المكابح سليمة.

In careful, fully inflected MSA, it is pronounced al-makābiḥu salīmatun.

In normal pausal pronunciation, you will often hear something closer to al-makābiḥ salīmah.

A few notes:

• المكابح = al-makābiḥ
• سليمة = salīmah when you stop at the end
• The final ة is usually pronounced -ah in pause, but -at before case endings or in certain grammatical contexts

Because Arabic often omits the verb to be in the present tense.

So:

• المكابح سليمة literally looks like the brakes sound/intact
• But it means the brakes are sound / the brakes are fine

This is a normal Arabic nominal sentence:

• المكابح = the subject
• سليمة = the predicate

If you wanted the past tense, you would use a verb such as كانت:

• كانت المكابح سليمة = the brakes were fine

It is a complete sentence.

Why? Because the first word is definite and the second is indefinite:

• المكابح = the brakes
• سليمة = sound / intact

That pattern gives you a sentence: The brakes are sound.

Compare:

• المكابح سليمة = The brakes are sound → a sentence
• المكابح السليمة = the sound brakes → a noun phrase

So the lack of ال on سليمة is an important clue.

Because in MSA, non-human plurals usually take feminine singular agreement.

Since المكابح means brakes and is non-human, the adjective is feminine singular:

• المكابح سليمة

This is very common in Arabic:

• الكتب مفيدة = the books are useful
• السيارات سريعة = the cars are fast

Even though the noun is plural in meaning, the adjective is often feminine singular when the noun is non-human.

Because it is the predicate of the sentence, and predicates in this kind of present-tense nominal sentence are usually indefinite.

So:

• المكابح سليمة = The brakes are sound

But:

• المكابح السليمة = the sound brakes

So adding ال changes the structure from a sentence to a noun phrase.

The singular is مِكْبَح.

So:

• مِكْبَح = a brake
• مكابح = brakes

This plural is a broken plural, which means it does not use a regular ending like -ون or -ات. Instead, the internal vowel pattern changes.

It is an adjective, specifically the feminine singular form of سليم.

Forms:

• سليم = masculine singular
• سليمة = feminine singular

Its sense is something like:

• sound
• intact
• undamaged
• in good condition

In this sentence, it means the brakes are in good working condition.

With full case endings, the sentence is:

المكابحُ سليمةٌ

Why?

• المكابحُ is the subject of a nominal sentence, so it is nominative
• سليمةٌ is the predicate, so it is also nominative

In normal unvoweled writing, these endings are not written, so you usually just see:

المكابح سليمة

You sometimes can, but the normal, neutral order here is:

المكابح سليمة

This is the easiest and most standard order for learners.

A reordered version such as سليمةٌ المكابحُ is possible in more marked or literary contexts, but it is not the basic version you should start with.

So for standard usage, keep:

• subject first
• predicate second

It is a standard and formal MSA word, especially in:

• manuals
• news
• technical writing
• official language

In everyday speech, many Arabic dialects commonly use فرامل for brakes.

So:

• المكابح = formal/standard MSA
• فرامل = very common in spoken varieties

It has a broader sense than just safe.

Depending on context, سليمة can mean:

• sound
• intact
• undamaged
• healthy
• in good condition

With brakes, the natural meaning is that they are functioning properly and are not defective. So in this sentence, sound / in good condition is usually the best interpretation.