الحلوى على الطاولة.

A common careful pronunciation is:

al-ḥalwā ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilah

A rough guide for an English speaker:

• al- = like al in Albert
• ḥ = a strong h sound made deeper in the throat than English h
• halwā = HAL-waa
• ʿalā = a-LAA with a deep throat sound at the beginning
• aṭ-ṭāwilah = at-TAA-wi-lah

In normal speech, the l of ال in الطاولة is not heard clearly because ط is a sun letter, so الطاولة is pronounced aṭ-ṭāwilah, not al-ṭāwilah.

Because in Arabic, present-tense sentences like this usually do not use a word for is/are.

So:

• الحلوى على الطاولة = The candy is on the table / The sweets are on the table

This is called a nominal sentence in Arabic. In the present tense, Arabic normally just puts the parts next to each other without a separate verb like is.

If you wanted the past, then Arabic would use a verb:

• كانت الحلوى على الطاولة = The candy was on the table

الحلوى can mean things like:

• the sweets
• the candy
• the dessert
• the confectionery

The exact English translation depends on context.

A useful thing to know is that الحلوى is often a collective or general word. So even though it may look singular to a learner, in English it might be translated as either singular or plural depending on what is meant:

• The candy is on the table
• The sweets are on the table

The final ى is called alif maqṣūrah. Here it gives a long ā sound.

So الحلوى is pronounced roughly: al-ḥalwā

Important: the ending is not pronounced like an English y here.

Also, this word does not end in ة. A beginner might expect something like حلوة, but that would be a different word.

على means on or upon.

So:

• على الطاولة = on the table

It is a preposition, and like other Arabic prepositions, it causes the following noun to be in the genitive case.

In fully vowelled Arabic, you could show that as:

• عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ

The final -i sound on الطاولةِ is the genitive ending.

Because ط is one of the sun letters.

When ال comes before a sun letter, the l sound of ال assimilates to the next consonant. So:

• ال + طاولة becomes pronounced
• aṭ-ṭāwilah

In writing, the spelling does not change:

• الطاولة

But in pronunciation, the ط is doubled.

The final ة is called tāʾ marbūṭah.

In pause, which is how words are usually pronounced at the end of an utterance, it sounds like -ah:

• طاولة → ṭāwilah

If the word is followed by a grammatical ending in fully careful pronunciation, the t can reappear:

• طاولةٌ
• طاولةٍ
• طاولةً

But in normal spoken reading of this sentence, you will usually hear:

• aṭ-ṭāwilah

The sentence is a basic nominal sentence:

• الحلوى = the topic/subject
• على الطاولة = the predicate, specifically a prepositional phrase

So literally it is something like:

• The sweets — on the table

Natural English adds is/are:

• The sweets are on the table

This pattern is extremely common in Arabic:

• الكتاب على المكتب = The book is on the desk
• الماء في الكأس = The water is in the glass

Yes. In fully vowelled formal Arabic, there are case endings, but they are usually not written in ordinary text.

For this sentence, a fully vowelled version would be:

الحَلْوَى عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ

What is happening grammatically:

• الحلوى is the subject of the nominal sentence. Its nominative ending is present in theory, but because the word ends in alif maqṣūrah, that ending is not visible.
• الطاولةِ comes after the preposition على, so it is genitive, shown by -i in full vocalization.

So learners often read normal Arabic without seeing the case endings, but the grammar is still there.

Yes, الحلوى is grammatically feminine.

In this particular sentence, that does not change much on the surface, because there is no adjective or past-tense verb agreeing with it.

But if you added an adjective, the adjective would also be feminine:

• الحلوى لذيذة = The dessert is delicious

Here لذيذة is feminine to match الحلوى.

So the femininity matters in agreement, even if it is not obvious in the original sentence.

Yes. الحلوى is broader than just one English word.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

• candy
• sweets
• dessert
• confectionery

So all of these could be reasonable translations:

• The candy is on the table
• The sweets are on the table
• The dessert is on the table

The right choice depends on what kind of حلوى is being talked about.