بعد العمل أذهب إلى المكتبة وأقرأ صحيفة.

Arabic often allows more than one natural word order. Starting with بعد العمل puts the time expression first, so the sentence feels like:

After work, I go to the library and read a newspaper.

This is very normal in Arabic. You could also begin with the verb, but starting with the time phrase is common when you want to set the scene first.

بعد means after.

In بعد العمل, it introduces the idea of time:

• بعد = after
• العمل = the work / work

So بعد العمل means after work.

Grammatically, بعد is followed by a noun in the genitive case.

العمل includes الـ, the definite article, so literally it is the work.

In Arabic, expressions like after work are often said with the definite form:

• بعد العمل = after work

This is very natural in Arabic, even though English does not usually say after the work in this kind of sentence.

Because the verb itself already tells you the subject.

• أذهب = I go
• أقرأ = I read

The أ at the beginning of these present-tense verbs marks first person singular. So Arabic does not need a separate pronoun like أنا unless you want emphasis.

For example:

• أذهب إلى المكتبة = I go to the library
• أنا أذهب إلى المكتبة = I go to the library / I go to the library

The second version is more emphatic.

In Arabic, the present tense can describe:

• habitual actions
• repeated actions
• present or near-present actions

So here, أذهب and أقرأ most naturally mean a routine or habit:

After work, I go to the library and read a newspaper.

It does not have to mean that the speaker is doing it right now. Context tells you whether it is habitual or happening at the moment.

إلى means to.

With the verb ذهب (to go), Arabic usually uses إلى before the destination:

• أذهب إلى المكتبة = I go to the library
• ذهب إلى البيت = he went to the house

So yes, إلى is the normal choice here.

Here, المكتبة means the library.

• مكتبة = a library / a bookstore
• المكتبة = the library / the bookstore

In Modern Standard Arabic, مكتبة can sometimes mean library and sometimes bookstore, depending on context. In this sentence, because of the verb أذهب and the overall meaning, the library is the intended meaning.

The و means and.

Arabic attaches this conjunction directly to the next word, so:

• و + أقرأ becomes وأقرأ
• meaning: and I read

This is extremely common in Arabic writing. The و is not separated by a space.

صحيفة without الـ means a newspaper.

So:

• أقرأ صحيفة = I read a newspaper
• أقرأ الصحيفة = I read the newspaper

The indefinite form suggests the speaker is reading some newspaper, not one specific newspaper already known to the listener.

Yes, in fully vocalized Arabic, صحيفة here is the direct object of أقرأ, so it is accusative:

• صحيفةً

So the fully vocalized phrase would be:

وأقرأ صحيفةً

However, in normal everyday Arabic writing, short vowels and case endings are usually omitted, so you will often just see:

صحيفة

The same is true elsewhere in the sentence.

Yes. In fully vocalized Modern Standard Arabic, the sentence would be:

بعدَ العملِ أذهبُ إلى المكتبةِ وأقرأُ صحيفةً.

Here is what those endings show:

• بعدَ: accusative as an adverbial/time expression
• العملِ: genitive after بعد
• أذهبُ: indicative present tense
• المكتبةِ: genitive after إلى
• أقرأُ: indicative present tense
• صحيفةً: accusative as the direct object

In ordinary writing, these endings are usually not written.

It is a correct and common Modern Standard Arabic word for newspaper.

Another very common word is جريدة.

Both can mean newspaper, though usage can vary a bit by region and style. In formal MSA, صحيفة is completely natural.

Not usually in the most immediate English sense.

In Arabic, the present tense can cover several meanings, but without extra context, this sentence is most naturally understood as a general or habitual statement:

After work, I go to the library and read a newspaper.

If you wanted to make it more clearly about what is happening right now, Arabic would usually rely on context or add time words such as الآن (now), depending on the situation.

Not with the same meaning.

• بعد العمل = after work
• بعد أن أعمل = after I work / after I have worked

The second version is a full clause and sounds more explicit. The original بعد العمل is simpler and more idiomatic for after work as part of a daily routine.

By default, it sounds like a routine or habit.

That is because:

• the verbs are in the present tense
• there is no marker of a one-time completed event
• the time phrase بعد العمل often introduces a regular pattern

So the most natural reading is:

After work, I go to the library and read a newspaper.

If the speaker meant a one-time past event, Arabic would normally use past-tense verbs instead.