الصلصة قرب المقلاة.

In Arabic, the present-tense verb to be is usually not written in simple statements like this.

So الصلصة قرب المقلاة literally looks like:

the sauce near the frying pan

but it means:

The sauce is near the frying pan

This kind of sentence is called a nominal sentence in Arabic.

Here قرب means near or close to.

Grammatically, it is often treated as a noun of place/proximity rather than a basic preposition. In traditional grammar, it functions like a ظرف مكان, an adverbial expression of place.

So:

• قرب المقلاة = near the frying pan
• literally, something like the vicinity of the frying pan

Because قرب is followed by a noun in a construct-like relationship.

You can think of it this way:

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

Together:

• قربَ المقلاةِ = near the frying pan

In traditional analysis:

• قربَ is مضاف
• المقلاةِ is مضاف إليه, so it takes the genitive

Because both nouns are definite.

• الصلصة = the sauce
• المقلاة = the frying pan

The prefix الـ is the Arabic definite article, equivalent to the in English.

If you removed it, the meaning would become more like:

• صلصة = a sauce / sauce
• مقلاة = a frying pan

الصلصة is pronounced roughly aṣ-ṣalṣa in pause, or aṣ-ṣalṣatu in full formal reading with case endings.

The reason is that ص is a sun letter. With sun letters, the l sound of الـ assimilates to the first consonant.

So:

• written: الصلصة
• pronounced: aṣ-ṣalṣa

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

• المقلاة = al-miqlāh in pause, or al-miqlāti with full case ending pronunciation

The final ة is called taa marbuuTa.

Usually, when you stop on the word, it sounds like -a or -ah:

• الصلصة → aṣ-ṣalṣa
• المقلاة → al-miqlāh

But in careful formal reading, when case endings are pronounced, the t sound appears:

• الصَّلْصَةُ → aṣ-ṣalṣatu
• المِقْلَاةِ → al-miqlāti

So ة can sound like h-like -a in pause, but t when fully inflected.

A fully vocalized version would be:

الصَّلْصَةُ قُرْبَ المِقْلَاةِ

A grammatical breakdown:

• الصَّلْصَةُ = nominative, because it is the main noun being talked about
• قُرْبَ = accusative, because it functions as an adverbial expression of place
• المِقْلَاةِ = genitive, because it is linked to قرب in a construct relationship

In normal everyday writing, these short vowels are usually omitted.

Yes. This is a very normal Arabic pattern.

The structure is:

• الصلصة = the thing being talked about
• قرب المقلاة = where it is

So the sentence is built as:

• noun + location phrase

This is a common way to say where something is in Arabic.

Yes, absolutely.

That sentence also means The sauce is near the frying pan.

The difference is grammatical style:

• الصلصة قرب المقلاة uses قرب as a location expression
• الصلصة قريبة من المقلاة uses قريبة as an adjective meaning near, followed by من

Because صلصة is feminine, the adjective must also be feminine:

• قريب for masculine
• قريبة for feminine

Both are correct, but قريبة من may feel more immediately familiar to learners because it matches the English idea of near to more closely.