الأستاذة في الجامعة عندها واجب جديد لنا اليوم.

Because الأستاذة is the feminine form of الأستاذ.

• الأستاذ = the male teacher / professor / instructor
• الأستاذة = the female teacher / professor / instructor

The final ة (called taa marbuuTa) is a very common marker of feminine nouns in Arabic.

In pronunciation, الأستاذة is usually read as al-ustaadha.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In Modern Standard Arabic, أستاذ / أستاذة can refer to:

• a teacher
• an instructor
• a professor

Since the sentence includes في الجامعة (at the university), many learners would understand it here as something like the professor or the instructor.

Literally, في means in, so في الجامعة is literally in the university.

But in natural English, this is often translated as at the university, which sounds more normal in many contexts.

So:

• في = in
• الجامعة = the university

Together: في الجامعة = in/at the university

In this sentence, the most natural reading is that it identifies the professor:

• الأستاذة في الجامعة = the professor at the university

So it is probably describing which professor we mean.

However, Arabic can sometimes leave a little room for interpretation without extra context. A learner may initially wonder whether it means:

• The professor is at the university

  But here, because the sentence continues with عندها واجب جديد لنا اليوم, the smoother interpretation is:

• The professor at the university has a new assignment for us today.

Arabic often expresses possession with a phrase that literally means something like with her or at her.

• عند = at / with / in the possession of
• ها = her

So:

• عندها = she has / literally at her or with her

This is a very common Arabic way to say that someone has something.

So:

• عندها واجب = she has an assignment

ها is an attached pronoun meaning her.

So:

• عند = at / with
• ها = her

Together:

• عندها = with her / she has

Arabic often attaches pronouns directly to words like this.

Some common examples:

• عندي = I have
• عندك = you have
• عنده = he has
• عندها = she has
• عندنا = we have

Both can be acceptable, but they have slightly different flavor.

• عندها is very common and natural
• لديها is often felt to be a bit more formal or especially typical of written MSA

So this sentence is understandable and natural, but some textbooks might prefer:

• الأستاذة في الجامعة لديها واجب جديد لنا اليوم.

Both mean essentially the same thing here.

واجب can mean several related things depending on context, including:

• homework
• assignment
• duty
• obligation

In this sentence, because it is something the professor has for us today, the meaning is most naturally:

• assignment
• or homework

So واجب جديد means a new assignment or new homework.

Because واجب is grammatically masculine.

In Arabic, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

Here:

• واجب = masculine singular
• so the adjective must also be masculine singular: جديد

That is why we get:

• واجب جديد = a new assignment

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would usually also be feminine.

Because واجب is indefinite here.

Arabic adjectives match the noun in definiteness too.

So:

• واجب جديد = a new assignment
  both indefinite
• الواجب الجديد = the new assignment
  both definite

Since the sentence means a new assignment, not the new assignment, the noun and adjective are both indefinite.

لنا means for us or sometimes to us, depending on context.

It is made of:

• لِ = for / to
• نا = us

So:

• لنا = for us

In this sentence:

• واجب جديد لنا = a new assignment for us

In Arabic, present-tense sentences often do not use an explicit verb like is or are, and possession is often expressed without a direct verb have.

So instead of saying something exactly like:

• The professor is at the university
• The professor has an assignment

Arabic often uses structures like:

• الأستاذة في الجامعة
• عندها واجب

This is normal Arabic sentence structure. English requires is and has, but Arabic often does not.

Arabic and English organize information differently.

This sentence starts with the topic:

• الأستاذة في الجامعة = the professor at the university

Then it gives new information about her:

• عندها واجب جديد لنا اليوم = has a new assignment for us today

So the sentence is structured in a very natural Arabic way:

• topic first
• then comment about that topic

A literal breakdown would be something like:

• The professor at the university — she has a new assignment for us today.

اليوم means today.

It is a time expression, and Arabic often places time expressions in flexible positions. Putting it at the end is very natural.

So:

• لنا اليوم = for us today

The sentence could sometimes be rearranged in other ways and still be understandable, but the given order is normal.

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

Words with ال here:

• الأستاذة = the professor
• الجامعة = the university
• اليوم = today (this word often appears with ال as a fixed form)

Words without ال here:

• واجب
• جديد

These are indefinite, giving the meaning:

• a new assignment

So Arabic is distinguishing between definite and indefinite words just as English distinguishes between the and a/an.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

al-ustaadhatu fi al-jaamiʿati ʿindahaa waajibun jadiidun lanaa al-yawma

In normal unvocalized writing, the short endings are usually not written, and in everyday reading many speakers do not fully pronounce all case endings. So learners often hear something closer to:

al-ustaadha fi al-jaamiʿa ʿindahaa waajib jadiid lanaa al-yoom

Both help you connect the written form to spoken pronunciation.

Yes. In fully vocalized formal Arabic, there would normally be case endings, but they are usually omitted in ordinary writing.

A fully vocalized version could be written as:

الأُسْتاذَةُ في الجامِعَةِ عِندَها واجِبٌ جديدٌ لَنا اليَومَ.

Very roughly:

• الأستاذةُ = nominative
• الجامعةِ = after the preposition في, so genitive
• واجبٌ جديدٌ = indefinite nominative
• اليومَ = often accusative as an adverb of time

A beginner does not need to master all of this at once, but it is useful to know that the endings exist even when normal Arabic spelling leaves them out.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are possible, for example:

• الأستاذة في الجامعة لديها واجب جديد لنا اليوم.
• عند الأستاذة في الجامعة واجب جديد لنا اليوم.
• لدى الأستاذة في الجامعة واجب جديد لنا اليوم.

These are similar in meaning, but the original sentence is perfectly understandable and natural.

A very useful way to study it is in chunks:

• الأستاذة = the female professor / teacher
• في الجامعة = at the university
• عندها = she has
• واجب جديد = a new assignment
• لنا = for us
• اليوم = today

If you can recognize those chunks quickly, the whole sentence becomes much easier to process.