الخفاقة عند المقلاة.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• الخفاقة عند المقلاة = The whisk is by the frying pan

This is a normal nominal sentence in Arabic:

• الخفاقة = the subject/topic
• عند المقلاة = the predicate, giving the location

If you wanted the past tense, you would add كان:

• كانت الخفاقة عند المقلاة = The whisk was by the frying pan

Here عند means at, by, or near.

So عند المقلاة means something like:

• at the frying pan
• by the frying pan
• near the frying pan

The exact English translation depends on context, but the basic idea is location close to something.

Because عند and في do not mean the same thing.

• عند = at / by / near
• في = in / inside

So:

• الخفاقة عند المقلاة = The whisk is by the frying pan
• الخفاقة في المقلاة = The whisk is in the frying pan

That is a different meaning.

The prefix الـ means the.

So:

• الخفاقة = the whisk
• المقلاة = the frying pan

This shows that both are definite: the speaker is talking about a specific whisk and a specific frying pan.

English learners often notice that Arabic uses الـ on both nouns very naturally when both items are known or identifiable.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• الخفاقة = the subject (مبتدأ)
• عند المقلاة = the predicate (خبر) in the form of a prepositional/adverbial phrase

More specifically:

• عند is a word of location
• المقلاة comes after it and is in the genitive case

So the structure is:

• [subject] + [location phrase]

This is a very common Arabic pattern.

With full case endings, the sentence would be:

الخَفَّاقَةُ عِندَ المِقْلاةِ

The endings are:

• الخَفَّاقَةُ: nominative, because it is the subject
• عندَ: normally pronounced with fatḥa
• المِقْلاةِ: genitive after عند

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

الخفاقة عند المقلاة

Yes, it is grammatically feminine.

A big clue is the ة at the end, called tāʾ marbūṭa.

That does not necessarily mean the object is biologically female. In Arabic, many inanimate nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine. This is just part of the noun’s grammar.

Because الخفاقة is feminine, if you referred back to it with a pronoun, you would use a feminine form, such as هي.

It would typically be pronounced something like:

al-khaffāqah in pause
or al-khaffāqatu with full case ending

A few useful notes:

• خ is pronounced like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
• the ف is doubled in pronunciation here: khaf-fā-
• the final ة is usually pronounced like -ah when pausing, but like -at / -tu / -ti when fully inflected in connected grammar

So in full careful pronunciation, the sentence is:

al-khaffāqatu ʿinda al-miqlāti

It is typically pronounced:

al-miqlāh in pause
or al-miqlāti with full case ending

A few points:

• مقلاة is commonly pronounced miqlāh when stopping
• the last ة sounds like -ah in pause
• in full grammatical pronunciation, it becomes -ti here because it is genitive: المِقْلاةِ

So in the sentence:

• pause style: الخفاقة عند المقلاة
• full grammatical reading: الخَفَّاقَةُ عندَ المِقلاةِ

Yes, Arabic word order is somewhat flexible, but the most neutral version here is:

الخفاقة عند المقلاة

This starts with the thing being talked about, the whisk, and then gives its location.

If you want a more existential idea like There is a whisk by the frying pan, Arabic often prefers a different structure, for example:

• عند المقلاة خفاقةٌ
• or هناك خفاقة عند المقلاة

So word order can affect what sounds most natural and what is being emphasized.

A very natural Arabic way is:

عند المقلاة خفاقةٌ

This is better than simply putting an indefinite noun first, because Arabic often avoids starting this kind of sentence with an indefinite subject.

So:

• الخفاقة عند المقلاة = The whisk is by the frying pan
• عند المقلاة خفاقةٌ = A whisk is by the frying pan / There is a whisk by the frying pan

This is a very useful pattern to learn.