يتفقد الكهربائي صندوق المصاهر.

Because Arabic very often uses verb–subject–object word order, especially in straightforward statements.

So this sentence is structured as:

• يتفقد = checks / inspects
• الكهربائي = the electrician
• صندوق المصاهر = the fuse box

This is a normal Arabic pattern:

• Verb + Subject + Object

Arabic can also use subject–verb–object in some contexts, but starting with the verb is extremely common in Modern Standard Arabic.

يتفقد is a present-tense verb, specifically 3rd person masculine singular: he inspects / he checks.

It comes from the verb تفقّد.

A useful full form to know is:

• تفقّد = he inspected / checked
• يتفقد = he inspects / is inspecting / checks

In Arabic dictionaries, verbs are often grouped by their root letters. Here the root is related to ف ق د, and the patterned form تفقّد gives the sense of examining carefully, inspecting, checking on.

So يتفقد الكهربائي literally means:

• the electrician inspects or
• the electrician is inspecting

The exact English tense depends on context.

All of those can be correct depending on context.

The Arabic present tense often covers several English ideas:

• he checks
• he is checking
• he inspects
• he is inspecting

Without more context, يتفقد simply tells you the action is in the present/imperfect. English forces you to choose between simple present and present progressive more often than Arabic does.

So in a neutral sentence like this, any natural English equivalent such as The electrician checks the fuse box or The electrician is inspecting the fuse box can work.

الكهربائي means the electrician.

It is built from كهرباء (electricity) plus the occupational ending -ي, which often creates an adjective or profession-related noun.

So:

• كهرباء = electricity
• كهربائي = electrical / electrician

In this sentence, الكهربائي is a noun meaning electrician, not just an adjective.

Because it has الـ, it means the electrician, not just an electrician.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• كهربائي = an electrician / electrician
• الكهربائي = the electrician

and

• مصاهر = fuses
• المصاهر = the fuses

However, in صندوق المصاهر, the whole phrase means the fuse box even though only the second word has الـ. That happens because this is an iḍāfa construction, which Arabic uses to express possession or a of relationship.

Because this is an iḍāfa construction, often translated as X of Y.

Here:

• صندوق = box
• المصاهر = the fuses

So literally:

• صندوق المصاهر = box of the fuses

In natural English, that becomes the fuse box.

In an iḍāfa construction, the first noun usually does not take الـ if the phrase is being made definite through the second noun.

So:

• صندوق المصاهر = the fuse box
• not الصندوق المصاهر

That second version would not be the normal way to form this structure.

Because in an iḍāfa construction, definiteness spreads from the second noun to the whole phrase.

So:

• صندوق مصاهر = a box of fuses / a fuse box
• صندوق المصاهر = the box of the fuses / the fuse box

Even though صندوق itself has no الـ, the whole phrase becomes definite because المصاهر is definite.

This is a very important Arabic pattern.

المصاهر is the plural of مِصهَر, which means fuse in this context.

So:

• مِصهَر = fuse
• المصاهر = the fuses

Therefore:

• صندوق المصاهر = box of the fuses
• natural English: fuse box

Arabic often uses a plural in places where English may prefer a compound noun like fuse box.

Because the two languages build compound ideas differently.

Arabic is literally saying:

• box of the fuses

That makes good sense, because a fuse box contains multiple fuses.

English often uses a singular noun before another noun in compounds:

• fuse box
• shoe store
• toothbrush

Arabic often prefers a noun + noun relationship like box of fuses, which is why the plural appears naturally here.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• يتفقد = the verb
• الكهربائي = the subject
• صندوق المصاهر = the direct object

So the electrician is the one doing the action, and the fuse box is the thing being checked.

If full case endings were written, it would be:

• يَتَفَقَّدُ الكَهْرَبَائِيُّ صُنْدُوقَ الْمَصَاهِرِ

Those endings show:

• الكهربائيُّ = nominative, because it is the subject
• صندوقَ = accusative, because it is the direct object
• المصاهرِ = genitive, because it is the second term in an iḍāfa

Because in Arabic, the subject does not have to come before the verb.

In this sentence:

• يتفقد comes first
• الكهربائي comes second

Even so, الكهربائي is still the subject because of the sentence structure and, in fully vocalized Arabic, the case ending.

So Arabic does not rely only on word order the way English often does. It also uses grammatical marking and standard sentence patterns.

This is a classic Arabic rule.

When the verb comes before the subject, the verb is usually singular, even if the subject is plural.

In this sentence, the subject is singular anyway, so the form matches naturally:

• يتفقد = he checks
• الكهربائي = the electrician

But the rule is still worth noticing because it matters in other sentences.

For example, with a plural subject after the verb, Arabic would often still keep the verb singular.

Yes. That is also possible.

That version uses subject–verb–object order:

• الكهربائي = the electrician
• يتفقد = checks
• صندوق المصاهر = the fuse box

Both are grammatical, but they can feel slightly different in emphasis or style.

• يتفقد الكهربائي صندوق المصاهر is a very standard verbal sentence.
• الكهربائي يتفقد صندوق المصاهر puts the subject first and can feel a bit more topic-focused: The electrician is checking the fuse box.

Yes. In normal everyday Arabic writing, short vowel case endings are usually omitted.

The fully vocalized sentence would be:

• يَتَفَقَّدُ الكَهْرَبَائِيُّ صُنْدُوقَ الْمَصَاهِرِ

These endings show the grammar:

• ـُ on يتفقدُ = indicative present
• ـُ on الكهربائيُّ = nominative subject
• ـَ on صندوقَ = accusative object
• ـِ on المصاهرِ = genitive after iḍāfa

In normal text, you usually just see:

• يتفقد الكهربائي صندوق المصاهر

A careful pronunciation is:

• yatafaqqadu al-kahrabāʾiyyu ṣundūqa al-maṣāhiri

A few notes:

• يتفقد is pronounced roughly ya-ta-faq-qa-du
• الكهربائي contains a long ā and a hamza before the final ī
• صندوق is ṣundūq
• المصاهر is al-maṣāhir

If you are reading without case endings in ordinary text, learners often say something closer to:

• yatafaqqad al-kahrabāʾī ṣundūq al-maṣāhir

That is common in practice, even if the fully inflected reading is more formal.

It is usually stronger than just looks at.

يتفقد often suggests:

• checking carefully
• inspecting
• examining
• looking over

So for an electrician and a fuse box, checks or inspects is usually the best translation.

Looks at would sound weaker and less precise in most contexts.

Yes. Literally, that is exactly what it means:

• صندوق = box
• المصاهر = the fuses

So the literal meaning is box of the fuses.

But in natural English, the standard equivalent is fuse box. That is why translations usually choose the more idiomatic English expression instead of a word-for-word version.