أنتظر عدة ساعات.

In fully vocalized MSA, it is:

أَنْتَظِرُ عِدَّةَ سَاعَاتٍ

A practical transliteration is:

antaẓiru ʿiddata sāʿātin

A few pronunciation notes:

• ظ is an emphatic z sound.
• ع is the deep throat sound ʿ.
• عِدَّة has a shadda, so the d sound is doubled: ʿid-da.
• In careful formal reading, the final short vowels are pronounced. In pause, they are often dropped.

Because أنتظر already tells you the subject is I.

In the present tense, Arabic verbs include subject information. The prefix أَ- on أنتظر marks first person singular.

So:

• أنتظر = I wait / I am waiting
• أنا أنتظر = also possible, but now أنا is added for emphasis, contrast, or clarity

Arabic often leaves subject pronouns out unless they are needed.

أنتظر is the imperfect verb form, which often corresponds to the English present.

Depending on context, it can mean things like:

• I wait
• I am waiting
• sometimes even a near future meaning, depending on context

By itself, this form does not tell you whether the action is habitual or happening right now. Context does that.

If you want an explicitly future meaning, Arabic often adds:

• سـ as in سأنتظر
• or سوف as in سوف أنتظر

أنتظر is the first-person present form of the dictionary verb انتظر.

Its root is:

ن ظ ر

This root is connected with ideas of looking or observing. The verb انتظر developed the meaning to wait, to await, or to expect.

So the dictionary entry you would usually look up is:

انتظرَ

and the present forms include:

• أنتظر = I wait
• تنتظر = you wait / she waits
• ينتظر = he waits
• ننتظر = we wait

Because Arabic often expresses a length of time without a preposition.

In this sentence, عدة ساعات functions as a duration expression: it tells you how long the waiting lasts.

So Arabic commonly says the equivalent of:

• I wait several hours

rather than inserting a word like English for.

This is very normal in Arabic with time expressions.

عدة here means several or a number of.

It is not just a simple adjective in the same way English several is. Grammatically, it behaves like a quantifying noun.

That is why it is followed by another noun:

• عدة ساعات = several hours
• عدة أيام = several days
• عدة كتب = several books

So a helpful way to think of it is:

• عدة = a number of / several

Not in the usual adjective sense.

Although عدة ends in ـة, here it is best understood as a fixed quantifier rather than a normal adjective that changes to match gender the way many adjectives do.

You can use it with different nouns:

• عدة ساعات = several hours
• عدة كتب = several books
• عدة رجال = several men

So you do not normally change عدة to match the gender of the noun the way you would with a regular adjective.

Because after عدة, Arabic normally uses a plural noun.

So:

• عدة ساعات = several hours
• عدة أيام = several days
• عدة سنوات = several years

Using the singular ساعة after عدة would not be the normal pattern.

Also, ساعات is the plural of ساعة.

Yes. عدة ساعات is an iḍāfa construction.

Fully vocalized, the sentence is:

أَنْتَظِرُ عِدَّةَ سَاعَاتٍ

Here is what is happening:

• أنتظرُ: present indicative, so it ends in ـُ
• عدةَ: accusative here, because the phrase functions as a time-span expression after the verb
• ساعاتٍ: genitive because it is the second term of the iḍāfa

In the iḍāfa:

• عدة = the first term (mudāf)
• ساعات = the second term (mudāf ilayh)

Because عدة is mudāf, it does not take tanwīn here.

Yes, but it is usually less neutral.

Arabic normally prefers just:

أنتظر عدة ساعات

Adding أنا often gives emphasis, such as:

• أنا أنتظر، لا هو = I’m the one waiting, not him

So the pronoun is possible, but in an ordinary sentence it is often unnecessary.

A very common way is:

أنتظر منذ عدة ساعات

Here منذ adds the sense of since / for (up to now).

That is different from plain:

أنتظر عدة ساعات

which is more about the duration of the waiting in general, not necessarily something that started in the past and is still continuing now.

So if you want the strong English idea of have been waiting for several hours, منذ is usually what learners should notice.