تصل شاحنة السحب بعد التصادم.

Because Arabic very often uses verb–subject–object/complement order, especially in straightforward narration.

So:

• تصل شاحنة السحب = The tow truck arrives
• Literally: arrives the tow truck

This is completely normal in Modern Standard Arabic.

You could also say:

• شاحنة السحب تصل بعد التصادم

That version is also correct, but it puts more focus on the tow truck itself.

تصل means arrives or does arrive / is arriving, depending on context.

It comes from the verb:

• وَصَلَ = to arrive / to reach

In the present tense, the form here is:

• تَصِلُ = she arrives / it arrives

Since شاحنة (truck) is a feminine singular noun, the verb is in the feminine singular form.

Because شاحنة is a feminine singular noun.

In Arabic, verbs agree with their subjects in gender. So with a feminine singular subject, the verb is feminine singular too.

Here:

• شاحنة = a truck
• grammatical gender: feminine
• therefore: تصل and not يصل

Compare:

• تصل شاحنةٌ = a truck arrives
• يصل قطارٌ = a train arrives

Even though a truck is not biologically female, the noun شاحنة is grammatically feminine.

A very common clue is the ending ـة (called tāʾ marbūṭa).

So:

• شاحنة ends in ـة
• that usually marks a feminine noun

When you pause, it sounds like shāḥina.
When grammar endings are pronounced in full, the ـة is pronounced like t before the ending:

• شاحنةُ = shāḥinatu

That is why in grammar explanations you may see it described as feminine.

Yes. شاحنة السحب is an iḍāfa (possessive/annexation construction).

Literally, it is something like:

• truck of towing/pulling

In smoother English, that becomes:

• tow truck

Important things about iḍāfa:

1. The first noun usually does not take ال.
2. The second noun can make the whole phrase definite.
3. The second noun is in the genitive case in full formal grammar.

So:

• شاحنة السحب = the tow truck
• not الشاحنة السحب in this structure

Because in an iḍāfa, definiteness often comes from the second noun.

Here:

• السحب has ال
• so the whole phrase شاحنة السحب becomes definite

This is a very common Arabic pattern.

Compare:

• بابُ البيتِ = the door of the house / the house door
• سيارةُ المديرِ = the director’s car

So even without ال on the first word, the whole phrase can still mean the ...

Here السحب means pulling or towing.

It comes from the root related to pulling/dragging:

• سحب = to pull, drag

So:

• شاحنة السحب literally = truck of towing
• natural English = tow truck

This is an example of Arabic often building compound-like meanings through noun phrases rather than one single combined word.

بعد means after.

So:

• بعد التصادم = after the collision

Grammatically, بعد is followed by a noun phrase, and that following noun is treated as dependent on it.

Here:

• التصادم = the collision / the crash
• so بعد التصادم = after the collision

In fully marked formal Arabic, you would analyze:

• بعدَ with a final fatḥa
• التصادمِ in the genitive

But in normal unvocalized writing, those case endings are not shown.

Because ت and س are sun letters.

When ال comes before a sun letter, the l sound of al- is assimilated into the next consonant.

So:

• التصادم is pronounced at-taṣādum
• السحب is pronounced as-saḥb

In writing, Arabic still usually keeps ال, but the pronunciation changes.

This is a very common feature and worth getting used to early.

Formally, تصل is a present/imperfect verb form, but in Arabic that form can express:

• present: is arriving / arrives
• future: will arrive

The exact meaning depends on context.

In a sentence like this, it often translates naturally as either:

• The tow truck arrives after the collision
• The tow truck will arrive after the collision

If you want to make the future clearer, Arabic can add:

• ستصل شاحنة السحب بعد التصادم = The tow truck will arrive after the collision

If fully vocalized, it would be:

• تَصِلُ شاحِنَةُ السَّحْبِ بَعْدَ التَّصادُمِ

Here is the breakdown:

• تَصِلُ — verb, with ḍamma in citation/full form
• شاحِنَةُ — subject, so nominative
• السَّحْبِ — second term of the iḍāfa, so genitive
• بَعْدَ — adverb/temporal noun used here as after
• التَّصادُمِ — genitive after بعد in this construction

In everyday printed Arabic, these final vowels are usually omitted, so learners have to infer them from grammar.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• تصل شاحنة السحب بعد التصادم
• شاحنة السحب تصل بعد التصادم

The difference is mostly one of style and emphasis:

• Verb first is very common in MSA narrative style.
• Subject first can sound a bit more topic-focused, like As for the tow truck, it arrives after the collision.

So the sentence you were given is normal and natural, not unusual.