قبل أن أنام، أقرأ خبرا في الصحيفة ثم أضع الصحيفة على الكرسي.

It is a time expression meaning before I sleep / before I go to sleep.

• قبل = before
• أن = a particle that introduces a following verb
• أنام = I sleep / I go to sleep

So the whole phrase is a clause meaning before I sleep. In fully vocalized Arabic, it would be قَبْلَ أَنْ أَنامَ.

Yes, it is completely normal.

The first أن is the particle أن.
The second word أنام is the verb I sleep.

So أن أنام is not a mistake. It is just:

• أن = the particle
• أنام = the verb

This kind of sequence is common in Arabic whenever أن is followed by a verb that happens to begin with أ.

After أن, the imperfect verb is normally in the subjunctive.

For this verb:

• indicative: أَنامُ = I sleep
• subjunctive after أن: أَنامَ

In normal Arabic writing, short vowels are usually not written, so both forms look the same: أنام.

So yes, the ending changes grammatically, but you usually do not see that change in ordinary spelling.

Because the verb form itself already tells you the subject.

• أقرأ = I read
• أضع = I put
• أنام = I sleep

Arabic often leaves out the separate subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb. You could add أنا for emphasis, but it is not necessary.

For example:

• أنا أقرأ خبرا = I am the one who reads a news item

Without emphasis, أقرأ خبرا is enough.

Yes, but not in exactly the same way as English news.

In Arabic, خبر can mean:

• a piece of news
• a news item
• a report
• sometimes an article or report in context

So أقرأ خبرا does not mean I read news in the broad uncountable English sense. It means something more like:

• I read a news item
• I read a report
• I read a piece of news

That is why the singular خبر is natural here.

It is indefinite because it means a news item, not the news item.

Arabic often uses an indefinite noun when introducing something for the first time or when it is nonspecific.

So:

• خبرا = a news item / some report
• الخبر = the news item / the report

Here the speaker is not identifying a specific already-known report, so the indefinite form is natural.

Because it is the accusative indefinite form: خَبَرًا.

It is the direct object of أقرأ, so it takes the accusative ending.

In fully vocalized form:

• خَبَرًا

In normal spelling without short vowels, that is written:

• خبرا

That final ا helps represent the tanween fatḥ ending, even though the vowel marks themselves are usually omitted.

الصحيفة means the newspaper.

It is definite because the sentence refers to a specific newspaper: the one the speaker is reading and then putting on the chair.

So the idea is not some newspaper in general, but the newspaper involved in this situation.

If you wanted a newspaper, you would say:

• صحيفة

But in this sentence, الصحيفة is the natural choice.

Arabic often repeats the noun for clarity, and that is perfectly natural.

So:

• ثم أضع الصحيفة على الكرسي = then I put the newspaper on the chair

You could also say:

• ثم أضعها على الكرسي = then I put it on the chair

Both are correct. Repeating الصحيفة is a little more explicit; using ها is a little more compact.

Because ثم clearly shows sequence: then / after that.

• و just means and
• ثم means then, with a sense that one action follows another

So in this sentence:

• first: I read a news item in the newspaper
• then: I put the newspaper on the chair

Using ثم makes that order very clear.

These are the natural prepositions here.

• في الصحيفة = in the newspaper
• على الكرسي = on the chair

A few things to notice:

• في often means in
• على often means on

So the sentence says the news item is read in the newspaper, and afterward the newspaper is placed on the chair.

After a preposition, the noun is normally genitive.

So in full vocalization:

• في الصَّحيفةِ
• على الكرسيِّ

But note the difference in the second clause:

• أضع الصحيفةَ على الكرسيِّ

Here الصحيفة is the direct object of أضع, so it is accusative, not genitive.

So the two occurrences of الصحيفة have different grammatical roles:

• في الصحيفةِ = after a preposition, so genitive
• أضع الصحيفةَ = direct object, so accusative

Because ordinary Arabic writing usually leaves out short vowel endings.

So these two different forms:

• الصَّحيفةِ
• الصَّحيفةَ

are both written simply as:

• الصحيفة

This is very common in Arabic. The grammatical case is usually understood from the sentence structure, not from the written vowels.

It is not completely fixed.

The given sentence begins with the time clause:

• قبل أن أنام

That sets the time frame first, which is very natural.

But Arabic allows flexibility. For example, you could move that part later, as long as the meaning stays clear. The original version is simply a smooth, natural way to present the sequence:

1. before I sleep
2. I read a news item in the newspaper
3. then I put the newspaper on the chair

So the word order is natural, but not the only possible order.