يتدرب المرشح على مقابلة العمل كي لا يكون متوترا.

Because this is a normal verbal sentence in Arabic. In Modern Standard Arabic, it is very common to begin a sentence with the verb:

يتدرب المرشح...

This is the most neutral, straightforward order.

You could also say:

المرشح يتدرب...

That is also correct, but it sounds more like you are putting extra focus on the candidate as the topic.

The dictionary form is تدرّب.

يتدرب is the imperfect form, third person masculine singular, so it means he trains / he practices.

The prefix يـ is one of the markers of the imperfect verb. Here it matches المرشح, which is masculine singular.

So:

• تدرّب = to train / to practice
• يتدرّب = he trains / he is training / he practices

Because تدرّب commonly takes the preposition على in Arabic.

So:

• تدرّب على شيء = to train for / practice / work on something

This is one of those cases where Arabic and English do not match word-for-word in their prepositions. A learner should memorize the combination:

تدرّب على

not just the verb by itself.

It is an iḍāfa construction, often called a genitive construction or noun annexation.

It is made of:

• مقابلة = interview
• العمل = the work / the job

Together, مقابلة العمل means the job interview.

Important points about iḍāfa:

• the first noun usually does not take ال
• the second noun can make the whole phrase definite

So Arabic says:

• مقابلة العمل

not:

• المقابلة العمل

Because in an iḍāfa construction, the first noun normally does not take ال.

The definiteness comes from the second noun:

• العمل is definite
• therefore the whole phrase مقابلة العمل is definite

So even though English says the job interview, Arabic expresses that definiteness through the structure, not by putting ال on both words.

Yes. This is a very common learner question.

When مقابلة is by itself, the ة is usually pronounced like -a in pause:

• مقابلة = muqābala

But in an iḍāfa construction, the ة is pronounced as t:

• مقابلة العمل = muqābalat al-ʿamal

So the tāʾ marbūṭa becomes clearly audible here.

كي means so that or in order that.

It introduces a purpose clause. After كي, the imperfect verb is normally in the subjunctive.

So in fully vowelled Arabic, this would be:

• كي لا يكونَ

not:

• كي لا يكونُ

In ordinary unvowelled writing, you usually just see يكون, so the case ending is not visible.

No. Here لا is not a command and not a prohibition.

It is just negation inside the purpose clause:

• كي لا يكون متوترا = so that he will not be nervous

So the sentence is describing the reason for practicing. It is not telling him do not be nervous.

That distinction matters:

• لا here = negative not
• not the prohibitive لا used to give commands

يكون متوترا describes a state:

• to be nervous

By contrast, يتوتر often suggests becoming nervous or getting tense.

So the original sentence focuses on the result the candidate wants to avoid: being in a nervous state during the interview.

Both can be natural in Arabic, but they are not exactly identical:

• كي لا يكون متوترا = so that he is not nervous
• كي لا يتوتر = so that he does not get nervous / does not become tense

Because it is the predicate of يكون.

With كان / يكون and its sisters, the predicate is normally accusative.

So in fully vowelled form:

• مُتَوَتِّرًا

The ending -an is the accusative indefinite ending.

This is why you see the written form متوترا in ordinary spelling.

A fully vowelled version would be:

يَتَدَرَّبُ المُرَشَّحُ عَلَى مُقَابَلَةِ العَمَلِ كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ مُتَوَتِّرًا.

Main grammar points:

• يَتَدَرَّبُ: imperfect verb, indicative
• المُرَشَّحُ: subject, nominative
• عَلَى مُقَابَلَةِ: after a preposition, so مقابلةِ is genitive
• العَمَلِ: second term of iḍāfa, also genitive
• يَكُونَ: subjunctive after كي
• مُتَوَتِّرًا: predicate of يكون, accusative

This sentence is a good example of several important MSA patterns at once: verbal sentence order, verb + preposition, iḍāfa, and purpose clause with كي.