هو يتصفح فهرس المكتبة.

• هو = he
• يتصفح = browses / flips through / looks through
• فهرس = catalog / index
• المكتبة = the library

So the structure is:

• هو = subject pronoun
• يتصفح = verb
• فهرس المكتبة = object phrase, literally the catalog of the library

Yes. In Arabic, يتصفح already tells you the subject is he because of the verb form.

So هو يتصفح literally has both:

• the pronoun هو
• the verb form meaning he browses

Arabic often allows this. The pronoun may be added for:

• emphasis
• clarity
• contrast

So:

• يتصفح فهرس المكتبة = He is browsing the library catalog
• هو يتصفح فهرس المكتبة = also He is browsing the library catalog, but with the subject stated explicitly

Yes, absolutely. That is a very normal Arabic sentence.

Arabic often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So both are correct:

• هو يتصفح فهرس المكتبة
• يتصفح فهرس المكتبة

The version without هو is often more natural unless you specifically want to emphasize he.

يتصفح is in the imperfect tense in Arabic.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the imperfect can express:

• present habitual: he browses
• present ongoing: he is browsing
• near future in some contexts: he will browse

So by itself, يتصفح can mean either:

• he browses
• he is browsing

The exact meaning depends on context.

It is pronounced approximately:

yataṣaffaḥu

A few helpful notes:

• ya- = the usual beginning of many he verbs in the imperfect
• ṣ = an emphatic s
• ff = the ف is doubled because of the shadda
• ḥ = a strong breathy h from deeper in the throat

So the word has a doubled middle consonant:

• yata-ṣaf-fa-ḥu

It comes from the past-tense verb تصفّح.

This is a Form V verb in traditional Arabic grammar.

A useful way to think about it:

• root letters: ص ف ح
• past: تصفّح
• imperfect: يتصفّح

The verb often means:

• to leaf through
• to browse
• to inspect pages
• to look through something written

So it fits very naturally with things like:

• books
• magazines
• catalogs
• documents
• websites in modern usage

Because this is an iḍāfa construction, often called a genitive construction or noun annexation.

فهرس المكتبة literally means:

• catalog of the library

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun is the thing possessed or defined: فهرس
• the second noun tells whose/what kind: المكتبة

Important rules:

1. The first noun usually does not take الـ
2. The second noun can be definite, and that makes the whole phrase definite

So:

• فهرس مكتبة = a library catalog or catalog of a library
• فهرس المكتبة = the library catalog or catalog of the library

That is exactly how iḍāfa works.

In فهرس المكتبة:

• فهرس is the first noun in the iḍāfa
• المكتبة is the second noun

The first noun in an iḍāfa normally does not take الـ.

The definiteness of the whole phrase is controlled by the second noun:

• فهرس مكتبة = indefinite
• فهرس المكتبة = definite

So even without الـ, فهرس is understood as definite here because the whole phrase is definite.

In fully vocalized formal Arabic, it would typically be:

هُوَ يَتَصَفَّحُ فِهْرِسَ الْمَكْتَبَةِ

The endings are:

• هو = fixed pronoun, not marked like a normal noun
• يتصفحُ = verb in the indicative, ending in -u
• فهرسَ = direct object, so accusative
• المكتبةِ = second term of the iḍāfa, so genitive

So grammatically:

• verb: marfūʿ / indicative
• object: manṣūb / accusative
• second noun in iḍāfa: majrūr / genitive

In normal everyday writing, these endings are usually not written.

Because Arabic expresses that definiteness through the iḍāfa construction, not by putting الـ on the first noun.

Compare:

• فهرس المكتبة = the library catalog
• literally: catalog of the library

Even though فهرس does not have الـ, the phrase as a whole is definite because المكتبة is definite.

This is very common in Arabic:

• باب البيت = the door of the house / the house door
• مدير المدرسة = the principal of the school

Yes. This sentence uses a very common order:

• هو = subject
• يتصفح = verb
• فهرس المكتبة = object

This gives a subject–verb–object pattern.

Arabic also often uses verb–subject–object, especially in more formal styles:

• يتصفحُ هو فهرسَ المكتبة is grammatically possible but not the most natural way to say it
• more naturally, you would usually say either:
  • يتصفح فهرس المكتبة
  • هو يتصفح فهرس المكتبة

So the given sentence is perfectly normal and clear.

Because in Arabic, present-tense sentences usually do not use a separate word for is/am/are in this kind of structure.

The verb itself carries the meaning:

• يتصفح = he browses / he is browsing

Arabic does have the verb كان for was / used to be, and related forms can help express time, but in a simple present sentence like this, no separate is is needed.

Yes. فهرس can mean:

• catalog
• index
• table/listing, depending on context

In فهرس المكتبة, the most natural meaning is usually:

• the library catalog

But in another context, فهرس might refer to an index at the back of a book or a list of contents.

It would be:

هي تتصفح فهرس المكتبة

Changes:

• هو becomes هي
• يتصفح becomes تتصفح

That is because the imperfect verb changes to match the subject’s gender:

• هو يتصفح = he browses
• هي تتصفح = she browses

Not always. مكتبة can mean:

• library
• sometimes bookstore / bookshop, depending on context

But in Modern Standard Arabic, with فهرس المكتبة, the intended meaning is very naturally the library catalog.

So here, المكتبة is best understood as the library.

Most learners will see it written simply as:

هو يتصفح فهرس المكتبة

And read it approximately as:

huwa yataṣaffaḥ fihris al-maktaba

In careful formal pronunciation, the final short vowels may be pronounced, but in most unvocalized text they are not shown, and many speakers do not fully pronounce all case endings in ordinary speech.

So for learning purposes, recognizing the structure matters more than always saying every final vowel.