صديقي يتطوع اليوم.

صديق means friend. When you add ـي at the end, it means my, so صديقي means my friend.

This ـي is the first-person singular possessive suffix. It attaches directly to the noun:

• صديق = a friend / friend
• صديقي = my friend

It is pronounced roughly ṣadīqī.

A helpful breakdown:

• ص = an emphatic s
• دي = dī
• ق = a deep q sound, not an English k
• final ي = long ee

So: ṣa-dī-qī

In Arabic, possession is often shown by attaching a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate word like English my.

So Arabic says:

• صديقي = literally friend-my

This is completely normal Arabic structure.

يتطوع is the present-tense verb meaning he volunteers, he is volunteering, or sometimes he volunteers as a volunteer depending on context.

Because Arabic present tense can cover several English meanings, يتطوع can be understood as:

• he volunteers
• he is volunteering
• he does volunteer

The context decides the best English translation.

In the present tense, Arabic verbs often begin with a prefix that shows the subject.

In يتطوع, the يـ shows third person masculine singular:

• he volunteers
• he is volunteering

That fits صديقي, because صديق is masculine singular.

The subject صديقي is singular and masculine, so the verb is also singular masculine: يتطوع.

If the subject were feminine, you would use a different form:

• صديقتي تتطوع اليوم = My female friend volunteers today

It is the present/imperfect form.

In Arabic, this form can express:

• present: he volunteers
• ongoing present: he is volunteering
• near future, sometimes with context or a future marker

If you want a clear future meaning, Arabic often adds:

• سـ or سوف

For example:

• سيتطوع صديقي اليوم = My friend will volunteer today

يتطوع comes from the root ط و ع, which is related to willingness or voluntary action.

This verb is from Form V: تطوّع / يتطوّع.

For a learner, the most useful thing to know is:

• dictionary/past form: تطوّع
• present form: يتطوّع
• meaning: to volunteer

You do not need to master all verb forms immediately, but recognizing that this is a derived verb pattern can help later.

Both are possible in Arabic.

• صديقي يتطوع اليوم = My friend volunteers today
• يتطوع صديقي اليوم = also My friend volunteers today

The first starts with the subject, which can feel a bit more like emphasizing my friend.

The second starts with the verb, which is also very common in Arabic.

In this sentence, the meaning stays basically the same.

اليوم means today.

Here it functions as an adverb of time, telling you when the action happens:

• صديقي يتطوع اليوم = My friend volunteers today

So the sentence is:

• صديقي = my friend
• يتطوع = volunteers / is volunteering
• اليوم = today

That is just how the Arabic word is normally formed: اليوم.

Even though الـ is often the, you should learn اليوم as the standard word for today. It does not need to be translated word-for-word as the day here.

So:

• اليوم = today

In full formal Arabic, yes, there can be case endings, but they are often not written in normal text and are often not pronounced in everyday careful reading unless the context is very formal.

A fully vocalized version could look like:

• صديقي يتطوّعُ اليومَ

Here:

• يتطوّعُ ends in ـُ because it is a present tense verb in the indicative
• اليومَ can take ـَ because it is functioning as an adverb of time

With صديقي, the case is not obvious on the surface because of the attached my suffix.

For beginners, it is usually enough to understand the sentence without worrying too much about the endings at first.

Yes. Arabic present tense often covers both ideas.

So depending on context, يتطوع may be translated as:

• volunteers
• is volunteering

English forces you to choose between simple present and present progressive more often than Arabic does.

Yes. صديقي normally refers to a male friend, because the noun صديق is masculine.

For a female friend, you would say:

• صديقتي = my female friend

Then the verb would also usually be feminine:

• صديقتي تتطوع اليوم = My female friend is volunteering today

Yes. You can say:

• صديقي يتطوع = My friend volunteers / is volunteering

That is still a complete sentence. Adding اليوم just gives a specific time reference:

• today

As written, صديقي يتطوع اليوم begins with a noun, so many learners think of it as a sentence starting with the subject.

Practically speaking, it contains:

• a noun phrase: صديقي
• a verbal predicate: يتطوع اليوم

If you changed the order to يتطوع صديقي اليوم, it would more clearly be a verbal sentence starting with the verb.

For a beginner, the main point is that Arabic allows both word orders, and both are correct.