החידה השנייה מובילה למעבר הסודי.

Because ה is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

In Hebrew, when a noun is definite and is followed by an adjective, the adjective usually becomes definite too.

So:

• חידה = a riddle
• החידה = the riddle
• שנייה = second
• השנייה = the second

That is why החידה השנייה means the second riddle.

In Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So Hebrew says:

• החידה השנייה = literally the riddle the second

But in natural English, we say the second riddle.

This word order is very normal in Hebrew:

• הספר הגדול = the big book
• הדלת האדומה = the red door

Because חידה is a feminine noun, and adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• masculine singular: השני = the second
• feminine singular: השנייה = the second

Since חידה is feminine, Hebrew uses the feminine form השנייה.

There is no single rule that works every time, but חידה is simply a feminine noun, and you can see that from the agreement in the sentence.

A learner often notices femininity because nearby words match it:

• החידה
• השנייה
• מובילה

Both השנייה and מובילה are feminine singular forms, so they show that the subject החידה is feminine singular too.

Also, many feminine Hebrew nouns end in -ה, though not all do.

מובילה is the feminine singular present-tense form of the verb להוביל, which means to lead.

So מובילה here means:

• leads
• or is leading

It is feminine singular because it agrees with the subject החידה השנייה, which is feminine singular.

Compare:

• הספר מוביל... = the book leads... if masculine
• החידה מובילה... = the riddle leads... if feminine

Hebrew present-tense verb forms often show gender and number.

Because Hebrew often attaches short prepositions directly to the following word.

Here, ל means to. When ל comes before a definite noun with ה meaning the, they combine.

So:

• ל + המעבר becomes למעבר
• with vowels, this would be read as לַמַּעֲבָר
• meaning to the passage

In normal unpointed Hebrew writing, you do not see the ה separately, because it merges into the preposition.

Because in Hebrew, if a noun is definite, its adjective must also be definite.

So the phrase is effectively:

• המעבר הסודי = the secret passage

After adding ל:

• למעבר הסודי = to the secret passage

Even though the ה on המעבר is hidden inside למעבר, the noun is still definite, so the adjective must stay definite too: הסודי.

No. It is a regular noun + adjective phrase, not a construct chain.

Here:

• מעבר = passage
• סודי = secret

So המעבר הסודי means the secret passage, where סודי is describing מעבר.

A construct chain in Hebrew is different. It is usually noun + noun, such as:

• דלת הבית = the door of the house

In your sentence, סודי is an adjective, not a second noun.

Yes. שנייה can also mean a second in the time sense.

So Hebrew can use the same word for:

• השנייה = the second as an ordinal, feminine
• שנייה אחת = one second

In your sentence, it clearly means second in the ordinal sense because it comes after the noun החידה and describes which riddle it is.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ha-khee-DA ha-shni-YA mo-vee-LA la-ma-a-VAR ha-so-DI

A few notes:

• ח in חידה is a throaty sound that English does not really have. Many learners approximate it as kh or a strong h.
• ע in מעבר is often very weak or almost silent in modern Israeli Hebrew, though historically it is a consonant.
• The stress is mostly on the last syllable of each word:
  • חידה
  • שנייה
  • מובילה
  • מעבר
  • סודי

So the rhythm is fairly natural as: ha-khee-DA ha-shni-YA mo-vee-LA la-ma-a-VAR ha-so-DI