الياقة ضيقة.

A careful MSA pronunciation with full case endings is:

al-yāqatu ḍayyiqatun

In normal pause, many speakers drop the final case vowels, so it often sounds more like:

al-yāqah ḍayyiqah

A few helpful pronunciation notes:

• الـ in الياقة is pronounced al-
• ي is a moon letter, so the l is pronounced clearly
• ضيقة has a doubled y sound because of the shadda on ي
• The first consonant in ضيقة is ḍ, an emphatic d sound

Because Arabic often leaves out the verb to be in the present tense.

So الياقة ضيقة literally looks like the collar tight, but it naturally means the collar is tight.

This is a very common Arabic pattern called a nominal sentence.

Compare:

• الياقة ضيقة = The collar is tight
• past tense would need a verb, for example كانت الياقة ضيقة = The collar was tight

This sentence is a basic nominal sentence:

• الياقة = the subject/topic (مبتدأ)
• ضيقة = the predicate (خبر)

So the structure is:

[subject] + [description/predicate]

In other words:

• الياقة = what we are talking about
• ضيقة = what we are saying about it

Because الياقة is grammatically feminine, and the adjective/predicate must agree with it.

The masculine form is:

• ضيق = tight, narrow

The feminine form is:

• ضيقة

Arabic adjectives agree with the noun in gender, and often also in number, definiteness, and case, depending on the structure.

Since الياقة is feminine, you need ضيقة, not ضيق.

Because here ضيقة is not an attributive adjective inside a noun phrase. It is the predicate of the sentence.

So:

• الياقة ضيقة = The collar is tight
  
  • definite noun + indefinite predicate

But:

• الياقة الضيقة = the tight collar
  
  • definite noun + definite adjective

This is one of the most important distinctions in Arabic:

• definite noun + indefinite adjective/predicate = a full sentence
• definite noun + definite adjective = a noun phrase

They look similar, but they mean different things:

• الياقة ضيقة = The collar is tight
• الياقة الضيقة = the tight collar

Why?

Because in الياقة الضيقة, both words are definite, so الضيقة is just describing الياقة inside one noun phrase.

In الياقة ضيقة, the second word is indefinite, so it functions as the predicate of a sentence.

This is a very common thing for learners to watch for in Arabic.

That letter is taa marbuuTa (ة).

In this sentence, it helps mark the words as feminine:

• ياقة
• ضيقة

In pronunciation:

• at the end of a paused word, ة is usually pronounced like -a or -ah
• when grammatical endings are fully pronounced, it becomes -t

So:

• paused: yāqah, ḍayyiqah
• fully inflected: yāqatu, ḍayyiqatun

The fully vowelled form is:

الْيَاقَةُ ضَيِّقَةٌ

This shows the normal case endings for a simple nominal sentence:

• الْيَاقَةُ = nominative
• ضَيِّقَةٌ = nominative

In traditional grammar, both the مبتدأ and the خبر are nominative.

In everyday writing, these short vowels are usually not written, so you normally see just:

الياقة ضيقة

Yes. In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• الياقة الضيقة = the tight collar

Not:

• الضيقة الياقة

In your sentence, ضيقة also comes after the noun, but here it is functioning as the predicate, not just as an adjective inside a noun phrase.

So the rule description comes after the noun is very important in Arabic.

A standard MSA way is:

الياقة ليست ضيقة

With full vowel endings, it would be:

الْيَاقَةُ لَيْسَتْ ضَيِّقَةً

A couple of notes:

• ليست is used because الياقة is feminine
• after ليس, the predicate is normally accusative, so fully vowelled ضيقةً

So this means:

The collar is not tight