Questions & Answers about אנחנו משלמים מס בכל חודש.
How do you pronounce אנחנו משלמים מס בכל חודש?
A common pronunciation is:
anákhnu meshalmím mas bekhól chódesh
A rough sound guide:
- אנחנו = anákhnu = we
- משלמים = meshalmím = paying / pay
- מס = mas = tax
- בכל = bekhól = every / in every
- חודש = chódesh = month
The kh sound in anákhnu and bekhól is like the sound in German Bach or Scottish loch.
Why is משלמים used here? Isn’t that the same form as paying?
Yes. In modern Hebrew, the present tense is built from a participle-like form, and משלמים is the masculine plural present form of the verb לשלם (to pay).
So אנחנו משלמים literally looks like we paying, but in natural English it means we pay or we are paying, depending on context.
In this sentence, because of בכל חודש (every month), it is understood as a habitual action:
We pay tax every month.
Why is משלמים masculine plural?
Because it agrees with the subject אנחנו (we).
In the Hebrew present tense, the verb form changes for gender and number:
- משלם = masculine singular
- משלמת = feminine singular
- משלמים = masculine plural
- משלמות = feminine plural
With אנחנו, Hebrew chooses:
- משלמים for a group of men, or a mixed group
- משלמות for a group of women
So this sentence is either:
- spoken by men,
- spoken by a mixed group,
- or using masculine plural as the default/general form.
Could you leave out אנחנו?
Yes, very often.
Hebrew often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear. So you can say:
משלמים מס בכל חודש
and in context it can still mean we pay tax every month.
However, אנחנו may be included:
- for emphasis,
- for clarity,
- or simply because the speaker chooses to say it.
So both are natural.
Why is there no word for a or the before מס?
Hebrew has no indefinite article. So there is no separate word for a/an.
That means:
- מס can mean tax or a tax, depending on context.
- המס would mean the tax.
In this sentence, מס is being used in a general sense, so tax is the natural translation.
What exactly does בכל חודש mean?
בכל חודש literally means in every month.
It is made of:
- ב־ = in
- כל = every / all
- חודש = month
Together, בכל חודש means every month.
This is a very common Hebrew pattern:
- בכל יום = every day
- בכל שבוע = every week
- בכל שנה = every year
Why is it בכל חודש and not כל חודש?
Both can exist, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.
- כל חודש = every month
- בכל חודש = literally in every month, often also translated every month
In many cases, both are natural. But בכל חודש can sound a bit more explicitly distributive, emphasizing that it happens within each month.
In this sentence, בכל חודש is perfectly idiomatic.
What is the dictionary form of משלמים?
The dictionary form is לשלם — to pay.
Useful related forms:
- לשלם = to pay
- משלם = paying / pays (masculine singular)
- משלמת = paying / pays (feminine singular)
- משלמים = paying / pay (masculine plural)
- משלמות = paying / pay (feminine plural)
This verb belongs to the pi'el pattern, which is why it looks like משלם / משלמים.
What is the root of לשלם / משלמים?
The root is ש־ל־ם.
This root is very common in Hebrew and is connected to ideas of completeness, payment, and peace in different word families.
For example:
- לשלם = to pay
- שלום = peace / hello / goodbye
- שלם = whole / complete
Even though the meanings differ, they are historically related through the same root.
Can this sentence mean both we pay and we are paying?
Yes. Hebrew present tense often covers both meanings.
So אנחנו משלמים can mean:
- we pay
- we are paying
Context tells you which one is intended.
Because this sentence includes בכל חודש (every month), it strongly suggests a repeated or habitual action, so the best translation is:
We pay tax every month.
Is the word order fixed?
Not completely. Hebrew word order is fairly flexible.
The neutral order here is:
אנחנו משלמים מס בכל חודש
But other orders are possible for emphasis, such as:
- בכל חודש אנחנו משלמים מס = Every month, we pay tax
- מס אנחנו משלמים בכל חודש = Tax, we pay every month (more marked/emphatic)
So the original sentence is the most straightforward, standard order, but not the only possible one.
Do I need to write vowel marks here?
Usually no.
In everyday modern Hebrew, people normally write this sentence without ניקוד (vowel marks), exactly as:
אנחנו משלמים מס בכל חודש.
Learners may sometimes see a fully pointed version in textbooks, but ordinary Hebrew writing usually omits the vowel marks unless the text is for beginners, children, poetry, or situations where pronunciation needs to be made extra clear.
Would משלמות be correct in some situations?
Yes. If the speakers are all female, you would say:
אנחנו משלמות מס בכל חודש.
So:
- אנחנו משלמים = we pay (men / mixed group / general default)
- אנחנו משלמות = we pay (women only)
This is a very common feature of Hebrew present-tense agreement.
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