صديقي يتبنى قطة.

صديقي means my friend.

It is made of:

• صديق = friend
• ـي = the suffix meaning my

So:

• صديق = friend
• صديقي = my friend

That final ـي is a possessive suffix. It is attached directly to the noun.

Because Arabic usually does not use الـ with a noun when it already has a possessive suffix like ـي.

So you say:

• صديقي = my friend

not normally:

• الصديقي

The possessive suffix already makes the noun definite, since my friend is already a specific person.

يتبنى is in the present/imperfect form.

In Modern Standard Arabic, this form can mean different things depending on context, including:

• adopts
• is adopting
• does adopt

So صديقي يتبنى قطة could mean:

• My friend adopts a cat
• My friend is adopting a cat

In natural translation, is adopting is often the most likely in this kind of sentence, but the Arabic form itself is simply the present/imperfect.

يتبنى comes from the verb تَبَنّى, which means to adopt.

Its present form is:

• يَتَبَنّى = he adopts / he is adopting

So in the sentence:

• صديقي يتبنى قطة
• My friend is adopting a cat

The يـ at the beginning often marks he in the present tense.

The final ى is called alif maqṣūra. It looks like ى but represents a final long ā sound.

So يتبنى is pronounced roughly like:

• yatabannā

not:

• yatabannī

This spelling is normal for some verbs and nouns in Arabic. It is just part of how this verb is written.

Because the verb تَبَنّى / يَتَبَنّى contains a shadda on the ن in its fully vowelled form:

• يَتَبَنَّى

That means the n sound is doubled or held a little longer.

So the pronunciation is approximately:

• ya-ta-ban-nā

not:

• ya-ta-ba-nā

Even if the shadda is not written in everyday text, it is understood.

The word قطة means a cat and ends in ة, called tāʾ marbūṭa.

This ending is very common on feminine nouns. Since cat here is grammatically feminine in this form, it appears as:

• قطة

In pause, it is usually pronounced like -a:

• qiṭṭa

If case endings are fully pronounced in formal reading, the t sound can reappear before the ending.

Because قطة here means a cat, not the cat.

So:

• قطة = a cat
• القطة = the cat

In the sentence, the speaker is introducing the cat as an unspecified cat, so the indefinite form is used.

A careful pronunciation would be approximately:

• ṣadīqī yatabannā qiṭṭatan

In normal pause, many learners will hear or say it more like:

• ṣadīqī yatabannā qiṭṭa

A rough English-friendly guide:

• sa-DEE-qee ya-ta-BAN-naa QIT-ta

A few notes:

• ص is a heavier, emphatic s
• ق is a deep q sound, not an English k
• ط is a heavier, emphatic t
• ي in صديقي gives the my meaning and is pronounced -ee

Arabic allows more than one common word order.

This sentence is:

• صديقي يتبنى قطة
• literally: My friend adopts a cat

This starts with the subject صديقي, then gives information about him. That is very natural.

You could also say:

• يتبنى صديقي قطة

This is also grammatical and means essentially the same thing.

Very broadly:

• صديقي يتبنى قطة can feel a bit like My friend is adopting a cat
• يتبنى صديقي قطة can feel a bit more like My friend adopts/is adopting a cat, with the action introduced first

Both are correct, but the original sentence is very straightforward for learners.

Because صديقي means my male friend.

So the verb appears in the 3rd person masculine singular form:

• يتبنى = he adopts / he is adopting

If the friend were female, you would say:

• صديقتي تتبنى قطة
• My female friend is adopting a cat

Notice the changes:

• صديقي = my male friend
• صديقتي = my female friend
• يتبنى = he adopts
• تتبنى = she adopts

It would be:

• صَديقي يَتَبَنّى قِطَّةً

This shows the short vowels and the case ending more clearly.

Breaking it down:

• صَديقي = my friend
• يَتَبَنّى = is adopting / adopts
• قِطَّةً = a cat

In ordinary writing, these vowels are usually omitted:

• صديقي يتبنى قطة

Because when a noun is indefinite and in the direct object role, it can take tanwīn fatḥ.

Here, قطة is the object of the verb يتبنى, so in fully marked Arabic you may see:

• قِطَّةً

That final ً marks indefiniteness together with the accusative case.

However, in normal everyday Arabic writing, these endings are usually left out, so learners most often see:

• قطة

No, in this sentence يتبنى means adopts.

The verb تَبَنّى can also be used more broadly in Arabic for adopting ideas, policies, or positions, like adopting a plan or adopting an opinion. But with قطة as the object, the meaning is clearly literal:

• He is adopting a cat

So the context makes the intended meaning obvious.