البلدة صغيرة.

A common careful pronunciation is:

al-baldatu ṣaghīratun

In normal pause, many speakers would say it more like:

al-balda ṣaghīra

A few helpful notes:

• الـ in البلدة is pronounced al- here, because ب is a moon letter, so the l sound stays.
• ص in صغيرة is a strong/emphatic s sound, often written ṣ in transliteration.
• غ is a deep throaty sound that does not exist in English.
• ة at the end of البلدة is taa marbuuTa. In pause, it often sounds like -a / -ah. In full grammatical pronunciation, it becomes -tu here: al-baldatu.

Because in Arabic, the verb to be is usually not written or said in the present tense.

So:

• البلدة صغيرة literally looks like the town small
• but it means The town is small

This is completely normal in Arabic.
If you want past or future, Arabic does use words equivalent to was or will be.

For example:

• كانت البلدة صغيرة = The town was small

Because Arabic adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• البلدة الصغيرة = the small town
• literally: the town the-small

But in your sentence, صغيرة is not just describing the noun inside one noun phrase. It is the predicate of the sentence:

• البلدة صغيرة = The town is small

So Arabic still puts صغيرة after the noun.

Because البلدة is a feminine singular noun, and adjectives must agree with the nouns they go with.

So the adjective must also be:

• feminine
• singular

That is why you get:

• البلدة صغيرة

not:

• البلدة صغير

The feminine ending here is the ـة on صغيرة.

This is a very important point.

In البلدة صغيرة, صغيرة is a predicate adjective, not an attributive adjective. Predicate adjectives are normally indefinite in Arabic.

So:

• البلدة صغيرة = The town is small

But if you say:

• البلدة الصغيرة

that means:

• the small town

Here, الصغيرة is an ordinary adjective directly modifying the noun, so it must match البلدة in definiteness and take الـ too.

So the difference is:

• البلدة صغيرة = a full sentence, The town is small
• البلدة الصغيرة = a noun phrase, the small town

In fully vowelled formal Arabic, the sentence is:

البلدةُ صغيرةٌ

That is:

• البلدةُ = al-baldatu
• صغيرةٌ = ṣaghīratun

Why?

• البلدةُ is the subject of a nominal sentence, so it is in the nominative
• صغيرةٌ is the predicate, and it is also in the nominative

In everyday writing, these short vowels are usually omitted, so you normally just see:

البلدة صغيرة

The ة is called taa marbuuTa. It often marks a word as feminine.

Here it appears in both:

• البلدة = a feminine noun
• صغيرة = a feminine adjective

In pause, it is usually pronounced like -a or -ah:

• balda
• ṣaghīra

But when full endings are pronounced, it can sound like t before the case ending:

• baldatu
• ṣaghīratun

So learners often notice that ة sometimes sounds like a, and sometimes like t. That is normal.

Not for the normal meaning The town is small.

The basic and natural order is:

• البلدة صغيرة

You may sometimes see other word orders in poetry, rhetoric, or special emphasis, but for ordinary Modern Standard Arabic, this is the standard way to say it.

If you are a beginner, it is best to learn:

• subject + predicate
• البلدة صغيرة

You usually would not say that in simple standard Arabic for this meaning.

The sentence works perfectly as:

• البلدة صغيرة

Adding هي is usually unnecessary here. Arabic normally does not need a separate word for is in the present tense.

In some contexts, a pronoun like هي may appear for emphasis or style, but it is not the basic form learners should use first.

Not exactly.

Both can refer to a place like a town or city, but they are not always identical:

• بلدة often suggests a town, small town, or locality
• مدينة usually means city

So البلدة صغيرة feels very natural for The town is small.

If you said:

• المدينة صغيرة

that would mean The city is small, which is possible, but it refers to a city, not a town.