لوح التقطيع قرب المقلاة.

Because Arabic usually leaves out the present-tense verb to be in simple sentences like this.

So:

• لوح التقطيع قرب المقلاة
• literally: the cutting board near the pan
• naturally: The cutting board is near the pan

This is normal in Modern Standard Arabic. If you wanted was, Arabic would typically use كان.

This is because لوح التقطيع is an iḍāfa construction, often called a construct phrase.

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun usually does not take الـ
• the second noun tells you whether the whole phrase is definite

So here:

• لوح = board
• التقطيع = the cutting/chopping

Together:

• لوح التقطيع = the cutting board

Even though لوح has no الـ, the whole phrase is definite because التقطيع is definite.

التقطيع is a verbal noun meaning cutting, chopping, or slicing.

So the phrase is literally:

• لوح التقطيع = board of cutting

That is how Arabic expresses cutting board.

This is very common in Arabic: instead of making one compound noun the way English does, Arabic often uses an iḍāfa phrase.

Here قرب means near.

Grammatically, it is often treated as a noun/adverb of place meaning nearness and it functions like near in English.

So:

• قرب المقلاة = near the pan

You can think of it as:

• literally: in the nearness of the pan
• natural English: near the pan

Because قرب needs something after it to say near what.

So:

• قرب = near
• المقلاة = the frying pan / the pan

Together:

• قرب المقلاة = near the pan

This whole phrase is telling us the location of لوح التقطيع.

This is a nominal sentence in Arabic.

It breaks down like this:

• لوح التقطيع = the subject/topic
• قرب المقلاة = the predicate/comment, telling where it is

So the structure is:

• [the cutting board] [near the pan]

In traditional grammar terms:

• لوح التقطيع = مبتدأ
• قرب المقلاة = خبر

A fully vocalized version would usually be:

لَوْحُ التَّقْطِيعِ قُرْبَ الْمِقْلَاةِ

Here is why:

• لَوْحُ: nominative, because it is the subject of the nominal sentence
• التَّقْطِيعِ: genitive, because it is the second part of the iḍāfa
• قُرْبَ: accusative as an adverbial expression of place
• الْمِقْلَاةِ: genitive after قرب

In normal reading and speech, especially outside careful formal recitation, these case endings are often not pronounced.

Because ت is a sun letter.

When الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound is not pronounced, and the next consonant is doubled.

So:

• التقطيع is pronounced at-taqṭīʿ

But in المقلاة, the letter م is a moon letter, so the l is pronounced:

• المقلاة = al-miqlāh

This is a pronunciation rule, not a spelling change.