Breakdown of הגשר יכול לשאת הרבה מכוניות.
Questions & Answers about הגשר יכול לשאת הרבה מכוניות.
Why is ה attached to גשר?
ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to English the. Hebrew usually attaches it directly to the noun.
So:
- גשר = bridge
- הגשר = the bridge
Why is it יכול and not יכולה or יכולים?
Because גשר is a masculine singular noun, and יכול agrees with the subject in gender and number.
So:
- הגשר יכול... = the bridge can...
- המכונית יכולה... = the car can...
- הגשרים יכולים... = the bridges can...
Even though a bridge is not a person, Hebrew still gives it grammatical gender.
Is יכול really the Hebrew word for can?
In everyday Hebrew, yes. יכול literally means able / capable, but it is very commonly used the way English uses can.
A very common pattern is:
subject + יכול + infinitive
So:
- הוא יכול לבוא = he can come
- הגשר יכול לשאת... = the bridge can carry / support...
Why does לשאת begin with ל־? English says can carry, not can to carry.
After יכול, Hebrew uses the infinitive, and Hebrew infinitives normally begin with ל־.
So לשאת means to carry / to bear.
Even though English drops to after can, Hebrew still uses the infinitive form:
- יכול לשאת = literally something like able to carry
- but in normal English translation: can carry
What does לשאת mean exactly in this sentence?
Here לשאת means to bear, carry, support.
With a bridge, the idea is usually supporting weight, not physically transporting cars somewhere. So in this sentence it is closer to:
- bear
- support
- carry the load of
It comes from the root נ-ש-א, and this verb is somewhat irregular, so the infinitive לשאת may not look very obvious at first.
Why is there no את before הרבה מכוניות?
Because את is used before a definite direct object, and הרבה מכוניות is indefinite: it means many cars, not the cars.
Compare:
- הגשר יכול לשאת הרבה מכוניות = The bridge can support many cars
- הגשר יכול לשאת את המכוניות = The bridge can support the cars
So no את is needed here.
Why does Hebrew say הרבה מכוניות? Could I also say מכוניות רבות?
Yes, both are correct.
- הרבה מכוניות = the most common everyday way to say many cars
- מכוניות רבות = also correct, but often feels a bit more formal or literary
A useful thing to notice:
- הרבה does not change here
- רבות does agree with מכוניות, so it appears in the feminine plural form
Why does מכוניות end in ־ות? What is the singular?
The singular is מכונית, meaning car.
It is a feminine noun, and its plural is מכוניות.
So:
- מכונית = car
- מכוניות = cars
The ending ־ות is a very common feminine plural ending in Hebrew.
Is the word order here normal Hebrew word order?
Yes. This is a very normal structure:
subject + יכול + infinitive + object
So in this sentence:
- הגשר = subject
- יכול = can / is able
- לשאת = to carry / support
- הרבה מכוניות = object
In this case, the word order is actually quite close to English, which makes the sentence easier for English speakers to follow.
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