شقة صديقتي في الطابق الثالث من هذا المبنى، وفيها شرفة كبيرة.

Arabic usually does not use a present-tense verb meaning is/are in simple sentences like this.

So:

• شقة صديقتي في الطابق الثالث literally looks like My friend’s apartment in the third floor but it means My friend’s apartment is on the third floor.

This is called a nominal sentence in Arabic. In the present tense, the verb to be is normally omitted.

If you wanted a past-tense version, then Arabic would use a verb, for example:

• كانت شقة صديقتي في الطابق الثالث = My friend’s apartment was on the third floor

شقة صديقتي means my friend’s apartment.

It is an iḍāfa construction, which is the usual Arabic way to show possession:

• شقة = apartment
• صديقة = female friend
• صديقتي = my female friend

So literally:

• شقة صديقتي = apartment of my friend

The ـي at the end of صديقتي means my.

Notice that Arabic does not use a separate word like of or an apostrophe 's here. Possession is shown by putting the two nouns together.

Because صديقتي includes the possessive ending ـي, meaning my.

Breakdown:

• صديقة = a female friend
• صديقتي = my female friend

The word also keeps the ت sound before the possessive ending. That is why the ة in صديقة becomes pronounced as t in صديقتي.

So:

• صديقة is pronounced roughly ṣadīqa
• صديقتي is pronounced roughly ṣadīqatī

This is very common with taa marbuuTa (ة) when another ending follows.

In Arabic, ordinal numbers like third, fourth, etc. usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• الطابق الثالث = the third floor

This is the normal order:

• noun first
• then adjective or ordinal

Also, both words are definite here:

• الطابق = the floor
• الثالث = the third

Because the noun is definite, the ordinal adjective is also definite.

Because adjectives in Arabic agree with the nouns they describe in definiteness.

Here:

• الطابق = the floor
• الثالث = the third

Together:

• الطابق الثالث = the third floor

If the noun is definite, the adjective must also be definite.

Compare:

• طابق ثالث = a third floor
• الطابق الثالث = the third floor

This is a very important rule in Arabic adjective phrases.

Because مبنى is a masculine noun in Arabic.

So Arabic uses:

• هذا for masculine singular nouns
• هذه for feminine singular nouns

Since المبنى is masculine:

• هذا المبنى = this building

Even though some nouns end in ى, that does not automatically make them feminine. You have to learn the grammatical gender of each noun.

وفيها can be broken down into three parts:

• و = and
• في = in
• ها = her / it

So وفيها literally means and in it.

In this sentence, ها refers back to شقة صديقتي — the apartment.

So:

• وفيها شرفة كبيرة literally = and in it [there is] a big balcony naturally = and it has a big balcony

This is a very common Arabic way to express that something contains something else.

It actually could.

Both are possible, but they feel a little different:

• وفيها شرفة كبيرة = and in it there is a big balcony
• ولها شرفة كبيرة = and it has a big balcony

In many contexts, فيها sounds very natural when describing what exists inside or as part of a place.

Since the sentence is describing an apartment, وفيها شرفة كبيرة is a very normal choice.

Because it means a big balcony, not the big balcony.

Breakdown:

• شرفة = a balcony
• كبيرة = big (feminine)

Together:

• شرفة كبيرة = a big balcony

Both words are indefinite. If it were definite, it would be:

• الشرفة الكبيرة = the big balcony

Again, Arabic adjectives match the noun in definiteness, so:

• شرفة كبيرة = an indefinite noun + indefinite adjective
• الشرفة الكبيرة = a definite noun + definite adjective

Because شرفة is a feminine noun.

In Arabic, adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

Since شرفة is feminine singular, the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• شرفة كبيرة = a big balcony

If the noun were masculine, you would use كبير instead:

• بيت كبير = a big house

It is one sentence made of two linked parts:

1. شقة صديقتي في الطابق الثالث من هذا المبنى
2. وفيها شرفة كبيرة

They are joined by و = and.

So you can think of it as:

• My friend’s apartment is on the third floor of this building, and it has a big balcony.

This kind of chaining with و is very common in Arabic.

Here من means of in the sense of from/out of a larger whole.

So:

• الطابق الثالث من هذا المبنى = the third floor of this building

Arabic often uses من in expressions like this to show that something is part of a larger thing.

Other examples:

• الباب الأول من البيت = the first door of the house
• الفصل الثاني من الكتاب = the second chapter of the book

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• في هذا المبنى = in this building
• من هذا المبنى = of this building

In this sentence, الطابق الثالث من هذا المبنى means the third floor of this building, which is the more precise phrasing.

If you said:

• شقة صديقتي في هذا المبنى that would mean My friend’s apartment is in this building

That is grammatical, but it does not say on the third floor of this building.

Yes. It is very natural.

The sentence starts with the topic:

• شقة صديقتي = my friend’s apartment

Then it gives information about it:

• في الطابق الثالث من هذا المبنى
• وفيها شرفة كبيرة

So the structure is basically:

• topic: my friend’s apartment
• comment: is on the third floor of this building
• added detail: and it has a big balcony

This kind of topic-first structure is extremely common in Arabic nominal sentences.

Yes, in fully vocalized Classical or very formal MSA, case endings could appear. For example, something like:

• شَقَّةُ صَديقَتي في الطّابِقِ الثّالِثِ مِن هذا المَبنى، وفيها شُرفَةٌ كَبيرَةٌ

But in normal modern writing, these endings are usually not written, and in everyday pronunciation they are often reduced or omitted except in very formal speech.

So for most learners, it is completely normal to study the sentence without full case endings first.

A simple transliteration would be:

shaqqat-u ṣadīqatī fī aṭ-ṭābiq ath-thālith min hādhā al-mabnā, wa-fīhā shurfah kabīrah

A few pronunciation notes:

• الطابق is often pronounced aṭ-ṭābiq because ط is a sun letter, so the l of al- assimilates.
• الثالث is often pronounced ath-thālith because ث is also a sun letter.
• وفيها is pronounced wa-fīhā.

You do not need perfect transliteration to understand the grammar, but these sound changes are useful to notice early.