התא הזה ריק.

In Hebrew, demonstratives like this usually come after the noun when they describe it directly.

So Hebrew says:

• התא הזה = this cell / this compartment

This is the normal pattern:

• הספר הזה = this book
• הבית הזה = this house
• הילד הזה = this boy

So even though English says this cell, Hebrew says literally the-cell this.

Because Hebrew normally marks this kind of noun phrase as definite.

In התא הזה:

• ה־ on תא makes it the cell
• הזה is the masculine singular form meaning this

With Hebrew demonstratives, the usual pattern is:

• ה + noun + ה + demonstrative

So:

• התא הזה = this cell
• הילדה הזאת = this girl
• הדברים האלה = these things

This doubling of definiteness is normal in Hebrew.

Because in Hebrew, in the present tense, sentences like X is Y often have no spoken word for is.

So:

• התא הזה ריק literally looks like this cell empty
• but it means this cell is empty

This is called a nominal sentence.

Compare:

• החדר גדול = the room is big
• המים קרים = the water is cold
• הספר מעניין = the book is interesting

But in the past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be:

• התא הזה היה ריק = this cell was empty
• התא הזה יהיה ריק = this cell will be empty

Good question. ריק here is a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly attached inside the noun phrase.

In other words:

• התא הזה ריק = this cell is empty

Here, ריק is saying something about the subject, so it does not take ה־.

Compare that with an adjective that is directly attached to the noun:

• התא הריק = the empty cell

There, הריק is part of the noun phrase, so it takes the article.

So the contrast is:

• התא הריק = the empty cell
• התא ריק = the cell is empty
• התא הזה ריק = this cell is empty

That difference is very important in Hebrew.

Because it has to agree with תא, which is masculine singular.

Hebrew adjectives agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• sometimes definiteness, if they are attributive adjectives

Here, תא is masculine singular, so the adjective is:

• ריק = masculine singular

Other forms would be:

• ריקה = feminine singular
• ריקים = masculine plural
• ריקות = feminine plural

For example:

• הקופסה הזאת ריקה = this box is empty
• התאים האלה ריקים = these cells/compartments are empty

תא is masculine.

That is why the sentence uses:

• הזה and not הזאת
• ריק and not ריקה

So the grammar tells you the gender clearly:

• התא הזה ריק

If the noun were feminine, you would expect forms like:

• הזאת
• ריקה

Not always. תא can mean several related things depending on context, such as:

• a cell
• a compartment
• a booth
• a small enclosed section or unit

So in one context it might be a prison cell, in another a storage compartment, and in another even a biological cell.

The grammar of the sentence stays the same either way.

A common pronunciation is approximately:

• ha-TA ha-ZE reik

A few notes:

• התא = ha-ta
• הזה = ha-ze
• ריק = commonly reik in careful transliteration

The main stress is usually:

• ha-TA
• ha-ZE

Yes, but that would be a different sentence structure.

Your sentence is:

• התא הזה ריק = this cell is empty

If you wanted this is an empty cell, Hebrew would more likely use זה as a pronoun at the start, for example:

• זה תא ריק = this is an empty cell / this is an empty compartment

So:

• התא הזה ריק → the subject is this cell
• זה תא ריק → the subject is this

They are related, but not the same structure.

For masculine plural, you would change all the agreeing parts:

• התאים האלה ריקים = these cells/compartments are empty

Breakdown:

• התאים = the cells
• האלה = these
• ריקים = empty (masculine plural)

So Hebrew changes both the demonstrative and the adjective to match the noun.