في المدينة ألف شخص تقريبا.

Arabic often puts the location first when the meaning is something like there are ... in ....

So:

في المدينة ألف شخص تقريبا
literally feels like: In the city, about a thousand people.

This is a very natural Arabic way to express existence. English uses there are, but Arabic often just uses a prepositional phrase + noun phrase.

So instead of saying There are about a thousand people in the city, Arabic can simply say:

In the city [there are] about a thousand people.

The there are idea is understood from the structure.

Yes, in a sense the verb is understood, not spoken.

In present-tense Arabic, sentences like this often have no written or spoken verb for is/are. This is very common.

So:

في المدينة ألف شخص تقريبا

does not need a word meaning are.

If you wanted a more explicit verbal sentence, you could say:

يوجد في المدينة ألف شخص تقريبا
There are about a thousand people in the city.

But the original sentence is completely natural and common.

This is one of the most important number rules in Arabic.

After ألف (a thousand), the counted noun is usually singular.

So Arabic says:

ألف شخص
literally: a thousand person

but in English we translate it naturally as:

a thousand people

This is normal Arabic grammar. The same general pattern happens after hundred and thousand expressions.

So even though English uses a plural idea, Arabic uses the singular noun after ألف.

Because after ألف, Arabic normally uses the counted noun in the singular, not the plural.

So:

• ألف شخص = correct
• ألف أشخاص = not the normal standard pattern here

This is because ألف behaves somewhat like a noun of quantity, and the following noun comes in a singular form.

So for learners, the easiest rule is:

• after 100 and 1000, use a singular noun

Examples:

• مئة كتاب = a hundred books
• ألف شخص = a thousand people

In fully vowelled Modern Standard Arabic, it would typically be:

فِي الْمَدِينَةِ أَلْفُ شَخْصٍ تَقْرِيبًا

Here is why:

• في makes the following noun genitive, so: المدينةِ
• ألفُ is nominative here
• شخصٍ is genitive after ألف
• تقريبًا is usually accusative as an adverb

So the full pronunciation is roughly:

fī al-madīnati alfu shakhṣin taqrīban

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

Because in this sentence, ألف شخص is the main subject-like element of the sentence, while في المدينة comes first as a location phrase.

A traditional grammar explanation is:

• في المدينة = a fronted predicate-like phrase
• ألفُ شخصٍ = a delayed subject-like phrase

That is why ألفُ is in the nominative.

You do not need to master the grammar labels right away, but it helps to know that the sentence structure is something like:

In the city + [there is] a thousand people

and the number phrase is grammatically the main noun phrase.

تقريبا means approximately / roughly.

In Arabic, it is very natural to place it after the quantity it modifies:

ألف شخص تقريبا = about a thousand people

That placement sounds normal and natural.

You may also see other ways to express the same idea, such as:

• حوالي ألف شخص
• نحو ألف شخص
• قرابة ألف شخص

All of these can mean about a thousand people.

So the original sentence is following a very common pattern: number + noun + approximately

Usually, with تقريبا itself, the most common placement is after the number phrase:

ألف شخص تقريبا

That said, Arabic often prefers other words when the approximation comes before the number, such as:

• حوالي ألف شخص
• نحو ألف شخص

These are often more natural than putting تقريبا before the number.

So for a learner, a good safe pattern is:

• ألف شخص تقريبا
• حوالي ألف شخص

Because they are doing different jobs in the sentence.

• المدينة = the city, a specific known place
• ألف شخص = a thousand people, an indefinite quantity

Arabic often uses an indefinite noun phrase after a location phrase when introducing existence:

في المدينة رجل = There is a man in the city
في المدينة مدرسة = There is a school in the city
في المدينة ألف شخص = There are a thousand people in the city

So this combination is very normal:

• definite place
• indefinite thing/quantity that exists there

Yes, absolutely.

في المدينة يوجد ألف شخص تقريبا is grammatical and clear.

It is slightly more explicit because يوجد directly gives the meaning there exists / there is / there are.

Compare:

• في المدينة ألف شخص تقريبا = very natural, concise
• في المدينة يوجد ألف شخص تقريبا = also natural, a bit more explicit

Both are fine in Modern Standard Arabic.

By itself, شخص means person.

But after numbers like ألف, Arabic still uses the singular noun form even when the meaning in English is plural.

So:

• شخص = person
• ألف شخص = a thousand people

This is a grammar issue, not a meaning problem. The phrase clearly refers to many people, even though the noun appears in the singular form.

In careful Modern Standard Arabic, especially in formal reading, news, or recitation, the full endings would be:

فِي الْمَدِينَةِ أَلْفُ شَخْصٍ تَقْرِيبًا

But in much real-life spoken usage, speakers often reduce or omit many final short vowels.

So you may hear something closer to:

في المدينة ألف شخص تقريبًا

without clearly pronouncing every ending.

For learning purposes:

• it is good to know the full grammar
• but it is also normal that everyday pronunciation is less fully marked

A very literal breakdown is:

• في = in
• المدينة = the city
• ألف = a thousand
• شخص = person
• تقريبا = approximately

So literally:

In the city, a thousand person approximately

Natural English: There are approximately a thousand people in the city.