العطل غريب.

A common Levantine pronunciation is il-ʿaṭal ġarīb.

Very roughly for an English speaker:

• il- = like ill
• ʿaṭal = starts with the deep throat sound ʿ, then an emphatic ṭ
• ġarīb = gha-REEB, with gh like a French/German-style back r

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like: il-ʿaṭal gha-REEB.

Because in Arabic, the present tense often uses a nominal sentence with no spoken word for is.

So:

• العطل غريب = The malfunction is strange

This is completely normal in Levantine and in Standard Arabic.

If you want other tenses, then you usually add a verb:

• العطل كان غريب = The malfunction was strange
• العطل رح يكون غريب = The malfunction will be strange

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• عطل = a malfunction / malfunction
• العطل = the malfunction / the fault

In Levantine, ال is usually pronounced il- or el-.

Because ع is a moon letter, not a sun letter.

That means the l of ال stays pronounced:

• العطل = il-ʿaṭal

Compare that with a sun-letter word, where the l disappears into the next consonant:

• الشمس = ish-shams

But here, with ع, you keep the l.

Because غريب is the predicate adjective, not part of a noun phrase.

• العطل غريب = The malfunction is strange
• العطل الغريب = the strange malfunction

That is a very important difference.

So:

• definite noun + indefinite adjective often gives a full sentence
• definite noun + definite adjective gives a noun phrase

Because العطل is a masculine singular noun, so the adjective agrees with it:

• العطل غريب = masculine singular
• if the noun were feminine, you would use غريبة

For example:

• المشكلة غريبة = The problem is strange

So the adjective has to match the noun in gender and number.

Here, العطل means something like:

• the malfunction
• the fault
• the breakdown
• the technical problem

It is often used for machines, devices, cars, systems, and similar things.

A useful contrast:

• عطل = malfunction / fault
• عطلة = holiday / vacation

So don’t confuse العطل with العطلة.

Yes. غريب can have a few related meanings depending on context, such as:

• strange
• odd
• unfamiliar
• sometimes foreign or a stranger as a noun

But in العطل غريب, it is clearly an adjective meaning strange or odd.

The written sentence العطل غريب works in both Levantine and Modern Standard Arabic.

The main differences are in pronunciation and grammar details:

• In Levantine: il-ʿaṭal ġarīb
• In full Standard Arabic pronunciation: al-ʿaṭalu ġarībun

In everyday writing, people usually do not write the short vowels or case endings, so the spelling looks the same.

In Levantine, a very common way is:

• العطل مش غريب = The malfunction isn’t strange

In some areas, especially further south or in other dialect mixes, you may also hear:

• العطل مو غريب

Both patterns are common in spoken Arabic, but مش is very widely used in Levantine.

The normal, neutral order is:

• العطل غريب

This starts with the topic, the malfunction, and then gives information about it, strange.

You may sometimes see or hear unusual word order for emphasis, but for a learner, the safest and most natural version is definitely:

• العطل غريب

Usually these three:

• ع in العطل: a deep throat sound with no exact English equivalent
• ط in عطل: an emphatic t, heavier and darker than normal t
• غ in غريب: a voiced back-of-the-throat sound, often similar to the French r

If you cannot pronounce them perfectly at first, that is normal. A good beginner goal is:

• make ع sound distinct from a plain vowel
• make ط sound firmer than regular t
• make غ different from g and k

Even approximate pronunciation will usually still be understood.