يفسد الطعام.

In normal Arabic writing, short vowels are usually not written, so يفسد الطعام can be ambiguous.

Two possible readings are:

• يَفْسُدُ الطَّعَامُ = the food spoils / goes bad
• يُفْسِدُ الطَّعَامَ = he/it spoils the food

The difference comes from:

• the vowel pattern of the verb
• the case ending on الطعام

So if the meaning has already been given to you, that tells you which reading is intended.

The root is ف س د.

This root has the general idea of:

• spoilage
• فساد, corruption
• going bad
• being unsound or ruined

From this same root, Arabic makes different verb patterns, such as:

• فَسَدَ / يَفْسُدُ = to spoil, to go bad
• أَفْسَدَ / يُفْسِدُ = to spoil something, to ruin something

So the root meaning stays related, but the exact pattern changes the grammar and nuance.

If the intended meaning is the food spoils, then الطعام is the subject, even though it comes after the verb.

That is normal in Arabic. A very common sentence pattern is:

• verb + subject

So يَفْسُدُ الطَّعَامُ is a normal verbal sentence.

English usually prefers subject + verb, so this can feel backward at first. But in Arabic, verb-first order is very common.

Yes. If you mean the food spoils, you can also say:

• الطعام يفسد

Both this and يفسد الطعام are possible.

Very roughly:

• يَفْسُدُ الطَّعَامُ sounds like a neutral verbal sentence
• الطَّعَامُ يَفْسُدُ puts more attention on the food as the topic

At an early stage, it is enough to know that both can be correct, but the verb-first version is very common in MSA.

يفسد is in the imperfect form.

In Arabic, the imperfect can express:

• present time
• habitual action
• general truths
• sometimes future, depending on context

So, depending on context, it can mean things like:

• the food is spoiling
• the food spoils
• the food goes bad

The exact English translation depends on the situation, not just the verb form by itself.

The ending helps show the noun's role in the sentence.

Compare:

• الطَّعَامُ with -u: nominative, often the subject
• الطَّعَامَ with -a: accusative, often the object

So:

• يَفْسُدُ الطَّعَامُ = the food spoils
• يُفْسِدُ الطَّعَامَ = he/it spoils the food

In everyday written Arabic, these short vowels are usually omitted, which is why context is so important.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• طعام = food / a food / food in a general sense, depending on context
• الطعام = the food

In this sentence, الطعام is definite, so it refers to the food rather than just food in a vague sense.

If the intended meaning is the food spoils, the full pronunciation is:

• يَفْسُدُ الطَّعَامُ
• yafsudu al-ṭaʿāmu

A few pronunciation notes:

• ط is an emphatic t
• ع in طعام is the letter ʿayn, which has no exact English equivalent
• ا in طعام gives a long aa sound

At the end of a sentence, speakers often pause and do not fully pronounce the final case vowel, so you may hear something closer to yafsudu al-ṭaʿām.

If the meaning is the food spoils, a basic negation is:

• لا يفسد الطعام = the food does not spoil

If you want a future sense, you can also say:

• لن يفسد الطعام = the food will not spoil

So the choice of negative word depends on the time meaning you want.