يقرأ صديقي العبارة.

A careful MSA pronunciation is:

yaqraʾu ṣadīqī al-ʿibārata

A simpler learner-friendly transliteration is:

yaqra'u sadiiqii al-'ibaarata

A few pronunciation notes:

• يقرأ has a hamza: yaqraʾu. Do not pronounce it like yaqraa.
• ص in صديقي is an emphatic s sound.
• ع in العبارة is the letter ʿayn, a consonant that does not exist in English.
• In fully vocalized Arabic, the last word here is read al-ʿibārata because it is the direct object.

Because this is a very normal Arabic sentence pattern: verb + subject + object.

So:

• يقرأ = reads / is reading
• صديقي = my friend
• العبارة = the phrase

Arabic also allows subject + verb + object, so you could also say:

صديقي يقرأ العبارة.

Both are grammatical. Starting with the verb is especially common in MSA.

In Arabic, the subject often comes after the verb in a verbal sentence.

So in:

يقرأ صديقي العبارة

the subject is صديقي = my friend, even though it comes after يقرأ.

English usually prefers subject + verb, but Arabic very often uses verb + subject.

We know from grammar and sentence structure:

• يقرأ is the verb
• The noun after it, صديقي, is the doer of the action, so it is the subject
• العبارة is the thing being read, so it is the direct object

In other words:

• my friend = the one doing the reading
• the phrase = the thing being read

صديقي literally means my friend.

It is made of:

• صديق = friend
• ـي = my

So:

• صديق = friend
• صديقي = my friend

This ـي is a possessive suffix attached directly to the noun.

Because nouns with the suffix ـي (my) often do not show their case ending clearly in pronunciation.

Normally, the subject in Arabic is nominative, but in صديقي, that nominative ending is not obvious on the surface.

So even though صديقي is the subject, its case is understood from grammar, not from a clearly heard ending.

This is very common with nouns ending in the first-person possessive suffix.

Because it is the thing receiving the action of the verb يقرأ.

In يقرأ صديقي العبارة:

• يقرأ = reads
• صديقي = my friend
• العبارة = the phrase

So the phrase is what is being read, which makes it the direct object.

In fully vocalized MSA, the direct object takes the accusative case, so you get:

العبارةَ = al-ʿibārata

Because it is in the accusative case, since it is the direct object of the verb.

In fully vocalized Arabic:

• subject usually takes nominative
• direct object usually takes accusative

So العبارة becomes:

العبارةَ

That final fatḥa gives the -a sound.

In normal everyday Arabic writing, these short vowel endings are usually not written, so you will often just see:

يقرأ صديقي العبارة

without the final case vowels.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• عبارة = a phrase / an expression
• العبارة = the phrase / the expression

The sentence uses the definite form, so it is talking about the phrase, not just a phrase.

Actually, the verb does show some information.

يقرأ tells you that the subject is:

• third person
• masculine
• singular

So it means he reads or he is reading.

Then صديقي is added to state exactly who that he is: my friend.

So Arabic often uses:

• a verb form that already contains person/gender/number information
• plus an explicit subject noun

It can mean either, depending on context.

In MSA, the present tense often covers both:

• he reads
• he is reading

So this sentence could mean:

• My friend reads the phrase
• My friend is reading the phrase

Context tells you which one is intended.

It comes from the root ق ر أ.

This root is connected with reading/recitation. A very common past-tense form is:

قرأ = he read

From that root, the present-tense form here is:

يقرأ = he reads / he is reading

Recognizing roots is very helpful in Arabic because many related words come from the same three consonants.

In the present tense, Arabic often uses prefixes to show person.

Here, يـ marks third person masculine singular.

So:

• يقرأ = he reads
• If the subject were I, the form would begin differently
• If the subject were she, the form would also be different

This prefix system is a major part of how Arabic present-tense verbs work.

Yes. That is also correct.

Compare:

• يقرأ صديقي العبارة = verb-first sentence
• صديقي يقرأ العبارة = subject-first sentence

Both mean essentially the same thing: My friend reads/is reading the phrase.

The first is more typically a verbal sentence in standard grammar, and the second gives more prominence to my friend.

It is a verbal sentence because it begins with a verb:

يقرأ

In Arabic grammar:

• a sentence beginning with a verb is a verbal sentence
• a sentence beginning with a noun is a nominal sentence

So:

• يقرأ صديقي العبارة = verbal sentence
• صديقي يقرأ العبارة = often treated as a nominal sentence structure

In careful, formal MSA reading, especially in grammar-focused contexts, Quranic-style recitation practice, or fully vocalized texts, they may be pronounced.

But in most ordinary situations:

• they are usually not written
• and often not fully pronounced

So learners will commonly see:

يقرأ صديقي العبارة

without vowel marks, and may hear a less fully inflected pronunciation in real speech.

Still, it is useful to know the full grammatical form:

yaqraʾu ṣadīqī al-ʿibārata