Breakdown of يحاول الشاب أن يتعلم غرزة جديدة.
الal
the
جديدjadeed
new
تعلمta'allama
to learn
أنan
to (with verbs)
Questions & Answers about يحاول الشاب أن يتعلم غرزة جديدة.
Does the word أن change the grammar of the verb يتعلم that comes after it?
Yes! The particle أن (meaning "to", as in "trying to learn") forces the following present tense verb into the subjunctive mood. If you were reading this with full vowels, the verb would end with a fatha (يتعلّمَ, yata'allama) instead of the standard damma (يتعلّمُ, yata'allamu).
The root ع-ل-م usually relates to "knowing". Why do we use the specific form يتعلم here for "learn"?
Arabic uses different verb patterns (Forms) from the same root to slightly change the meaning. Form I يعلم (ya'lam) means "he knows". Form II يعلّم (yu'allim) means "he teaches" (makes someone know). The verb here is Form V يتعلم (yata'allam), which is reflexive and means "he learns" (acquires knowledge for himself).
The English translation says "is trying", but يحاول is just the present tense. Where is the "is"?
In Arabic, the standard present tense verb (يحاول) handles both the simple present ("he tries" generally) and the present continuous ("he is trying" right now). There is no separate "is + ing" structure needed; you simply rely on context to know which English translation sounds best.
If I wanted to pronounce the full case endings (tashkeel) at the end of the sentence, what would they be for غرزة جديدة?
They would both end in an "-an" sound: غرزةً جديدةً (ghurzatan jadīdatan). The word غرزة (stitch) is the direct object of the verb "to learn", so it takes the accusative case (manSub) with a double fatha. The adjective جديدة (new) must perfectly copy the noun it describes, taking the exact same feminine, indefinite, and accusative endings.