تجلس العائلة حول الطاولة.

In Modern Standard Arabic, it is very common for a sentence to begin with the verb. This is called verbal sentence word order.

So:

• تجلس العائلة حول الطاولة = literally sits the family around the table
• Natural English translation: The family sits around the table

Arabic can also say:

• العائلة تجلس حول الطاولة

This version is also correct, but it starts with the subject, so it feels a bit more like The family is sitting around the table or gives slightly more focus to the family.

Both are normal, but verb-first order is extremely common in MSA.

تجلس is the present tense / imperfect form of the verb جلس, which means to sit.

Here it is specifically:

• تجلس = she sits / she is sitting

That may seem strange at first, because the English subject is the family, not she. But in Arabic, العائلة is a singular feminine noun, so the verb must match that.

Because العائلة is grammatically feminine.

You can often recognize many feminine nouns in Arabic by the ending ـة (taa marbuuTa).
Here:

• عائلة = family

Since it is feminine singular, the verb is also feminine singular:

• تجلس = she sits

So the agreement is grammatical, not based on whether the family members are male or female.

Because العائلة means family as a single unit. It is a collective noun, but grammatically it is still singular in Arabic, just like in English when we say The family is sitting.

So Arabic uses:

• singular noun: العائلة
• singular feminine verb: تجلس

If you wanted to talk about the family members as individuals, you would use a different noun, such as:

• أفراد العائلة = the family members

Then the grammar would change accordingly.

حول means around.

In this sentence:

• حول الطاولة = around the table

It is a preposition, so it introduces a prepositional phrase telling us where the sitting happens.

You will often see حول with nouns like:

• حول البيت = around the house
• حول العالم = around the world

Because it means the table, not just a table.

So:

• طاولة = a table / table
• الطاولة = the table

Since the English meaning has a specific table, Arabic uses the definite article الـ.

Also notice that العائلة is definite too:

• العائلة = the family

So the sentence is talking about a specific family and a specific table.

Yes, in fully vocalized formal Arabic there are case endings, even though they are usually not written in everyday texts.

The fully marked sentence would be:

• تجلسُ العائلةُ حولَ الطاولةِ

Why?

• تجلسُ: final ـُ because it is a present-tense verb in normal indicative mood
• العائلةُ: final ـُ because it is the subject, so it is nominative
• حولَ: often written with fatHa
• الطاولةِ: final ـِ because it comes after a preposition, so it is genitive

In normal unvowelled writing, these short vowels are usually omitted.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• تجلس العائلة حول الطاولة
• العائلة تجلس حول الطاولة

The difference is mainly one of word order and sometimes focus:

• تجلس العائلة... = more standard verb-first verbal sentence
• العائلة تجلس... = subject-first, often with a bit more emphasis on the family

A learner should be comfortable with both patterns.

Yes. In pronunciation, the ل of الـ is assimilated here because ط is a sun letter.

So although it is written:

• الطاولة

it is pronounced approximately:

• aṭ-ṭāwilah or aṭ-ṭāwila

That means the ط is doubled, and the l sound is not pronounced separately.

Similarly:

• الشمس is pronounced ash-shams
• الطالب is pronounced aṭ-ṭālib

The dictionary form is:

• جلس = to sit

This is the past tense, 3rd person masculine singular form, which is the form Arabic dictionaries usually list.

From that root and pattern, you get forms like:

• جلسَ = he sat
• تجلسُ = she sits / she is sitting
• يجلسُ = he sits / he is sitting
• أجلسُ = I sit / I am sitting
• نجلسُ = we sit / we are sitting

So تجلس is one conjugated form of the verb جلس.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Arabic present tense often covers both:

• she sits
• she is sitting

So this sentence could be understood as:

• The family sits around the table
• The family is sitting around the table

If the wider context is describing something happening right now, the second translation may sound more natural in English.

It depends on the exact meaning.

• حول الطاولة means around the table
• على الطاولة means on the table
• عند الطاولة can mean by the table
• على المائدة may be used in some contexts for at the table, especially in eating contexts

So حول الطاولة is a good choice if the image is people seated surrounding the table. It is a more literal around the table than the English expression at the table.

Because Arabic usually does not use a separate present-tense verb to be in simple sentences like this.

English says:

• The family is sitting around the table

Arabic simply says:

• تجلس العائلة حول الطاولة

The verb تجلس already carries the present-time meaning, so no extra word like is is needed. This is completely normal in Arabic.