الحمام في شقتنا صغير، لكنه نظيف وقريب من الغرفة.

In Arabic, present-tense sentences like this usually do not use a verb meaning is/are.

So:

• الحمام في شقتنا صغير literally looks like
• The bathroom in our apartment small

But it means:

• The bathroom in our apartment is small

This is called a nominal sentence in Arabic. The idea of is is understood automatically in the present tense.

If you wanted the past tense, then Arabic would use a verb, for example كان (was).

الحمام can mean:

• the bathroom
• the pigeons/doves

Both meanings are common in Arabic.

In this sentence, because of the context—in our apartment, small, clean, near the room—it clearly means the bathroom.

So context is very important with this word.

Arabic nouns have grammatical gender, and الحمام is a masculine noun.

That is why the adjectives are masculine too:

• صغير = small
• نظيف = clean
• قريب = near

If the noun were feminine, these adjectives would usually take feminine forms, such as:

• صغيرة
• نظيفة
• قريبة

So the grammar follows the noun’s Arabic gender, not anything from English.

في شقتنا means in our apartment.

It breaks down like this:

• في = in
• شقة = apartment
• شقتنا = our apartment

The ending ـنا means our.

So:

• شقة = an apartment
• شقتي = my apartment
• شقتنا = our apartment

Also notice that the ة in شقة changes in writing when a suffix is added:

• شقة
• شقتنا

That is normal.

In Arabic, possession is often shown by attaching a suffix pronoun directly to the noun.

So instead of saying something like apartment our, Arabic says:

• شقتنا = our apartment

Some common possessive endings are:

• ـي = my
• ـك = your
• ـه = his
• ـها = her
• ـنا = our

So this is a very common Arabic pattern, and learners should get used to seeing ownership shown this way.

Because they are functioning as the predicate of the sentence, not as attributive adjectives placed directly after the noun.

Compare these two patterns:

1. Attributive adjective:

   • الحمام الصغير = the small bathroom
     Here the adjective matches the noun in definiteness, so it also takes الـ.

2. Predicate adjective:

   • الحمام صغير = the bathroom is small
     Here صغير is not directly modifying the noun inside a noun phrase; it is telling us something about the noun. So it does not take الـ.

That is why in your sentence we get:

• الحمام ... صغير
• لكنه نظيف
• وقريب من الغرفة

not:

• الصغير
• النظيف
• القريب

لكنه means but it or but it is here.

It is made of:

• لكن = but / however
• ـه = he/it (masculine singular)

So literally it is something like:

• but it

Since الحمام is masculine singular, Arabic uses ـه to refer back to it.

So:

• الحمام صغير، لكنه نظيف means
• The bathroom is small, but it is clean

This is a very common structure in Arabic.

Because it refers back to الحمام, and الحمام is grammatically masculine.

So:

• لكنه = but it/he (masculine)
• if the noun were feminine, you would use لكنها = but it/she (feminine)

For example:

• الغرفة صغيرة، لكنها نظيفة = The room is small, but it is clean

So the pronoun must agree with the noun it refers to.

قريب means near or close.

The expression قريب من means:

• near
• close to

So:

• قريب من الغرفة = near the room

Notice that Arabic uses the preposition من after قريب in this meaning.

So you should learn the whole chunk:

• قريب من = near / close to
• بعيد عن = far from

These are useful fixed patterns.

Because قريب normally needs a preposition when you say what something is near to.

So Arabic says:

• قريب من الغرفة = near the room

Just as English says near the room or close to the room, Arabic needs the من here.

This is something you should memorize as part of the expression, rather than translating word by word every time.

Arabic can link several descriptions together very naturally.

Here the sentence gives three pieces of information about الحمام:

• صغير = small
• نظيف = clean
• قريب من الغرفة = near the room

The conjunctions work like this:

• لكن = but
• و = and

So the structure is:

• The bathroom ... is small, but it is clean and near the room.

This is very normal Arabic style.

الغرفة has الـ, so it means the room.

That means the speaker is talking about a specific room that is known from context.

Compare:

• غرفة = a room
• الغرفة = the room

So:

• قريب من الغرفة = near the room

If it were قريب من غرفة, that would mean near a room, which is less specific.

Yes. This is a very normal Arabic word order for a nominal sentence.

It starts with the topic:

• الحمام = the bathroom

Then adds a phrase describing which bathroom:

• في شقتنا = in our apartment

Then gives the description:

• صغير = small

So the structure is roughly:

• [The bathroom] [in our apartment] [is small]

Arabic often places location phrases like في شقتنا before the final predicate adjective.

In full formal Arabic grammar, these words would have case endings, for example in careful vocalization:

• الحمّامُ في شقّتِنا صغيرٌ، لكنّه نظيفٌ وقريبٌ من الغرفةِ

But in normal printed Arabic, short vowels and case endings are usually not written.

So learners usually see:

• الحمام في شقتنا صغير، لكنه نظيف وقريب من الغرفة.

This is completely normal. In most everyday reading, you are expected to understand the grammar without the endings being shown.

The main changes would be in the adjectives and pronoun.

For example, with الغرفة (the room), which is feminine:

• الغرفة في شقتنا صغيرة، لكنها نظيفة وقريبة من الحمام.

Notice the feminine forms:

• صغيرة
• نظيفة
• قريبة
• لكنها

This is a useful way to see how Arabic agreement works.