هو يصف الأعراض.

he

Breakdown of هو يصف الأعراض.

• يصف الأعراض: to describe the symptoms

Questions & Answers about هو يصف الأعراض.

What does each word in هو يصف الأعراض do grammatically?

• هو = the subject pronoun, he
• يصف = the verb, describes / is describing
• الأعراض = the direct object, the symptoms

So the structure is:

subject + verb + object

Even though Arabic often starts sentences with a verb, this sentence begins with the pronoun هو, which makes it a nominal sentence followed by a verbal idea.

Why is هو included here? Can Arabic just say يصف الأعراض?

Yes, Arabic can say just يصف الأعراض.

That is because the verb يصف already tells you the subject is he through its form. So:

• يصف الأعراض = He describes the symptoms
• هو يصف الأعراض = He is describing the symptoms / He describes the symptoms

Adding هو can make the subject more explicit. It may be used:

• for clarity
• for emphasis
• for contrast, such as He describes the symptoms, not someone else

So هو is often optional here.

Why does يصف mean he describes?

In Modern Standard Arabic, verbs change form depending on the subject.

يصف is a present-tense verb form used with: