המשכיר חייב להשיב את הערובה.

המשכיר means the landlord / the lessor—literally, the one who rents out.

A very common point of confusion is:

• המשכיר = the person who rents out the property
• השוכר = the person who rents the property for themselves, i.e. the tenant / renter

So in rental Hebrew:

• להשכיר = to rent out
• לשכור = to rent

That distinction is very important.

The ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• משכיר = a landlord / one who rents out
• המשכיר = the landlord

The same thing happens later in the sentence with הערובה = the security / deposit / guarantee.

Here חייב means obligated, required, or more naturally in English, must.

So המשכיר חייב... means:

• the landlord is obligated to...
• or simply the landlord must...

Grammatically, חייב is an adjective, but in sentences like this it functions very much like a modal idea such as must or has to.

Hebrew often expresses obligation with:

• חייב / חייבת / חייבים / חייבות
  • infinitive

So:

• חייב להשיב = must return
• חייב לשלם = must pay
• חייב לעשות = must do

This is a very normal Hebrew structure. English uses a modal verb like must, but Hebrew often uses an adjective of obligation plus an infinitive.

להשיב is an infinitive meaning to return, to give back, or to restore.

In this sentence, it means to return the deposit/security.

A useful detail: להשיב can also mean to answer in other contexts. Hebrew learners often notice that and wonder if it is the same word. It is the same form, but context tells you which meaning is intended.

In legal or formal Hebrew, להשיב often has a somewhat formal tone, especially in the sense of returning something.

Yes, it sounds fairly formal and legal/official in this sentence.

In everyday spoken Hebrew, people might more often use להחזיר for to return/give back. But in legal, administrative, or contract language, להשיב is very common and sounds appropriate.

So this sentence has a somewhat legal-register feel.

את marks a definite direct object.

Since הערובה has ה־ and means the security / the deposit, it is definite, so Hebrew uses את before it.

So:

• להשיב ערובה = to return a security/deposit (indefinite)
• להשיב את הערובה = to return the security/deposit (definite)

Important: את usually is not translated into English. It is just a grammatical marker.

ערובה can mean security, guarantee, collateral, or deposit, depending on context.

In a landlord-tenant context, it usually refers to some kind of security deposit or security/guarantee given by the tenant.

So even if the exact English translation varies, the Hebrew idea is something like a rental security that must be returned.

This is a very normal Hebrew sentence structure:

• המשכיר = subject
• חייב = predicate expressing obligation
• להשיב = infinitive, “to return”
• את הערובה = direct object, “the security/deposit”

So the structure is basically:

Subject + obligation + infinitive + object

That is a standard pattern in Hebrew.

Because חייב agrees with gender and number, it changes depending on who is obligated.

Examples:

• המשכיר חייב להשיב את הערובה.
  The male landlord must return the deposit.

• המשכירה חייבת להשיב את הערובה.
  The female landlord must return the deposit.

• המשכירים חייבים להשיב את הערובה.
  The landlords (masculine/mixed) must return the deposit.

• המשכירות חייבות להשיב את הערובה.
  The landlords (all feminine) must return the deposit.

So this sentence is singular masculine.

A natural pronunciation is:

ha-maskír khayáv lehashív et ha-aruvá

A few notes:

• המשכיר = ha-maskír
• חייב is often pronounced khayáv
• להשיב = lehashív
• הערובה = ha-aruvá

The stress is typically on the last syllable in:

• maskír
• khayáv
• lehashív
• aruvá

Here it functions as a noun: the landlord / the lessor.

But historically and structurally, משכיר is related to a participle form meaning one who rents out. Hebrew often uses participle forms as nouns, especially for roles or professions.

So a learner can think of it as:

• structurally: one who rents out
• idiomatically: landlord / lessor

That is why it may look a bit “verbal” even though it is serving as a noun here.