متى سوف نبدأ هذا الدرس، قبل الغداء أم بعد الغداء؟

A careful Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation would be: matā sawfa nabda’u hādhā ad-darsa, qabla al-ghadā’i am ba‘da al-ghadā’?

• متى matā = “when”
• سوف sawfa = “will” (future marker)
• نبدأ nabda’u = “we start”
• هذا الدرس hādhā ad-dars = “this lesson”
• قبل/بعد الغداء qabla/ba‘da al-ghadā’ = “before/after lunch”
• أم am = “or” (in an either/or question)

Arabic commonly fronts question words. متى (“when?”) comes first to mark a time question. The rest of the sentence then states the action: سوف نبدأ هذا الدرس (“we will start this lesson…”).

Both mean “we will start.”

• سنبدأ = سـ (a prefix attached to the verb) + نبدأ. It’s very common and a bit more compact.
• سوف نبدأ uses the separate particle سوف. It often sounds slightly more formal and can sometimes imply a more “distant” future, though in many contexts they’re interchangeable.

نبدأ comes from the verb بدأ (root ب د أ) meaning “to begin/start.”

• نبدأ is the imperfect (non-past) form meaning “we start / we are starting.”
• Adding سوف turns it into a future meaning: “we will start.”

Also note the spelling: because the root contains a hamza (ء), you see it in نبدأ.

Because درس (“lesson”) is masculine in Arabic, so it takes the masculine demonstrative:

• Masculine: هذا (this)
• Feminine: هذه (this)

So هذا الدرس = “this lesson.”

Because د is a “sun letter.” When الـ (the definite article) comes before a sun letter, the ل is not pronounced and the next consonant is doubled:

• الدرس is pronounced ad-dars (not al-dars). This is an assimilation rule you’ll see with letters like ت، د، ر، س، ش، ص، ط، ظ، ن and others.

The comma here separates the main question from the choice offered at the end:

• متى سوف نبدأ هذا الدرس، (When will we start this lesson,)
• قبل الغداء أم بعد الغداء؟ (before lunch or after lunch?)

Arabic uses punctuation similarly today, though you may also see the Arabic comma ، and the Arabic question mark ؟ (which faces the other direction compared to English).

There actually is “the”: it’s built into الغداء via الـ.

• قبل = “before” (a preposition)
• بعد = “after” (a preposition)
• الغداء = “the lunch”

So قبل الغداء literally is “before the-lunch,” i.e., “before lunch.”

Use أم when you’re offering a specific either/or choice in a question, often after a question word:

• قبل الغداء أم بعد الغداء؟ = “before lunch or after lunch?”

أو is the more general “or,” and can be used in statements or broader choices. In many real-life contexts you’ll hear both, but أم is the classic, textbook choice for this kind of question.

In full formal pronunciation, you may hear case endings, especially in careful recitation or news-style Arabic. For example:

• هذا الدرسَ (accusative, because it’s the direct object of “start”)
• قبلَ الغداءِ / بعدَ الغداءِ (often genitive after prepositions)

In everyday spoken Modern Standard in classrooms and conversation, many speakers drop most case endings, and it’s still understood.

غداء ends with ء because of its underlying spelling and morphology. Pronunciation-wise:

• غداء is roughly ghadā’. The final ء is a glottal stop, like a brief stop in the throat (similar to the sound in the middle of “uh-oh” in careful English).

You can place متى later for stylistic reasons, but it’s much more natural and standard to front it:

• Most natural: متى سوف نبدأ هذا الدرس…؟
• Less common/marked: سوف نبدأ هذا الدرس متى…؟

Fronting the question word is the default pattern learners should use.