يجلس الناس حول الطاولة.

يجلس is the imperfect form of the verb جلس, meaning to sit.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the imperfect can express:

• a present action: is sitting / sits
• a habitual action: sits
• sometimes a near-future meaning, depending on context

So in this sentence, يجلس الناس حول الطاولة can mean something like People sit around the table or The people are sitting around the table, depending on context.

Grammatically, يجلس here is 3rd person masculine singular.

Because verb-first word order is very common in Standard Arabic.

So:

• يجلس الناس حول الطاولة = verb first
• literally: sits the people around the table

This is a normal Arabic sentence pattern, often called VSO (verb-subject-object/complement).

English usually prefers subject first, but Arabic often allows both. Starting with the verb is especially common in neutral description and formal style.

This is one of the most important grammar points in Standard Arabic.

When the verb comes before an explicit plural subject, the verb is usually singular, not plural.

So:

• يجلس الناس = correct verb-first structure
• even though الناس means people

The verb still agrees in gender, but not usually in full number when it comes before the subject.

That is why you get:

• يجلس الناس
  not
• يجلسون الناس

If the subject comes first, then full plural agreement is used:

• الناس يجلسون حول الطاولة

Yes, absolutely.

This is also correct Standard Arabic:

• الناس يجلسون حول الطاولة

The difference is mainly in word order and agreement:

• يجلس الناس حول الطاولة = verb first, so the verb is singular
• الناس يجلسون حول الطاولة = subject first, so the verb is plural

Both mean basically the same thing.

Very roughly:

• يجلس الناس... can sound a bit more neutral or narrative
• الناس يجلسون... can put a little more focus on the people

الناس is the usual Standard Arabic word for people.

Even though it contains الـ, it often means people in a general sense, not only the people in a specific sense.

So depending on context, الناس can mean:

• people
• the people

In Modern Standard Arabic, الناس is the normal form you will see most often.
The form ناس exists, but الناس is the standard everyday dictionary form for people in this kind of sentence.

Also, because ن is a sun letter, الناس is pronounced an-nās, not al-nās.

Here حول means around.

So:

• حول الطاولة = around the table

In other contexts, حول can also mean about / concerning, but here it is clearly spatial: around.

Grammatically, the noun after حول is in the genitive:

• حَوْلَ الطاولةِ

So in a fully vocalized form:

• حولَ has a fatḥa
• الطاولةِ has a kasra

You can think of حول as a preposition-like word or adverbial noun of place that is followed by a genitive noun.

As written, الطاولة means the table.

So:

• حول الطاولة = around the table

If you want around a table, you would say:

• حولَ طاولةٍ

So the full sentence would be:

• يجلس الناس حولَ طاولةٍ

Also, طاولة is a feminine noun, which you can tell from the ending ة.

Because ط is a sun letter.

That means the ل of الـ is not pronounced clearly; instead, the next consonant is doubled.

So:

• الطاولة is pronounced aṭ-ṭāwila not
• al-ṭāwila

The same thing happens in الناس:

• الناس is pronounced an-nās

This is a pronunciation rule only. In writing, the spelling still keeps الـ.

The fully vocalized sentence is:

يَجْلِسُ النَّاسُ حَوْلَ الطَّاوِلَةِ

A grammatical breakdown:

• يَجْلِسُ = the verb, with ḍamma
• النَّاسُ = the subject, in the nominative
• حَوْلَ = around, with fatḥa
• الطَّاوِلَةِ = the table, in the genitive

A careful formal pronunciation would be:

yajlisu n-nāsu ḥawla ṭ-ṭāwilati

If you pause at the end, the last case vowel is usually not pronounced in normal reading.