is physically with him
• عنده is a very common general way to say someone has something

With an object like a whistle, both sound natural.

Not always. صفارة can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• whistle
• horn
• siren
• a whistling sound

But with الحكم, it clearly means a referee’s whistle.

Yes, صفارة is grammatically feminine.

The ending ة often marks feminine nouns in Arabic. That does not mean the object itself is biologically feminine; it is just part of the noun’s grammatical gender.

This matters for agreement in other sentences, for example with adjectives or pronouns.

You change the pronoun attached to مع.

Some common forms are:

• معي = with me
• معك = with you
• معه = with him
• معها = with her
• معنا = with us
• معهم = with them

For example:

• الحكمة معها صفارة = The female referee has a whistle
• معي صفارة = I have a whistle