على الطاولة دفتر جديد وقلم من الأستاذة.

Because Arabic often puts a place expression first when it wants to say that something exists somewhere.

So:

• على الطاولة = on the table
• then دفتر جديد وقلم = a new notebook and a pen

This is a very common Arabic pattern:

• على الطاولة كتاب = There is a book on the table
• في البيت رجل = There is a man in the house

In grammar terms, على الطاولة is a prepositional phrase placed first, and it functions like the predicate of the sentence.

It is not written in Arabic here. In the present tense, Arabic often uses a nominal sentence with no verb.

So Arabic can simply say:

• على الطاولة دفتر
  literally: On the table a notebook

but in natural English this becomes:

• There is a notebook on the table

So the idea of there is / there are is understood from the structure, not from a separate word.

Because the sentence is introducing the notebook as something present/existing in that location, not referring to a specific already-known notebook.

After a location phrase like على الطاولة, Arabic very often uses an indefinite noun:

• على الطاولة دفتر = There is a notebook on the table

If you said على الطاولة الدفتر, it would sound less like simple existence and more like you are talking about the notebook specifically, which changes the feel of the sentence.

So دفتر here is indefinite because it means a notebook, not the notebook.

Because in Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• دفتر جديد = a new notebook
• literally: notebook new

This is the normal Arabic order:

• كتاب كبير = a big book
• سيارة سريعة = a fast car

English puts the adjective first; Arabic usually puts it after.

Because Arabic adjectives must match the noun they describe.

Here:

• دفتر is masculine
• singular
• indefinite

So the adjective must also be:

• masculine singular indefinite → جديد

That is why you get:

• دفتر جديد

If the noun were feminine, you would usually see ـة on the adjective:

• سيارة جديدة = a new car

As written, جديد most directly describes دفتر only.

So the sentence most naturally reads as:

• a new notebook and a pen from the teacher

not:

• a new notebook and a new pen from the teacher

If you wanted both to be explicitly new, Arabic would normally show that more clearly, for example by repeating the adjective or using a form that matches both nouns together.

و simply means and.

It connects:

• دفتر جديد = a new notebook
• قلم = a pen

So:

• دفتر جديد وقلم = a new notebook and a pen

This و is one of the most common words in Arabic.

It means from the (female) teacher.

Breakdown:

• من = from
• الأستاذة = the female teacher / the الأستاذة

So قلم من الأستاذة most naturally means:

• a pen from the teacher
• or a pen coming from the teacher
• depending on context, possibly a pen given by the teacher

The exact nuance depends on the situation.

It most naturally attaches to the nearest noun, which is قلم.

So the most likely reading is:

• a new notebook, and a pen from the teacher

That said, real meaning can depend on context. But if someone reads this sentence on its own, they will usually understand من الأستاذة as describing قلم.

Because الأستاذة refers to a female teacher/instructor/professor.

Compare:

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

The ـة ending is a common marker of feminine nouns in Arabic.

So this sentence specifically refers to a female teacher.

With full formal case endings, it would be pronounced approximately:

ʿalā ṭ-ṭāwilati daftarun jadīdun wa-qalamun mina l-ustādhati

A few useful notes:

• على makes the following noun genitive, so:
  • الطاولةِ
• دفترٌ is nominative here
• جديدٌ matches دفترٌ
• قلمٌ is also nominative
• من makes the following noun genitive, so:
  • الأستاذةِ

In normal paused reading or less formal speech, many speakers do not pronounce all these final vowels.

Because ط is a sun letter.

When الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound of al- is assimilated into the next consonant. So:

• الطاولة is pronounced
• aṭ-ṭāwila

You still write ال, but you pronounce it with assimilation.

This is a pronunciation rule, not a spelling change.

Yes, absolutely. It is a perfectly normal kind of Arabic sentence.

Arabic often allows very compact structures, especially for:

• location
• existence
• simple description

So على الطاولة دفتر جديد وقلم من الأستاذة is complete because Arabic does not need to include an explicit present-tense verb like is or there is in this kind of sentence.