قبل أن أصلح الرف، آخذ القفازات وشريط القياس من صندوق الأدوات.

The verb is أخذ (to take). In the imperfect/present, the third-person form is يأخذ.

For I take, Arabic adds the first-person prefix أ-. If you did that mechanically, you would get أأخذ. Arabic does not like that double hamza sequence here, so it contracts it to آخذ.

So:

• يأخذ = he takes
• آخذ = I take

This is a normal spelling pattern with this verb.

Because the verb already tells you the subject.

In آخذ and أصلح, the prefix أ- marks first person singular, so the meaning is already I take and I fix.

Arabic often leaves subject pronouns out unless they are needed for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarification

So أنا آخذ is possible, but it would sound more emphatic, like I am the one who takes...

In Modern Standard Arabic, when قبل is followed by a full verb clause, Arabic normally uses أن:

• قبل أن أصلح الرف = before I fix the shelf

So the pattern is:

• قبل + noun → before + noun
• قبل أن + present verb → before doing / before I do

Without أن, قبل أصلح is not standard MSA.

After أن, the present/imperfect verb is normally in the subjunctive.

So the fully vocalized form is:

• أُصلِحُ = I fix / I am fixing
• أُصلِحَ = that I fix / to fix / after أن

In normal Arabic writing, short vowels are usually not written, so both forms appear simply as أصلح. That is why you do not see the difference in unvoweled text, even though the grammar is different.

It is the imperfect form, which can express several meanings depending on context:

• present: I take
• habitual: I usually take
• near future or sequence: I take / will take

In this sentence, it most naturally sounds like a habitual or sequential action:

• Before I fix the shelf, I take the gloves and tape measure...

If you wanted to make the future meaning more explicit, you could say:

• سآخذ = I will take

But آخذ is perfectly normal here.

الرف is definite: the shelf.

Arabic uses الـ to mark definiteness, just like English uses the. So:

• رف = a shelf
• الرف = the shelf

In this sentence, the speaker is referring to a specific shelf, not just any shelf, so الرف is the natural choice.

شريط القياس is an iḍāfa construction, often called a genitive construction.

It literally means:

• شريط = strap / tape
• القياس = measurement
• شريط القياس = measuring tape / tape measure

In an iḍāfa:

1. the first noun usually does not take الـ
2. the second noun determines whether the whole phrase is definite

So you say:

• شريط القياس = the measuring tape / tape measure

not:

• الشريط القياس

That would break the normal iḍāfa pattern.

This is another iḍāfa.

• صندوق = box
• الأدوات = the tools
• صندوق الأدوات = box of the tools

Because the second noun is definite (الأدوات), the whole phrase becomes definite. So صندوق الأدوات means:

• the toolbox
• literally: the box of the tools

This is a very common feature of iḍāfa in Arabic: the first noun may look indefinite by itself, but the whole phrase can still be definite.

Yes.

The phrase من صندوق الأدوات modifies the whole coordinated object phrase:

• القفازات وشريط القياس
• the gloves and the measuring tape

So the meaning is:

• I take the gloves and the measuring tape from the toolbox

Arabic does not need to repeat من before both nouns. Repeating it would usually be unnecessary unless you wanted special emphasis or extra clarity.

Because قفازات is a sound feminine plural.

In Arabic, sound feminine plurals have these case endings:

• nominative: -ُ in full vocalization
• accusative/genitive: -ِ in full vocalization

So as a direct object, the fully vocalized form is:

• القفازاتِ

That may feel surprising if you expect all direct objects to end in fatḥa, but sound feminine plurals are a special pattern.

It would be:

قَبْلَ أَنْ أُصْلِحَ الرَّفَّ، آخُذُ الْقُفَّازَاتِ وَشَرِيطَ الْقِيَاسِ مِنْ صُنْدُوقِ الْأَدَوَاتِ.

A few useful details:

• قَبْلَ: adverb/particle of time
• أَنْ أُصْلِحَ: أن
  • subjunctive verb
• الرَّفَّ: direct object of أصلح
• آخُذُ: main verb, indicative
• الْقُفَّازَاتِ: direct object; sound feminine plural, so accusative with kasra
• شَرِيطَ الْقِيَاسِ: iḍāfa; شريطَ is accusative, القياسِ is genitive
• مِنْ صُنْدُوقِ الْأَدَوَاتِ: after من, the noun is genitive; الأدواتِ is also genitive as the second part of the iḍāfa

Yes. You can also say:

آخذ القفازات وشريط القياس من صندوق الأدوات قبل أن أصلح الرف.

That is perfectly grammatical.

The difference is mostly one of focus:

• قبل أن أصلح الرف، آخذ... puts the time relationship first
• آخذ... قبل أن أصلح الرف starts with the action itself

Both are natural; the original version foregrounds before I fix the shelf.