الرجال يقرأون التعليمات.

Because الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the, and رجال means men. So الرجال = the men.

Also, رجال is the plural of رجل (man).

No. It is a broken plural, which means the inside pattern of the word changes instead of just adding a regular ending.

• رجل = man
• رجال = men

English has something similar with man / men, where the form changes instead of just adding -s.

يقرأون tells you that the verb is:

• 3rd person = they
• masculine
• plural
• in the imperfect form (used for present-type meanings)

A simple way to break it down is:

• يـ often marks the 3rd person in this verb form
• ـون marks masculine plural

So يقرأون means they read or they are reading for a masculine plural subject.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the imperfect verb often covers both:

• The men read the instructions
• The men are reading the instructions

If you want a clearly future meaning, Arabic usually adds something like سـ or سوف.

Because the subject الرجال comes before the verb in this sentence:

الرجال يقرأون التعليمات

When the subject comes first like this, the verb normally shows full agreement in number and gender, so it is plural: يقرأون.

This is different from another very common Arabic pattern where the verb comes first:

يقرأ الرجالُ التعليماتَ

In standard grammar, when the verb comes first and the subject is an explicit plural noun, the verb is often singular masculine: يقرأ.

So this sentence is a good example of how word order affects agreement in Arabic.

No. Arabic allows both orders:

• Subject + Verb + Object
  الرجال يقرأون التعليمات
• Verb + Subject + Object
  يقرأ الرجالُ التعليماتَ

Both are possible in Modern Standard Arabic. The first one can feel a bit more like The men are the ones reading..., while the second is a very common neutral pattern in formal Arabic.

Because ر and ت are sun letters.

When الـ comes before a sun letter, the l sound of ال is not pronounced. Instead, the next consonant is doubled.

So:

• الرجال is pronounced roughly ar-rijāl
• التعليمات is pronounced roughly at-taʿlīmāt

The spelling still keeps الـ, but the pronunciation changes.

It is the direct object — the thing being read.

So in:

الرجال يقرأون التعليمات

• الرجال = the subject
• يقرأون = the verb
• التعليمات = the object

In other words, the instructions are what the men are reading.

Because it is a plural form with the common feminine plural ending -ات.

The singular is تعليمة (an instruction), and the plural is تعليمات (instructions).

Even though instructions is not feminine in English, Arabic grammar classifies this word using a feminine plural pattern. That is very normal in Arabic.

The ء is a hamza, which represents a glottal stop.

It is the little catch in the throat you hear in English uh-oh between the two parts.

So يقرأون is pronounced roughly yaqraʾūna.
You should not completely skip that stop in careful Modern Standard Arabic.

In normal Arabic writing, short vowels and most case endings are usually not written.

So learners often see:

الرجال يقرأون التعليمات

But in a fully vocalized form, it would be something like:

الرِّجالُ يقرأونَ التَّعليماتِ

A few useful notes:

• الرِّجالُ has the nominative ending because it is the subject.
• التَّعليماتِ is the direct object.
• With this kind of plural (sound feminine plural), the accusative ending is -i, so it looks like the genitive when fully vocalized.

That last point is a bit advanced, but it explains why the ending may not look like the usual -a accusative you may have learned first.