מסיר הכתמים יכול לפגוע בבד.

The stain remover can damage the fabric.

Breakdown of מסיר הכתמים יכול לפגוע בבד.

• להיות יכול: to be able
• לפגוע ב: to damage
• בד: fabric
• מסיר כתמים: stain remover

Questions & Answers about מסיר הכתמים יכול לפגוע בבד.

What is מסיר here? Is it a verb or a noun?

Here מסיר is functioning as a noun: remover.

It comes from the verb להסיר = to remove. Hebrew often uses a form that looks like a present-tense verb as a noun or adjective. So:

• מסיר can mean removing in some contexts
• but in מסיר הכתמים, it means stain remover

So this is not saying removes the stains. It is naming a thing: the stain remover.

Why is it מסיר הכתמים for stain remover?

This is a very common Hebrew structure called construct state (סמיכות).

Literally, מסיר הכתמים is something like:

• remover of the stains

But in natural English, that becomes:

• stain remover

In Hebrew, this kind of X of Y relationship is often expressed by putting the two nouns next to each other:

• מסיר הכתמים = stain remover
• first noun: מסיר = remover
• second noun: הכתמים = the stains

Why does only הכתמים have ה־ and not מסיר?