هذا البرنامج سهل علي، لكنه غير سهل على صديقي.

هذا means this, and البرنامج means the program.

Together, هذا البرنامج means this program.

Arabic often begins a sentence like this when it is making a statement about something. This is a nominal sentence, where you first mention the topic, then say something about it.

Because البرنامج is a masculine noun in Arabic.

• هذا = this (for masculine singular)
• هذه = this (for feminine singular)

So:

• هذا البرنامج = this program
• هذه السيارة = this car

Even if the thing is not biologically male, Arabic nouns still have grammatical gender.

Arabic usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are in the present tense.

So:

• هذا البرنامج سهل literally looks like this program easy
• but it means this program is easy

This is completely normal in Arabic.

If you want past or future, Arabic does use other words:

• كان البرنامج سهلًا = the program was easy

The expression سهل على means easy for or easy to someone.

So:

• سهل عليّ = easy for me
• سهل عليك = easy for you
• سهل عليه = easy for him

English uses for here, but Arabic uses the preposition على.

So you should learn this as a chunk:

• سهل على شخص = easy for someone

Because Arabic normally does not use a separate pronoun after a preposition when the pronoun is the object of that preposition. Instead, it attaches the pronoun to the preposition.

So:

• على + ي becomes عليّ = on me / for me
• على + ك = عليك
• على + ه = عليه

This is very common in Arabic.

So you do not say:

• على أنا

You say:

• عليّ

Because صديقي is a noun phrase, not a separate pronoun.

Arabic has two patterns here:

1. Preposition + attached pronoun

   • عليّ = for me
   • عليه = for him

2. Preposition + noun

   • على صديقي = for my friend
   • على الطالب = for the student

So in the sentence:

• سهل عليّ = easy for me
• على صديقي = for my friend

Both use على, but one takes a pronoun and the other takes a noun.

لكنه means but it or more naturally here, just but with the sense of but it is.

It is made from:

• لكن = but
• ـه = he/it

The attached pronoun ـه refers back to البرنامج.

So:

• لكنه غير سهل على صديقي = but it is not easy for my friend

In Arabic, this structure is very common when contrasting two ideas.

Because البرنامج is grammatically masculine singular, so Arabic refers back to it with the masculine singular pronoun ـه.

Even though program is an object, Arabic still treats it grammatically as masculine.

So:

• البرنامج ... لكنه ...
• the program ... but it ...

This is just normal agreement in Arabic.

غير سهل literally means not easy.

Arabic often uses غير + adjective to mean not + adjective:

• غير سهل = not easy
• غير واضح = unclear / not clear
• غير ممكن = impossible / not possible

You could also say صعب = difficult.

So these are both possible:

• لكنه غير سهل على صديقي = but it is not easy for my friend
• لكنه صعب على صديقي = but it is difficult for my friend

The version with غير سهل keeps the wording parallel with the first half of the sentence, which is why it sounds nice here.

Because غير works like a negating word before many adjectives and nouns.

In this sentence:

• غير سهل = not easy

This is different from using ليس:

• ليس سهلًا = is not easy

Both are possible in Arabic, but غير سهل is very common, especially in descriptive phrases.

صديقي means my friend.

It comes from:

• صديق = friend
• ـي = my

So:

• صديقي = my friend

This attached ـي is a possessive suffix, and it is very common:

• كتابي = my book
• بيتي = my house
• معلمي = my teacher

Because the adjective سهل commonly takes على when you say something is easy for someone.

So the pattern is:

• شيء سهل على شخص = something is easy for someone

Examples:

• العربية سهلة عليّ = Arabic is easy for me
• الامتحان سهل على الطلاب = the exam is easy for the students

It may feel unusual to an English speaker, because English uses for, but Arabic uses على here.

Arabic often repeats words in contrasting structures for clarity and balance.

So:

• سهل عليّ، لكنه غير سهل على صديقي = easy for me, but not easy for my friend

This repetition sounds natural and helps show the contrast clearly.

You could rephrase it, for example:

• هذا البرنامج سهل عليّ، لكنه صعب على صديقي

But the original sentence is perfectly natural.

Yes. You could say:

• هذا البرنامج سهل عليّ، لكنه ليس سهلًا على صديقي.

That also means This program is easy for me, but it is not easy for my friend.

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• غير سهل = not easy
• ليس سهلًا = is not easy

Both are correct.

Yes. عليّ is pronounced with a doubled y sound at the end because of the attached ـي.

So it is not just على. It becomes عليّ.

Learners often miss this, but it matters in pronunciation.

Also remember that the first letter is ع, which is a distinct Arabic sound that does not exist in English.

The sentence has two parts joined by لكنه:

1. هذا البرنامج سهل عليّ

   • topic: هذا البرنامج
   • comment: سهل عليّ

2. لكنه غير سهل على صديقي

   • لكنه = but it
   • غير سهل على صديقي = not easy for my friend

So the overall pattern is:

• X is easy for me, but it is not easy for my friend

This is a very useful model for making similar sentences in Arabic.