أمي تقول إن الخضار في هذا السوق جيدة، لكن اللحم اليوم أغلى.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So instead of saying:

• The vegetables are good
• The meat is more expensive today

Arabic simply says:

• الخضار في هذا السوق جيدة
• اللحم اليوم أغلى

This is very normal in both Modern Standard Arabic and spoken Arabic. If you wanted the past or future, then a form of كان would appear.

إن means that and introduces a subordinate clause after verbs like say, know, think, and similar verbs.

So:

• أمي تقول = My mother says
• إن الخضار في هذا السوق جيدة = that the vegetables in this market are good

A key grammar point: إن affects the case of the noun immediately after it in fully vowelled Arabic, making it accusative. In everyday unvowelled writing, you usually do not see this change clearly, but the grammar is still there.

The ـي at the end is the possessive suffix meaning my.

• أم = mother
• أمي = my mother

This suffix is attached directly to the noun. So Arabic often expresses possession with suffixes instead of separate words like my, your, his, etc.

For example:

• أبي = my father
• كتابي = my book
• بيتي = my house

The verb تقول means she says.

It is feminine because the subject is أمي (my mother), which is feminine.

From the verb قال (to say), the present tense forms include:

• أقول = I say
• تقول = you say / she says
• يقول = he says
• نقول = we say

Here, context tells you that تقول means she says, not you say.

This is a very common Arabic pattern.

الخضار refers to a non-human plural, and in Arabic, non-human plurals are usually treated grammatically as feminine singular when adjectives or verbs agree with them.

So:

• الخضار جيدة = literally something like the vegetables [is] good in terms of agreement, but naturally translated as the vegetables are good

That is why the adjective is:

• جيدة (feminine singular)

and not:

• جيدون or جيدات

This rule applies very often with non-human plurals.

الخضار means vegetables. In usage, it functions like a collective noun.

Even though the meaning is plural in English, Arabic often treats words like this as a collective or non-human plural, which is why you get feminine singular agreement: الخضار جيدة.

You may also see خضروات for vegetables, but الخضار is very common.

It is feminine for two reasons working together:

1. الخضار is a non-human plural
2. Non-human plurals usually take feminine singular agreement

So the adjective becomes:

• جيدة = good (feminine singular)

Compare:

• كتاب جيد = a good book
• سيارة جيدة = a good car
• الخضار جيدة = the vegetables are good

Even though vegetables is plural in meaning, the agreement is feminine singular.

In Arabic, demonstratives like هذا (this) usually come before the noun:

• هذا السوق = this market

With the preposition في:

• في هذا السوق = in this market

So the order is:

• في = in
• هذا = this
• السوق = the market

Notice that the noun usually has الـ after هذا in standard Arabic:

• هذا السوق
• هذه المدينة

That is the normal structure.

In Arabic, when you use هذا or هذه before a noun, the noun is normally still definite and usually keeps الـ.

So Arabic says:

• هذا السوق = this market
• هذه السيارة = this car

This is different from English, where this market does not use the. In Arabic, definiteness is expressed differently, and هذا السوق is the standard pattern.

لكن means but.

It connects two ideas:

• The vegetables in this market are good
• but the meat is more expensive today

So:

• لكن اللحم اليوم أغلى = but the meat is more expensive today

In fully formal grammar, you may also see لكنَّ with different syntactic behavior, but لكن here is the common simple connector meaning but.

Arabic اللحم works very similarly to English meat here. It is a singular noun used in a general, mass-noun sense.

So:

• اللحم = the meat / meat

It does not need to be plural to refer to meat in general.

أغلى is the comparative form of غالٍ (expensive).

So:

• غالٍ = expensive
• أغلى = more expensive / pricier

Arabic often uses this أفعل pattern for comparatives:

• كبير → أكبر = bigger
• صغير → أصغر = smaller
• رخيص → أرخص = cheaper
• غالٍ → أغلى = more expensive

So اللحم اليوم أغلى means the meat is more expensive today.

Comparatives in Arabic, just like in English, do not always need the second term to be stated if it is understood from context.

So اللحم اليوم أغلى can mean:

• The meat is more expensive today
• with the comparison understood as something like:
  • than usual
  • than before
  • than yesterday
  • than the vegetables
  • than in another place

The exact comparison depends on context.

Yes. اليوم means today, and here it functions adverbially, telling you when the meat is more expensive.

So:

• اللحم اليوم أغلى = The meat today is more expensive / The meat is more expensive today

Arabic often uses time words like this directly without needing an extra preposition.

Other examples:

• أنا مشغول اليوم = I am busy today
• نسافر غدًا = We travel tomorrow

Yes, Arabic word order is somewhat flexible, although some versions sound more natural than others.

For example, اللحم اليوم أغلى is natural. You could also see:

• اليوم اللحم أغلى

to emphasize today more strongly.

Likewise, in the first clause, the phrase في هذا السوق could be moved for emphasis, but the given order is very natural and clear.

Arabic often changes word order to shift focus, emphasis, or style.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

ummī taqūlu inna al-khuḍāra fī hādhā as-sūqi jayyidatun, lākin al-laḥma al-yawma aghlā

A few helpful notes:

• أمي = ummī
• تقول = taqūlu
• إن = inna
• الخضار = al-khuḍār
• هذا = hādhā
• السوق = as-sūq in pronunciation because س is a sun letter, so the l of الـ is assimilated
• جيدة = jayyida
• اللحم = al-laḥm
• أغلى = aghlā

In normal unvowelled text, you do not see all the short vowels, but learners should know they are there in formal reading.