קשה להתמודד עם הבעיה הזאת.

Hebrew often uses an impersonal adjective without a subject where English uses it.

So:

• קשה להתמודד עם הבעיה הזאת = It is hard to deal with this problem
• literally, it is closer to Hard to deal with this problem

The word it is usually not expressed in Hebrew in this kind of sentence.

קשה means hard, difficult, or tough.

In this sentence, it works as an impersonal predicate: it is difficult.
Because it is being used in this general, impersonal way, Hebrew normally uses the masculine singular form.

Related forms are:

• קשה — masculine singular
• קשה — feminine singular as well in pronunciation/spelling here
• קשים — masculine plural
• קשות — feminine plural

In this sentence, you do not need to match קשה to הבעיה. The sentence is not saying the problem is difficult. It is saying dealing with the problem is difficult.

להתמודד is the infinitive form of the verb להתמודד — to cope, to deal, to contend.

It belongs to the Hitpael pattern, which often has a reflexive or internal-action sense. In many contexts, להתמודד means:

• to cope
• to deal
• to face
• to manage in the face of something

Here, קשה להתמודד means it is hard to deal / to cope.

The ל־ at the beginning is the normal marker of the Hebrew infinitive, similar to English to.

Because להתמודד normally takes the preposition עם, meaning with.

So:

• להתמודד עם בעיה = to deal with a problem
• להתמודד עם קושי = to cope with a difficulty
• להתמודד עם מצב = to deal with a situation

This is just the standard verb-preposition combination you need to learn together:

• להתמודד עם = to deal with / cope with

In Hebrew, when you say this/that + noun, the noun is usually made definite with ה־, and the demonstrative comes after the noun.

So Hebrew says:

• הבעיה הזאת = this problem
• literally something like the problem this

This is the normal structure:

• ה + noun + demonstrative

Examples:

• הספר הזה = this book
• הילדה הזאת = this girl
• הבית הזה = this house

So בעיה הזאת would sound incomplete or nonstandard in ordinary modern Hebrew.

That is the normal Hebrew pattern for demonstratives in this kind of phrase.

English:

• this problem

Hebrew:

• הבעיה הזאת
• literally: the-problem this

So the order is usually:

• noun first
• demonstrative after it

This is very common in Modern Hebrew.

Because בעיה is a feminine noun, and the demonstrative must agree with it.

• בעיה = feminine singular
• therefore: זאת or זו

Compare:

• הספר הזה = this book
  (ספר is masculine)
• הבעיה הזאת = this problem
  (בעיה is feminine)

So זה would not match בעיה.

Yes. Both are common in Modern Hebrew.

• הבעיה הזאת
• הבעיה הזו

Both mean this problem.

A rough learner-friendly way to think about them:

• זאת can sound a bit more formal or full
• זו is very common in everyday speech and writing

Both are correct, and both agree with the feminine noun בעיה.

It is a separate word: הזאת.

Historically and grammatically, you can think of it as the demonstrative form used after a definite noun. For practical learning, it is best to memorize the whole pattern:

• הספר הזה
• הילדה הזאת
• הבעיות האלה

So in the sentence, you should treat הבעיה הזאת as the normal way to say this problem.

The noun בעיה is feminine. One clue is the ending ־ה, which is very often feminine in Hebrew.

So:

• singular: בעיה
• plural: בעיות

Because it is feminine singular, words that agree with it will usually also be feminine singular, such as:

• זאת / זו

But remember: קשה in this sentence is not agreeing with בעיה. It is part of the impersonal expression קשה להתמודד...

A useful breakdown is:

• קשה = hard / difficult
• להתמודד = to deal / to cope
• עם = with
• הבעיה הזאת = this problem

So the structure is:

• קשה + infinitive + עם + noun phrase

More literally:

• Hard to deal with this problem

Natural English:

• It is hard to deal with this problem
• It is difficult to cope with this problem

Yes, in a broad sense it expresses a present/general statement.

Hebrew often has no separate verb meaning is in the present tense. So there is no written word here for is.

That is why the sentence looks short:

• קשה להתמודד עם הבעיה הזאת

But in English we must say:

• It is hard to deal with this problem

So the idea of is is understood even though no separate word appears.

You would usually add לי:

• קשה לי להתמודד עם הבעיה הזאת

Here:

• לי = to me / for me

So:

• קשה לי = it is hard for me

Other examples:

• קשה לו = it is hard for him
• קשה לה = it is hard for her
• קשה להם = it is hard for them

This is a very common Hebrew pattern.

Yes, in natural English that is a very close translation, but grammatically the Hebrew sentence is built more like:

• It is hard to deal with this problem

If you specifically wanted to focus on the problem as the thing being difficult, Hebrew might use a different structure depending on the nuance.

So the given sentence is best understood as an impersonal statement about the difficulty of coping with the problem, not as simple adjective + noun agreement.

It is pronounced roughly leh-hit-mo-DED.

The verb comes from the Hitpael pattern, which often begins with הת־ in many forms. In the infinitive, that becomes part of להת...

So:

• ל = infinitive marker
• התמודד = the verb pattern and root together

You do not need to analyze every letter at first, but it helps to recognize that many Hebrew verbs belong to recurring patterns. להתמודד is one of those pattern-based verbs.

This order is the most neutral and natural:

• קשה להתמודד עם הבעיה הזאת

Hebrew does allow some flexibility for emphasis, but for a learner this is the best word order to use.

If you want to sound natural, memorize it as:

• קשה + infinitive + עם + noun phrase

For example:

• קשה להבין את זה = It is hard to understand this
• קשה לעבוד ככה = It is hard to work like this
• קשה להתמודד עם הבעיה הזאת = It is hard to deal with this problem