أفكر كثيرا قبل أن أقرر، لكن صديقتي تقرر في دقيقة.

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Breakdown of أفكر كثيرا قبل أن أقرر، لكن صديقتي تقرر في دقيقة.

• ي: my
• لكن: but
• صديقة: friend

Questions & Answers about أفكر كثيرا قبل أن أقرر، لكن صديقتي تقرر في دقيقة.

Why do أفكر and أقرر both begin with أ?

Because أ is the prefix for the first-person singular in the present/imperfect tense in Arabic.

So here:

• أفكر = I think
• أقرر = I decide

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about themself, so both verbs use the I form.

A fully vowelled version would be:

• أُفَكِّرُ = I think
• أُقَرِّرُ = I decide

Notice that in normal Arabic writing, short vowels are usually not written.

What does كثيرا mean here, and why is it written that way?

كثيرا means a lot or a great deal here.

In this sentence:

• أفكر كثيرا = I think a lot

It is being used adverbially, describing how much the speaker thinks. That is why it appears in the accusative form, often written with tanwīn fatḥ in fully vowelled Arabic:

• كَثِيرًا

So this is not many modifying a noun; it is more like an adverb in English: a lot.

What does قبل أن mean?

قبل أن means .