هو يرمي النرد.

Because Arabic does not use a present-tense to be in sentences like this.

So يرمي by itself can mean:

• he throws
• he is throwing

Arabic relies on context to decide whether the meaning is simple present or present progressive.

هو means he.

You do not always have to include it, because the verb يرمي already tells you the subject is he. So both of these are possible:

• هو يرمي النرد
• يرمي النرد

Including هو can add clarity or emphasis, a bit like saying he explicitly in English.

The verb يرمي is in the imperfect form, which covers present and sometimes future meanings.

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

• يرمي = he throws / he is throwing

This is why Arabic often does not need a separate subject pronoun.

This verb comes from رمى, which is a weak verb, more specifically a defective verb.

Its root is:

• ر م ي

In the imperfect/present form, this type of verb often ends in a long ī sound:

• رمى = he threw
• يرمي = he throws / is throwing

So the ending is normal for this verb type.

Literally, يرمي means throws.

But with dice, English usually says roll the dice, while Arabic commonly uses يرمي النرد, literally throws the dice. So in this context, throw and roll are both good ways to understand it.

النرد usually refers to dice as a set, so learners can usually understand it as the dice or just dice.

A single die can be نردة.

So:

• نردة = one die
• نرد = dice

In this sentence, النرد is the object being thrown or rolled.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• نرد = dice
• النرد = the dice

In context, this can mean a specific set of dice, or it can sound natural in a general game situation, much like English He rolls the dice.

In careful pronunciation, the ل of الـ is not pronounced normally here, because ن is a sun letter.

So النرد is pronounced more like:

• an-nard

not:

• al-nard

If full case endings are pronounced, the object form would be an-narda. In pause, you would usually hear an-nard.

In fully vowelled formal Arabic, the direct object would take the accusative ending:

• النردَ

So the fully marked sentence would be:

• هو يرمي النردَ

But in normal Arabic writing, short vowels and case endings are usually omitted, so you simply see:

• هو يرمي النرد

This is completely normal.

Yes, this word order is normal.

Arabic very often uses verb + subject + object, so you could also say:

• يرمي النرد

But هو يرمي النرد is also correct. Starting with هو makes the subject more explicit and can add emphasis or contrast.

So both are grammatical; they just feel slightly different in focus.

Yes. The Arabic imperfect tense can cover both meanings.

So depending on context, هو يرمي النرد can mean:

• He throws the dice
• He is throwing the dice

English forces you to choose more often than Arabic does.

Not really. نرد can be associated with dice and also with games involving dice, including backgammon in some contexts.

But in هو يرمي النرد, the verb يرمي makes the meaning clear: he is throwing/rolling dice, not simply playing backgammon.