كنت أقرأ الورقة مرة أخرى، وكانت الموظفة تنتظر التوقيع.

Because كان + المضارع is a very common way to express an ongoing action in the past.

• كنت = I was
• أقرأ = reading / I read

So كنت أقرأ means I was reading or I used to read, depending on context.

Here, it most naturally means an action that was in progress:

• كنت أقرأ الورقة = I was reading the paper/document

This is similar to the English past continuous.

Because the subject is I.

The past forms of كان change with the subject:

• كنتُ = I was
• كنتَ = you were (masculine)
• كنتِ = you were (feminine)
• كان = he was
• كانت = she was

So كنت أقرأ means I was reading.

In normal unvowelled Arabic writing, كنتُ is usually written simply as كنت.

أقرأ is the present-tense / imperfect form of the verb قرأ (to read).

By itself, أقرأ can mean:

• I read
• I am reading

But after كنت, it gives a past-progressive sense:

• كنت أقرأ = I was reading

So the structure is:

• كان in the past
• followed by an imperfect verb

This is one of the most useful Arabic patterns for describing background actions in the past.

ال is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• ورقة = a paper / a sheet / a document
• الورقة = the paper / the sheet / the document

Arabic often uses ال where English also uses the, but sometimes Arabic is a bit more comfortable being definite when the thing is already understood from context.

In this sentence, الورقة means the paper/document that both speaker and listener presumably know about.

It can mean several related things depending on context:

• a sheet of paper
• a paper
• a document
• sometimes even an exam paper or form

So the exact English translation depends on the situation. If the sentence also mentions التوقيع (the signature), then الورقة may very naturally mean the document or the paper that needs signing.

مرة أخرى means again or one more time.

Literally:

• مرة = one time / an instance
• أخرى = other / another

So together:

• مرة أخرى = another time, idiomatically again

Examples:

• اقرأه مرة أخرى = Read it again.
• سأحاول مرة أخرى = I’ll try again.

In your sentence:

• كنت أقرأ الورقة مرة أخرى = I was reading the paper again

Because مرة is a feminine noun, and the adjective must agree with it.

• آخر = other / another (masculine)
• أخرى = other / another (feminine)

Since مرة is feminine, Arabic uses:

• مرة أخرى

This is a good example of adjective agreement in Arabic.

For the same reason as كنت أقرأ: it describes an ongoing action in the past.

• كانت = she was
• تنتظر = waiting / she waits

So:

• كانت الموظفة تنتظر التوقيع = the employee was waiting for the signature

This shows that both actions were happening at the same time in the past:

• I was reading the paper again
• and the employee was waiting for the signature

This is a very natural use of كان + المضارع.

Because الموظفة is feminine.

• موظف = male employee
• موظفة = female employee

Since the noun is feminine, the verb must also be feminine:

• كانت الموظفة = the employee (female) was

If it were a male employee, it would be:

• كان الموظف ينتظر التوقيع

الموظفة is the feminine form of موظف (employee).

Breakdown:

• موظف = employee (masculine)
• موظفة = employee (feminine)

The ـة at the end, called taa marbuuTa (ة), is a very common marker of feminine nouns in Arabic.

With the definite article:

• الموظف = the male employee
• الموظفة = the female employee

Because التوقيع is a verbal noun, often called a masdar, meaning the signing or the signature.

• وقّع = to sign
• توقيع = signing / signature

So:

• تنتظر التوقيع literally = she was waiting for the signing/signature
• naturally in English = she was waiting for the signature

Arabic often uses a masdar where English might use:

• a noun (the signature)
• or an infinitive-like phrase (for someone to sign)

Both are possible in Arabic, but تنتظر التوقيع is very natural.

Because it refers to a specific, expected signature.

• توقيع = a signature / signing
• التوقيع = the signature / the signing

In context, the meaning is probably:

• the known signature needed on that paper

Arabic often makes such nouns definite when the referent is clear from the situation.

Both orders are possible in Arabic, but this one is very normal.

Here the clause begins with the conjunction و and the verb كانت:

• وكانت الموظفة تنتظر التوقيع

This is a standard verb-first structure.

You could also see:

• والموظفة كانت تنتظر التوقيع

That version gives slightly more attention to the employee as the topic. But the original version is very natural narrative Arabic.

The و means and.

So the sentence is made of two linked clauses:

1. كنت أقرأ الورقة مرة أخرى
2. وكانت الموظفة تنتظر التوقيع

Together:

• I was reading the paper again, and the employee was waiting for the signature.

Arabic very often uses و to connect actions in narration, sometimes even where English might prefer a comma or a different structure.

Yes, in fully vocalized formal Arabic, the nouns would have case endings, but in normal writing they are usually omitted.

A fully vocalized version could be:

• كنتُ أقرأُ الورقةَ مرةً أخرى، وكانتِ الموظفةُ تنتظرُ التوقيعَ.

For example:

• الورقةَ is the object of أقرأ
• الموظفةُ is the subject of كانت
• التوقيعَ is the object of تنتظر

But learners should know that in everyday printed Arabic, these short vowels are usually not shown.

Technically, yes: كان + المضارع can sometimes express either:

• an action in progress in the past: I was reading
• a habitual past action: I used to read

But in this sentence, because it is paired with another ongoing action:

• وكانت الموظفة تنتظر التوقيع

the most natural interpretation is past continuous:

• I was reading...
• the employee was waiting...

So here I was reading is much more likely than I used to read.

Yes, it helps separate two simultaneous past actions.

Arabic punctuation is modern and works similarly to English punctuation in many contexts. The comma here marks a pause between:

• كنت أقرأ الورقة مرة أخرى
• وكانت الموظفة تنتظر التوقيع

Even without the comma, the sentence would still be understandable, especially because و already connects the two clauses. But the comma makes the relationship clearer and the sentence easier to read.