هي تفضل أن تجلس عند الطاولة في المقهى، وأنا أفضل أن أجلس قرب النافذة.

They are the same verb, just conjugated for different subjects:

• هي تفضل = she prefers
• أنا أفضل = I prefer

In the present tense, Arabic verbs change their beginning to show the subject:

• أـ often marks I
• تـ can mark she or you depending on context

So:

• أفضل = I prefer
• تفضل = she prefers

That is why the two forms look similar but not identical.

In this sentence, أن + present tense verb means to + verb in English.

So:

• أن تجلس = to sit / that she sit
• أن أجلس = to sit / that I sit

Arabic does not usually use an infinitive in the same way English does. Instead of saying she prefers to sit with a separate infinitive like to sit, Arabic commonly says:

• تفضل أن تجلس

Literally, this is something like she prefers that she sit, but in natural English we translate it as she prefers to sit.

Because the verb changes to match the subject.

• هي تجلس = she sits
• أنا أجلس = I sit

The prefixes tell you who is doing the action:

• تـ = here, she
• أـ = I

So after أن, the same agreement still applies:

• أن تجلس = that she sit / to sit (with she as the subject)
• أن أجلس = that I sit / to sit (with I as the subject)

Because Arabic usually does not use an infinitive the way English does.

In English, to sit is a basic infinitive form. In Arabic, the normal way to express that idea after verbs like prefer, want, like, etc. is:

• أن + present tense verb

So:

• to sit → أن تجلس / أن أجلس

Arabic does have verbal nouns, called maṣdars, but they are not used in exactly the same way as English infinitives in every sentence.

Yes, the verb already gives that information, so هي is not strictly necessary.

Arabic often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear. So you could say:

• تفضل أن تجلس عند الطاولة في المقهى

and it would still mean she prefers to sit at the table in the café.

But هي is often included for:

• clarity
• emphasis
• contrast

It is especially helpful here because later the sentence says وأنا أفضل..., so the structure becomes a clear contrast:

• She prefers ...
• and I prefer ...

Yes, أفضل by itself already means I prefer.

So أنا is optional grammatically. It is included here mainly for emphasis and contrast:

• هي تفضل ... وأنا أفضل ...

This creates a natural contrast between two people’s preferences:

• She prefers ...
• and I prefer ...

If you removed أنا, the meaning would still be clear, but the contrast would feel slightly less explicit.

This is a very common learner question.

• عند الطاولة means at the table or by the table
• على الطاولة means on the table

So if someone is sitting at a table in the sense of being next to it, Arabic usually uses عند, not على.

That is an important difference from English, because English at the table does not mean physically on top of the table.

So:

• عند الطاولة = at/by the table
• على الطاولة = on the table

Both express closeness, but they are not exactly the same.

• عند = at, by, with, near
• قرب = near, close to

In this sentence:

• عند الطاولة = at the table / by the table
• قرب النافذة = near the window

So عند often fits naturally with places or points of position, while قرب focuses more directly on nearness.

In many situations they can overlap, but here the choices sound natural:

• sit at the table
• sit near the window

Because each preposition expresses a different kind of location.

• في المقهى = in the café
• عند الطاولة = at/by the table
• قرب النافذة = near the window

So the sentence is building location in layers:

1. the general place: في المقهى = in the café
2. the specific spot: عند الطاولة = at the table
3. another specific spot: قرب النافذة = near the window

This is very natural in Arabic.

Because they are definite nouns: the table, the café, the window.

• الطاولة = the table
• المقهى = the café
• النافذة = the window

Arabic uses الـ to mark definiteness, just like English uses the.

In this sentence, the nouns are understood as specific or contextually identifiable places:

• the table
• the café
• the window

So the definite article is natural.

After أن, the present tense verb is normally in the subjunctive mood.

In fully vocalized Arabic, you would see:

• أن تجلسَ
• أن أجلسَ

The final vowel changes to fatḥa in the subjunctive.

However, in normal everyday writing, short vowels are usually not written, so you just see:

• تجلس
• أجلس

That means the mood change is there grammatically, even though it is usually invisible in ordinary script.

A fully vocalized version would be:

• هِيَ تُفَضِّلُ أَنْ تَجْلِسَ عِنْدَ الطَّاوِلَةِ فِي الْمَقْهَى، وَأَنَا أُفَضِّلُ أَنْ أَجْلِسَ قُرْبَ النَّافِذَةِ.

This helps you see several things:

• تُفَضِّلُ / أُفَضِّلُ are present-tense forms
• أن triggers the subjunctive
• تجلسَ / أجلسَ have subjunctive endings
• the prepositions and nouns also have case endings in full MSA

In normal writing, most of these vowels are omitted.

The final ى is called alif maqṣūrah. It looks like ى but represents a final ā sound.

So المقهى is pronounced roughly al-maqhā.

This spelling is common in certain nouns. Even though the letter looks different from regular ا, it still gives an ā sound at the end.

So:

• المقهى = the café
• pronunciation: al-maqhā

Yes. قرب النافذة and بجانب النافذة can both mean near the window or beside the window.

Some close alternatives are:

• قرب النافذة = near the window
• بجانب النافذة = beside / next to the window
• عند النافذة = at the window / by the window

The choice depends on the exact nuance, but قرب النافذة is completely natural here.

The sentence as given is very natural, but Arabic word order has some flexibility.

This version:

• هي تفضل أن تجلس عند الطاولة في المقهى، وأنا أفضل أن أجلس قرب النافذة

is straightforward and easy for learners.

You could sometimes rearrange parts of the location phrase for emphasis, but the original order is clear and idiomatic:

• preference first
• then the action
• then the place

So for learning purposes, this word order is a very good model.

Yes. You could say:

• تفضل أن تجلس عند الطاولة في المقهى، وأفضل أن أجلس قرب النافذة.

This is grammatically fine because the verbs already show the subjects.

But the version with هي and أنا is often better when:

• contrasting two people
• introducing a topic clearly
• avoiding ambiguity for learners

So both are possible, but the sentence with the pronouns is especially clear and natural in a teaching context.