היא אכלה חתיכת לחם.

Because it agrees with היא, which means she.

In the past tense, Hebrew verbs show:

• person
• number
• gender

So אכלה is third person singular feminine past: she ate.

Compare:

• הוא אכל = he ate
• היא אכלה = she ate

You often can leave it out.

Hebrew past-tense verbs already tell you who the subject is, so אכלה by itself already means she ate. That means:

• היא אכלה חתיכת לחם = She ate a piece of bread
• אכלה חתיכת לחם = also She ate a piece of bread

Including היא can make the subject clearer or more emphasized, especially if you are contrasting her with someone else.

This is because of the construct state (called סמיכות in Hebrew).

The basic noun is:

• חתיכה = a piece

But when Hebrew says piece of bread, it often uses a two-noun structure:

• חתיכת לחם = a piece of bread

In this structure, חתיכה changes to חתיכת.

This is very common with feminine nouns ending in -ה:

• base form: חתיכה
• construct form: חתיכת

So חתיכת לחם literally works like piece-of bread.

Yes, you could.

Both are understandable:

• חתיכת לחם
• חתיכה של לחם

But חתיכת לחם is the more natural compact Hebrew way for a piece of bread.

Very roughly:

• construct state (חתיכת לחם) sounds tighter and more standard
• של form (חתיכה של לחם) is also possible and often feels a bit more analytic or conversational

In many everyday situations, native speakers use both kinds of structures depending on the phrase.

Because את is normally used only before a definite direct object.

Here, חתיכת לחם means a piece of bread, which is indefinite, so there is no את.

That is why the sentence is:

• היא אכלה חתיכת לחם

If you meant the piece of bread, then you would use a definite object, and את would appear:

• היא אכלה את חתיכת הלחם = She ate the piece of bread

Because Hebrew has no indefinite article. There is no separate word for a or an.

So:

• לחם can mean bread
• חתיכת לחם can mean a piece of bread

Indefiniteness is usually just understood from context.

Hebrew does mark definiteness, though, usually with ה־:

• לחם = bread / some bread
• הלחם = the bread

In a construct phrase, the first noun usually does not take ה־. Definiteness is shown later in the phrase:

• חתיכת לחם = a piece of bread
• חתיכת הלחם = the piece of bread / a piece of the bread, depending on context

Most literally, it means a piece of bread.

It is a general word:

• חתיכה = piece

If you specifically want slice of bread, Hebrew often uses:

• פרוסת לחם = a slice of bread

So:

• חתיכת לחם = a piece/chunk/bit of bread
• פרוסת לחם = a slice of bread

In everyday translation, though, English may sometimes choose piece or slice depending on context.

A common pronunciation is:

hi akhla khatikhat lekhem

A few notes:

• היא = hi
• אכלה = akhla or akhlah depending on accent
• חתיכת = khatikhat / khatikhat
• לחם = lekhem

Two sounds may feel unfamiliar to English speakers:

• ח = a throatier sound, often written kh
• כ without a dot can sound similar in modern Israeli Hebrew

Not completely.

The sentence you have is in a very normal order:

• היא = subject
• אכלה = verb
• חתיכת לחם = object

So this is Subject–Verb–Object, which is very common in modern Hebrew.

But Hebrew allows some flexibility. For example:

• אכלה חתיכת לחם is also natural
• חתיכת לחם היא אכלה could be used for emphasis, like It was a piece of bread that she ate

So the given order is standard, but not the only possible one.

You would make the object definite, and then add את because it is a definite direct object:

• היא אכלה את חתיכת הלחם

Notice two things:

1. את appears before the direct object.
2. The construct phrase becomes definite through הלחם, not by putting ה־ on חתיכת.

So:

• היא אכלה חתיכת לחם = She ate a piece of bread
• היא אכלה את חתיכת הלחם = She ate the piece of bread