في المقهى أقرأ صفحة من كتاب، وهي تقرأ صحيفة.

Arabic word order is more flexible than English word order. Starting with في المقهى puts the location first and sets the scene: At the café...

You could also say:

أقرأ صفحة من كتاب في المقهى

That is also understandable, but في المقهى أقرأ... gives a slightly more natural scene-setting feel in this context.

Because the verb itself already tells you the subject.

• أقرأ = I read / I am reading

In Arabic, subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb already makes the subject clear. So أنا is not necessary here.

If you wanted extra emphasis, you could say:

أنا أقرأ صفحة من كتاب

But in normal Arabic, leaving out أنا is very common.

These are present-tense verb forms of قرأ (to read).

Arabic changes the beginning of the verb depending on the subject:

• أقرأ = I read
• تقرأ = she reads
• يقرأ = he reads

So the prefix matters:

• أ- often marks I
• ت- can mark she or some you forms, depending on context
• ي- marks he

Because تقرأ by itself can be ambiguous.

Without هي, تقرأ could be understood as:

• she reads
• or you (masculine singular) read

Adding هي makes the meaning clear:

• وهي تقرأ صحيفة = and she is reading a newspaper

It also creates a nice contrast with the first clause:

• I am reading...
• and she is reading...

No separate helping verb is needed here.

In English, you say:

• I am reading
• she is reading

In Arabic, the present-tense verb itself can express that idea:

• أقرأ = I read / I am reading
• تقرأ = she reads / she is reading

So Arabic does not need a separate word like am or is in this kind of sentence.

Because those two hamzas come from different things.

• The first hamza in أقرأ is part of the present-tense prefix for I
• The final hamza belongs to the root قرأ (read)

So the word is made of:

• أ- = I
• قرأ = the verb root/pattern meaning read

That is why أقرأ can look a little crowded to learners, but it is completely regular.

Here من means something like from or out of.

So:

• صفحة من كتاب = a page from a book

This is a very natural Arabic way to express a part of something. In English, we might also say a page of a book, but Arabic often uses من in this kind of partitive expression.

Because they are indefinite here.

• كتاب = a book
• صحيفة = a newspaper

If they had ال, they would mean:

• الكتاب = the book
• الصحيفة = the newspaper

So the sentence is talking about:

• a page from a book
• a newspaper

not specific ones already identified.

Because المقهى is definite, while كتاب and صحيفة are indefinite.

• في المقهى = in the café / at the café
• من كتاب = from a book
• صحيفة = a newspaper

So the place is presented as a known or identifiable location, while the book and newspaper are not specified.

They are the direct objects of the verbs.

• أقرأ صفحة = I read a page
• تقرأ صحيفة = she reads a newspaper

In fully vocalized formal Arabic, these would typically appear as:

• صفحةً
• صحيفةً

because they are indefinite direct objects. In normal everyday writing, those case endings are usually not written.

Both words can mean newspaper, but they are not identical in tone.

• صحيفة is a very standard, formal MSA word
• جريدة is also common and often feels more everyday

So صحيفة is a perfectly natural choice in Modern Standard Arabic, especially in textbook-style sentences or formal writing.

A careful reading would be approximately:

fi l-maqhā aqraʾu ṣafḥatan min kitābin, wa-hiya taqraʾu ṣaḥīfatan.

A few useful points:

• أقرأ = aqraʾu
• تقرأ = taqraʾu
• صفحة = ṣafḥa
• صحيفة = ṣaḥīfa

The exact final case vowels are often not pronounced clearly in everyday reading, but this is the full formal idea.