أضع سلة الغسيل في مكان نظيف.

أضع is the present/imperfect form of the verb وضع, which means to put or to place.

Here it means I put or I am putting, depending on context. In Modern Standard Arabic, the imperfect can cover:

• a present action
• a habitual action
• sometimes a near-future sense

The fully vowelled form is أضعُ.

Because Arabic verbs already show the subject.

In أضع, the beginning أـ tells you the subject is I. So Arabic does not need a separate أنا here.

• أضع = I put
• أنا أضع = I put / I am the one who puts

Adding أنا is possible, but it usually adds emphasis or clarity.

Starting with the verb is very normal in Modern Standard Arabic.

So:

• أضع سلة الغسيل في مكان نظيف = normal verbal sentence
• أنا أضع سلة الغسيل في مكان نظيف = also correct, but slightly more explicit or emphatic

Arabic often prefers verb-first word order in neutral statements, especially in formal language.

This is an iḍāfa construction, often called a construct phrase.

Literally, it is:

• سلة = basket
• الغسيل = the laundry / the washing

So سلة الغسيل literally means basket of the laundry, which in natural English becomes laundry basket.

This is a very common Arabic way to express noun + noun relationships:

• كتاب الطالب = the student's book
• باب البيت = the door of the house
• سلة الغسيل = the laundry basket

Because in an iḍāfa construction, the first noun normally does not take الـ.

So Arabic says:

• سلة الغسيل

not:

• السلة الغسيل

The first noun is linked directly to the second noun. Its definiteness is determined by the second noun.

Grammatically, it is definite.

That is because the second noun, الغسيل, has الـ, and in an iḍāfa construction the whole phrase gets its definiteness from the second noun.

So:

• سلة غسيل = a laundry basket / a basket of laundry (indefinite)
• سلة الغسيل = the laundry basket / the basket of the laundry (definite)

Because سلة ends in ة (tāʾ marbūṭa), and in an iḍāfa construction it is pronounced as t.

So by itself, in pause, سلة is pronounced roughly like salla.
But in سلة الغسيل, it is pronounced sallat al-ghasīl.

This is very common:

• مدرسة by itself
• مدرسة البنات = madrasat al-banāt

في is the preposition meaning in.

So:

• في مكان = in a place
• في مكان نظيف = in a clean place

Prepositions in Arabic make the following noun genitive. In normal unvowelled writing, you do not see that clearly, but in full vocalization it matters.

Because Arabic adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• مكان نظيف = a clean place
• literally: place clean

This is the normal order in Arabic:

• بيت كبير = a big house
• سيارة جديدة = a new car
• مكان نظيف = a clean place

Because نظيف is describing مكان, and مكان is masculine singular.

Arabic adjectives agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness
• case

Since مكان is masculine singular, the adjective must also be masculine singular:

• مكان نظيف = a clean place

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would also be feminine:

• غرفة نظيفة = a clean room

Because مكان here is indefinite, so the adjective must also be indefinite.

• مكان نظيف = a clean place
• المكان النظيف = the clean place

In Arabic, adjectives match the noun in definiteness too.

In fully vowelled Arabic, the sentence is:

أضعُ سَلَّةَ الغسيلِ في مكانٍ نظيفٍ.

Here is why:

• أضعُ: verb in the imperfect, ending in ـُ
• سلةَ: direct object, so it is accusative
• الغسيلِ: second part of the iḍāfa, so it is genitive
• مكانٍ: after في, so it is genitive
• نظيفٍ: adjective describing مكان, so it also becomes genitive

In normal Arabic writing, these short vowels are usually omitted, so learners often have to infer them from grammar.