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عندما وصلت صديقتي إلى المطار، وضعت حقيبتها في السيارة لأنها كانت متعبة.

عندما وصلت صديقتي إلى المطار، وضعت حقيبتها في السيارة لأنها كانت متعبة.
When my (female) friend arrived at the airport, she put her bag in the car because she was tired.
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Questions & Answers about عندما وصلت صديقتي إلى المطار، وضعت حقيبتها في السيارة لأنها كانت متعبة.

Why does the sentence start with عندما? Is it like when in English, and does it require a specific word order?
Yes. عندما means when and introduces a time clause. In Arabic, the clause after عندما commonly uses past tense if it refers to a completed event: عندما وصلت... (When she arrived...). Word order is flexible, but a very common pattern is [time clause] + [main clause] as in this sentence.
Why is the verb وصلت ending with -ت? How do I know it’s she arrived?

وصلت is past tense with a feminine singular subject. The -تْ (written ت, often pronounced with a final sukūn) marks 3rd person feminine singular: she arrived.
Compare:

  • وصلَ = he arrived
  • وصلَتْ = she arrived
  • وصلتُ = I arrived (different ending and usually different vowel in full vowelled text)
What exactly does صديقتي mean, and how is it formed?

صديقتي means my (female) friend. It’s صديقة (female friend) + the attached possessive suffix -ي (my).
So:

  • صديقة = a female friend
  • صديقتي = my female friend
    (If it were my male friend, you’d usually say صديقي.)
Why is it إلى المطار and not something like لِـ المطار?

إلى is the normal preposition for movement to/toward a destination: وصلت ... إلى المطار = she arrived at/to the airport.
لِـ often means for/to (someone) or indicates purpose/possession, and it’s not the standard choice with وصل for physical arrival.

Why is there a comma ، in Arabic? Is punctuation used the same way as in English?

Arabic uses punctuation similarly in modern writing, including the comma ، (note its mirrored shape). Here it separates the time clause from the main clause, just like English:
When she arrived..., she put...

Why does the next verb also have -ت: وضعت?
Same reason as وصلت: the subject is still she (your female friend). Arabic often keeps the subject implicit in the verb ending, so وضعت by itself already means she put/placed.
What does حقيبتها mean, and how do I know who -ها refers to?

حقيبتها means her bag (literally bag-of-her): حقيبة (bag) + -ها (her).
The -ها refers back to صديقتي (your friend). Arabic attached pronouns normally refer to the most relevant recent noun that matches in meaning (here: the friend).

Why is it في السيارة (in the car) and not إلى السيارة (to the car)?

Because the meaning is that she placed the bag inside the car. في = in indicates location/containment.
إلى السيارة would mean movement to the car (toward it), which doesn’t clearly show that the bag ended up inside.

Why is السيارة definite (the car)? Could it be سيارة without الـ?

Both are possible depending on context:

  • في السيارة = in the car (a specific, known car—often the one they’re using)
  • في سيارة = in a car (unspecified)
    Arabic uses الـ very frequently when the noun is understood as specific from context.
In لأنها كانت متعبة, why do we use كانت? Why not just لأنها متعبة?

Both exist, with a nuance:

  • لأنها متعبة = because she is tired (more “present/general” sounding)
  • لأنها كانت متعبة = because she was tired (her state at that time in the past)
    Since the whole story is in the past (وصلت، وضعت), كانت matches the past-time frame.
Why is متعبة feminine? What would it be for a man?

متعبة is feminine singular to match هي (she). For a man you’d say:

  • متعب = tired (masculine singular)
  • متعبة = tired (feminine singular)
Can you give the fully vowelled (tashkīl) version and a rough pronunciation?

A common fully vowelled version is:
عِندَما وَصَلَتْ صَديقتِي إِلَى المَطارِ، وَضَعَتْ حَقيبَتَها في السَّيّارَةِ لِأَنَّها كانَتْ مُتْعِبَةً.

Rough pronunciation (not IPA):
ʿindamā waṣalat ṣadīqatī ilā al-maṭār, waḍaʿat ḥaqībatahā fī as-sayyāra liʾannahā kānat mutʿiba.

Notes:

  • السَّيّارة often sounds like as-sayyāra because ل assimilates to س (a “sun letter”).