هو يبحث عن جواز السفر.

هو means he.

In Arabic, you often do not have to state the subject pronoun, because the verb already shows who is doing the action. So:

• هو يبحث عن جواز السفر.
• يبحث عن جواز السفر.

can both mean He is looking for the passport (depending on context).

Including هو can make the subject clearer, or add a little emphasis, especially if you are contrasting him with someone else.

يبحث is the present/imperfect form of the verb بَحَثَ, which means to search or to look.

The prefix يـ usually marks third person masculine singular in this kind of verb, so:

• يبحث = he searches / he is searching / he looks

In fully vowelled Arabic, it is:

• يَبْحَثُ

It can mean both.

The Arabic imperfect tense often covers both:

• he looks for
• he is looking for

The exact English translation depends on context. In a sentence like this, English often prefers is looking for.

Because Arabic uses the expression:

• بَحَثَ عن
• يَبْحَثُ عن

to mean to search for / to look for.

So the preposition عن is part of the normal pattern of this verb.

You would not normally say:

• يبحث جواز السفر

to mean he is looking for the passport.

Instead, you say:

• يبحث عن جواز السفر

Even though عن often means about or from in other contexts, after بحث it gives the meaning for.

جواز السفر is the standard Arabic expression for passport.

Literally, it is something like:

• جواز = permit / pass
• السفر = travel

So the whole phrase is literally travel permit, but idiomatically it means passport.

This is because جواز السفر is an iḍāfa construction (a noun-to-noun structure, often similar to X of Y in English).

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun usually does not take ال
• the second noun can make the whole phrase definite

So:

• جوازُ السفرِ = the passport
• جوازُ سفرٍ = a passport

Even though جواز does not have ال, the whole phrase can still be definite because السفر is definite.

Because س is a sun letter.

When ال comes before a sun letter, the ل sound is not pronounced separately; it assimilates to the next consonant.

So:

• السفر

is pronounced:

• as-safar

not:

• al-safar

This is a pronunciation rule only; the spelling still stays ال.

Because عن is a preposition, and prepositions put the following noun phrase into the genitive case.

So after عن, you get:

• عَنْ جَوَازِ السَّفَرِ

not:

• عَنْ جَوَازُ السَّفَرُ

The full vowelled sentence is:

• هُوَ يَبْحَثُ عَنْ جَوَازِ السَّفَرِ

Both nouns end up in the genitive here:

1. جوازِ is genitive because it comes after عن
2. السفرِ is genitive because it is the second noun in an iḍāfa

Usually, no in everyday writing, and often no in ordinary speech.

That is why you normally see:

• هو يبحث عن جواز السفر

without short vowels.

But in fully grammatical / fully vowelled Arabic, the endings are:

• هُوَ يَبْحَثُ عَنْ جَوَازِ السَّفَرِ

So it is useful to know the grammar, even if the endings are often not written.

Yes.

هو يبحث عن جواز السفر is completely normal. It starts with the pronoun هو, then gives the verbal information.

Arabic also often allows the subject to be left out entirely when the verb already makes it clear:

• يبحث عن جواز السفر

So both patterns are common:

• هو يبحث...
• يبحث...

For a learner, the version with هو is often easier to understand because the subject is stated explicitly.

You change the pronoun and verb form as needed.

• هي تبحث عن جواز السفر. = She is looking for the passport.
• هو لا يبحث عن جواز السفر. = He is not looking for the passport.

So:

• هو = he
• هي = she
• لا negates the present/imperfect verb