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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: החולצה עשויה מכותנה. - The shirt is made of cotton.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Solving an escape room with friends
/החולצה עשויה מכותנה.

החולצה עשויה מכותנה.

Word

החולצה עשויה מכותנה.

Meaning

The shirt is made of cotton.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Hebrew

Lesson

Solving an escape room with friends

Breakdown of החולצה עשויה מכותנה.

עשוי מasui mi

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Questions & Answers about החולצה עשויה מכותנה.

Why does החולצה start with ה־?

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

So:

חולצה = a shirt / shirt
החולצה = the shirt

In this sentence, the noun is definite, so the translation is the shirt rather than just a shirt.

What does עשויה mean here?

Here, עשויה means made or is made.

It comes from the verb לעשות, which usually means to do or to make. In this sentence, though, עשויה is not being used as a simple action verb like she made. It is being used like an adjective/participle meaning made.

So the structure is basically:

החולצה = the shirt
עשויה = made
מכותנה = of cotton / from cotton

Together: The shirt is made of cotton.

Why is it עשויה and not עשוי?

Because חולצה is a feminine singular noun.

In Hebrew, words like עשוי / עשויה / עשויים / עשויות must agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here are the matching forms:

עשוי = masculine singular
עשויה = feminine singular
עשויים = masculine plural
עשויות = feminine plural

Since חולצה is feminine singular, the correct form is עשויה.

How do I know חולצה is feminine?

A very common clue is the ending ־ה or ־ת, and חולצה is a feminine noun.

In Hebrew, grammatical gender is something you usually have to learn with each noun, but many feminine nouns do have common feminine endings.

Because חולצה is feminine, other words connected to it must match it, which is why you get עשויה.

Where is the word is in the Hebrew sentence?

It is not written as a separate word in the present tense.

In Hebrew, present-tense sentences often leave out the verb to be. English says:

The shirt is made of cotton

Hebrew simply says:

החולצה עשויה מכותנה

Literally, it looks more like:

The shirt made of cotton

But in natural English, we add is.

This is a very important Hebrew pattern:

in the present tense, to be is usually omitted
in the past or future, forms of to be may appear differently

What does מכותנה mean exactly, and what is the מ־ doing?

The מ־ here means from or of, depending on how we translate it naturally in English.

So:

כותנה = cotton
מכותנה = from cotton / of cotton

With materials, Hebrew often uses עשוי מ־ to mean made of or made from.

So:

עשויה מכותנה = made of cotton

Even though מ־ often literally means from, English usually says made of cotton.

Why isn’t it מהכותנה if English says of the cotton sometimes?

Because when talking about a material in general, Hebrew usually uses the bare noun without the.

So:

כותנה = cotton, as a material
הכותנה = the cotton, referring to some specific cotton already known in the conversation

In this sentence, the meaning is general: the shirt is made of cotton as a material. So מכותנה is the normal choice.

Is עשויה a verb or an adjective?

In this sentence, it behaves very much like an adjective/participle.

That is why it agrees with חולצה in gender and number. You can think of it as meaning made.

This is a helpful way to understand it:

החולצה יפה = The shirt is pretty
החולצה גדולה = The shirt is big
החולצה עשויה מכותנה = The shirt is made of cotton

So עשויה functions similarly to descriptive words, even though it comes from a verb root.

What is the basic form or dictionary form behind עשויה?

The basic form you will usually see is עשוי.

That is the masculine singular form, which is often how adjectives and participles are listed.

Related forms:

עשוי = masculine singular
עשויה = feminine singular
עשויים = masculine plural
עשויות = feminine plural

And it comes from the root ע-ש-ה, the same root as לעשות (to do / to make).

How is the sentence pronounced?

A common pronunciation is:

ha-khultsa asuya mi-kutna

A rough breakdown:

החולצה = ha-khultsa
עשויה = asuya
מכותנה = mi-kutna

Notes:

ח is a throaty sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch
צ sounds like ts

Why is the word order החולצה עשויה מכותנה?

This is a very normal Hebrew sentence pattern:

noun + description/complement

So:

החולצה = the shirt
עשויה = made
מכותנה = of cotton

This is similar to many simple Hebrew present-tense sentences, where you put the subject first and then describe it.

Could I also say something like חולצת כותנה?

Yes, but it means something slightly different in feel.

החולצה עשויה מכותנה = The shirt is made of cotton
חולצת כותנה = a cotton shirt

The first is a full sentence. The second is a noun phrase.

So if you are describing what kind of shirt something is, חולצת כותנה is very common. If you are making a statement about the shirt’s material, החולצה עשויה מכותנה is the clearer full sentence.

How would this change with a masculine noun or with plurals?

Only עשוי changes to match the noun.

Examples:

השולחן עשוי מעץ = The table is made of wood
(שולחן is masculine singular, so עשוי)
החולצות עשויות מכותנה = The shirts are made of cotton
(חולצות is feminine plural, so עשויות)
הבגדים עשויים מכותנה = The clothes are made of cotton
(בגדים is masculine plural, so עשויים)

This agreement pattern is very important in Hebrew.

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