يتكلم المرشح مثل المحاور.

A careful reading is:

yatakallamu al-murashshaḥu mithla al-muḥāwiri

If fully vowelled, it is:

يَتَكَلَّمُ المُرَشَّحُ مِثْلَ المُحَاوِرِ

A few pronunciation notes:

• يتكلم = ya-ta-kal-la-mu
• مرشح has a doubled sh sound because of the shadda: murashshaḥ
• ح in مرشح and محاور is the strong Arabic ḥ, not the English h
• ال is pronounced al- here, because م is a moon letter, so there is no assimilation

يتكلم means he speaks or he is speaking.

In MSA, the present tense often covers both:

• simple present: he speaks
• present continuous: he is speaking

So the exact English translation depends on context.

This verb comes from تكلّم, which means to speak or to talk.

Because Arabic often uses verb–subject word order, especially in formal written language.

So:

• يتكلم المرشح مثل المحاور = The candidate speaks like the interviewer

This is very normal in MSA.

You could also say:

• المرشح يتكلم مثل المحاور

That puts more emphasis on the candidate. Both are grammatical, but the verb-first order is very common in standard Arabic.

The subject is المرشح = the candidate.

So the sentence breaks down like this:

• يتكلم = speaks / is speaking
• المرشح = the candidate
• مثل المحاور = like the interviewer

In a fully vowelled version, المرشحُ ends with -u because it is the subject.

مثل means like or similar to here.

In this structure, it behaves like a noun in an iḍāfa construction:

• مثلَ المحاورِ = like the interviewer

So:

• مثلَ is typically in the accusative here
• المحاورِ is genitive because it is the second part of the iḍāfa

That is why the fully vowelled phrase is:

مِثْلَ المُحَاوِرِ

A useful way to think about it is that مثل introduces comparison.

Because مثل is followed by a noun in an iḍāfa structure.

So the relationship is:

• مثلَ + noun in genitive

Examples:

• مثلَ المعلمِ = like the teacher
• مثلَ الطالبِ = like the student
• مثلَ المحاورِ = like the interviewer

Even though English uses a separate word like, Arabic often expresses this with مثل plus a following genitive noun.

Yes. You can also say:

يتكلم المرشح كالمحاور

This also means The candidate speaks like the interviewer.

The difference is mostly stylistic in a simple sentence like this:

• مثل المحاور = like the interviewer
• كالمحاور = like the interviewer / as the interviewer does

Both are common and correct. A learner will see both patterns.

Because both are definite here:

• المرشح = the candidate
• المحاور = the interviewer

If you wanted an indefinite meaning, you would remove الـ.

For example:

• يتكلم مرشح مثل محاور = a candidate speaks like an interviewer

In real Arabic, whether you use the definite or indefinite form depends on the context and what is already known to the listener.

Not always. المحاور can mean:

• interviewer
• interlocutor
• discussion partner
• someone who engages in dialogue

So its exact meaning depends on context.

If the sentence comes from a job-interview context, interviewer is a natural translation. In another context, it could simply mean the person he is speaking with or his dialogue partner.

A fully vowelled version is:

يَتَكَلَّمُ المُرَشَّحُ مِثْلَ المُحَاوِرِ

Here is why:

• يَتَكَلَّمُ
  Present tense verb in the indicative, so it ends in -u

• المُرَشَّحُ
  Subject of the verb, so it is nominative: -u

• مِثْلَ
  Used adverbially in the sense of like, so it is commonly accusative: -a

• المُحَاوِرِ
  Second term of the iḍāfa after مثل, so it is genitive: -i

In normal Arabic writing, these short vowels are usually not written, which is why you see:

يتكلم المرشح مثل المحاور

It can mean both.

Depending on context, يتكلم can describe:

• the act of speaking right now
• someone's style or manner of speaking
• the language someone speaks

In this sentence, it most naturally describes the way the candidate speaks, meaning that his speaking style resembles the interviewer’s.

So the sentence could imply similarity in:

• tone
• manner
• vocabulary
• style of expression

not just the bare fact that both people are talking.