إذا كان الطعام في الثلاجة قديما، فلا آكله.

إذا is a conditional word. In sentences like this, it often means if, but it can also have a when/whenever feeling.

So this sentence is not just about one specific moment. It can suggest a general rule:

• إذا كان الطعام في الثلاجة قديما، فلا آكله.
• If the food in the fridge is old, I don’t eat it.
• Also naturally: Whenever the food in the fridge is old, I don’t eat it.

In Modern Standard Arabic, إذا is often used for a condition that is seen as realistic or possible.

Yes, كان often means was, but after إذا it does not always refer to past time in English.

Here, إذا كان means something like:

• if it is
• if it happens to be
• if it turns out to be

So in this sentence:

• إذا كان الطعام في الثلاجة قديما
• literally: if the food in the fridge was old
• but naturally: if the food in the fridge is old

This is a very common Arabic pattern. A past-form verb after a conditional word can refer to a general or future condition, not just a past one.

Yes. الطعام في الثلاجة means the food in the fridge.

Breakdown:

• الطعام = the food
• في = in
• الثلاجة = the refrigerator / the fridge

So في الثلاجة is a prepositional phrase meaning in the fridge, and it describes الطعام.

Arabic often uses this kind of structure instead of something like an adjective. So:

• الطعام في الثلاجة = the food that is in the fridge / the food in the fridge

Because قديما is the predicate of كان, and كان changes the grammar of its predicate.

With كان:

• the subject of كان is usually in the nominative
• the predicate of كان is usually in the accusative

Here:

• الطعام is the subject of كان
• قديما is the predicate

So the fully vowelled form would be:

• إذا كان الطعامُ في الثلاجةِ قديمًا، فلا آكلُهُ.

That final -an sound in قديمًا is why you see قديما in normal writing.

The ف means something like then, so, or in that case.

It connects the result to the condition:

• إذا كان الطعام في الثلاجة قديما = if the food in the fridge is old
• فلا آكله = then I do not eat it

So the ف marks the answer/result of the condition.

In English, we often do this connection without a separate word, but in Arabic it is very common to use فـ in the result clause.

It breaks down like this:

• فـ = then / so
• لا = not
• آكل = I eat
• ـه = it / him (here: it, referring to الطعام)

So:

• فلا آكله = then I do not eat it

The ـه is an attached object pronoun. Arabic often attaches object pronouns directly to the verb.

This is because the verb comes from the root أكل meaning to eat, which begins with a hamza.

The first-person singular imperfect would historically be something like:

• أأكل

But Arabic normally contracts this to:

• آكل

So:

• آكل = I eat
• آكله = I eat it

This spelling with آ is normal for this verb in this form.

Because Arabic verbs already show the subject.

• آكل by itself already means I eat
• so you do not need a separate pronoun like أنا

That means:

• آكل = I eat
• آكله = I eat it

You could say أنا لا آكله for emphasis, but it is not necessary.

It can suggest either one depending on context, but here it is best understood as a general present:

• I don’t eat it

Because the whole sentence expresses a general rule or habit:

• If the food in the fridge is old, I don’t eat it.

In English, I won’t eat it is also possible in some contexts, but I don’t eat it matches the Arabic structure well here.

Because both nouns are definite here:

• الطعام = the food
• الثلاجة = the fridge / the refrigerator

Arabic often uses the definite article الـ in places where English also uses the.

So this sentence is talking about:

• the food in the fridge

not just:

• food in a fridge

A careful reading is:

إذا كان الطعامُ في الثلاجةِ قديمًا، فلا آكلُهُ

Approximate pronunciation:

idhā kāna aṭ-ṭaʿāmu fī ath-thallājati qadīman, fa-lā ākuluhu

A few useful notes:

• الطعام is pronounced aṭ-ṭaʿām, not al-taʿām, because ط is a sun letter
• الثلاجة is pronounced ath-thallāja, not al-thallāja, because ث is also a sun letter
• آكل begins with a long ā sound

Not very naturally. A very literal version would be something like:

• If was the food in the fridge old, then not I-eat-it

That sounds strange in English, but it shows how Arabic is built.

A better natural translation is:

• If the food in the fridge is old, I don’t eat it.

This is a good example of why it is better to understand the grammar pattern, not just translate each word mechanically.