في الصباح أقرأ الصحيفة في المقهى قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل.

Because in Arabic, the verb itself usually shows the subject.

• أقرأ means I read
• أذهب means I go

The prefix أَ- on these present-tense verbs marks first person singular. So أنا is not necessary unless you want extra emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• أقرأ الصحيفة = I read the newspaper
• أنا أقرأ الصحيفة = I am reading the newspaper / I read the newspaper with extra emphasis on I

In this sentence, leaving out أنا is the normal, natural choice.

Arabic word order is flexible. The sentence could begin with the verb, but starting with في الصباح puts the time expression first:

• في الصباح أقرأ الصحيفة... = In the morning, I read the newspaper...

This is very natural in Arabic, especially when the speaker wants to set the scene first.

A more basic verb-first version would be:

• أقرأ الصحيفة في المقهى في الصباح...

Both are possible, but the original version sounds more like In the morning...

في usually means in.
So في الصباح literally means in the morning.

Arabic often uses في with time expressions where English also uses in:

• في الصباح = in the morning
• في المساء = in the evening
• في الليل = at night / in the night, depending on context

So this part is very straightforward: في + time noun.

Yes, often you can. Both can express in the morning, but they are structured differently.

• في الصباح = literally in the morning
• صباحًا = morning / in the morning as an adverbial accusative

So you may see:

• في الصباح أقرأ الصحيفة
• أقرأ الصحيفة صباحًا

Both are correct.
The version with في الصباح feels slightly more explicit and scene-setting, while صباحًا is a very common adverbial expression.

الصحيفة means the newspaper, while صحيفة means a newspaper.

In many contexts, Arabic prefers the definite form when talking about a familiar or routine item, especially in daily-life statements like this one. So:

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

The definite version here sounds natural if the idea is a regular habit, or a newspaper understood in context.

Because في المقهى means in the café.

The sentence contains two separate prepositional phrases:

• في الصباح = in the morning
• في المقهى = in the café

Using في twice is completely normal because one phrase gives the time, and the other gives the place.

المقهى is pronounced roughly al-maqhā.

A few helpful points:

• مقهى means café
• The final ى is called alif maqṣūra
• It usually represents a final long ā sound

So the word sounds like:

• maq-hā

The middle consonant ق is a deep q sound, not an English k.
So try something like: al-maq-hā.

Also, after a preposition like في, you expect the noun to be in the genitive case, but with words ending in ى like this, the case ending is not normally visible in ordinary writing.

Because المقهى ends in alif maqṣūra (ى), and nouns of this type often do not show their case ending clearly in normal spelling.

Even though في requires the genitive case, you still usually write:

• في المقهى

not something with an obvious written kasra at the end.

This is one reason Arabic learners often do not see all the case information directly in unvowelled text.

قبل أن means before [someone] does something.

In this sentence:

• قبل أن أذهب = before I go

The word أن is commonly used before a present-tense verb after expressions like before, after, want, like, and so on. It introduces a subordinate action.

So:

• قبل = before
• أن أذهب = that I go / for me to go

Together: before I go

In natural English, we do not translate أن separately, but in Arabic it is an important grammatical word.

Yes. After أن, the present-tense verb goes into the subjunctive.

With full vowel marks:

• Indicative: أذهبُ
• Subjunctive after أن: أذهبَ

In normal unvowelled writing, both usually appear as أذهب, so you do not see the difference unless vowel marks are written.

So the grammar changes, even if the spelling usually looks the same.

إلى means to, so:

• أذهب إلى العمل = I go to work

This is the normal Arabic way to express movement toward a destination.

A useful point: العمل literally means the work, but أذهب إلى العمل is the standard idiomatic way to say go to work.

So even though English says to work without the, Arabic commonly says to the work in form:

• إلى العمل

Because Arabic often uses the definite article in places where English does not.

Compare:

• أذهب إلى العمل = I go to work
• literally: I go to the work

This is just normal Arabic usage. The definite article does not always translate word-for-word into English.

You should learn expressions like go to work, go to school, and similar phrases as natural combinations in each language, rather than expecting the article to match exactly.

Nouns after prepositions in Arabic take the genitive case.

In this sentence:

• في الصباح
• في المقهى
• إلى العمل

So الصباح, المقهى, and العمل are all governed by prepositions and are therefore genitive.

If full vowel marks were shown, you would expect forms like:

• في الصباحِ
• إلى العملِ

As mentioned earlier, with المقهى, the case ending is not clearly visible in normal spelling.

Because الصحيفة is the direct object of the verb أقرأ.

So the structure is:

• أقرأ = I read
• الصحيفة = the newspaper

Together:

• أقرأ الصحيفة = I read the newspaper

This is the normal order in Arabic: verb + object.

Yes. Arabic allows several word orders, though the emphasis may change.

For example:

• في الصباح أقرأ الصحيفة في المقهى قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل
• أقرأ الصحيفة في المقهى في الصباح قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل
• أقرأ في المقهى الصحيفة في الصباح قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل

These are not all equally natural in every context, but they can be grammatical. The original sentence is a very natural way to present the information:

1. time: في الصباح
2. main action: أقرأ الصحيفة
3. place: في المقهى
4. later action: قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل

A helpful way to break it down is:

• في الصباح = time
• أقرأ الصحيفة = main action
• في المقهى = place
• قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل = what happens later / time relationship

So the sentence is built like this:

In the morning + I read the newspaper + in the café + before I go to work

Breaking Arabic sentences into chunks like this is a very useful reading strategy.

Because normal Arabic writing usually leaves out short vowels and many other diacritics.

So learners often see:

• أقرأ
• الصحيفة
• المقهى
• أذهب

without full vowel marks.

A fully vowelled version would look something like:

• فِي الصَّبَاحِ أَقْرَأُ الصَّحِيفَةَ فِي الْمَقْهَى قَبْلَ أَنْ أَذْهَبَ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ

Native readers usually do not need these marks, but for learners they can be very helpful.