הילד רוצה לגדול.

הילד means the boy or the child (male).

It is made of:

• ה־ = the
• ילד = boy / child

So הילד literally means the boy.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• ילד = a boy / boy
• הילד = the boy

Unlike English, Hebrew usually attaches the directly to the noun instead of writing it as a separate word.

Here רוצה means wants.

The verb is from לרצות = to want.

In this sentence, רוצה agrees with הילד, so it is understood as he wants.

It is present tense.

So הילד רוצה לגדול means:

• The boy wants to grow up
• literally, The boy is wanting to grow

In English we usually translate it simply as wants.

After רוצה (wants), Hebrew normally uses an infinitive: to do something.

So:

• רוצה = wants
• לגדול = to grow / to grow up

Together:

• רוצה לגדול = wants to grow up

The ל־ at the start of לגדול is the usual marker for the infinitive, often corresponding to English to.

Because גדול and לגדול are different things.

• גדול = big (an adjective)
• לגדול = to grow / to grow up (an infinitive verb)

So:

• הילד רוצה גדול would be wrong here
• הילד רוצה לגדול is correct: The boy wants to grow up

This is a very common point of confusion because the two forms look similar.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

In this sentence, with a child as the subject, the natural meaning is usually:

• to grow up

But literally, the verb גדל is connected to becoming bigger or growing.

So the sentence could carry the idea:

• The boy wants to grow
• The boy wants to grow up

Context tells you which is more natural.

A common pronunciation is:

ha-yeled rotze ligdol

More precisely:

• הילד = ha-yeled
• רוצה = rotze (here, masculine pronunciation)
• לגדול = ligdol

So the full sentence is:

ha-yeled rotze ligdol

The word order here is:

subject + verb + infinitive

So:

• הילד = subject = the boy
• רוצה = verb = wants
• לגדול = infinitive = to grow up

This is very similar to English:

• The boy wants to grow up

Hebrew often does not need a separate subject pronoun when the subject is already stated.

Since הילד is already there, Hebrew does not need to add הוא (he).

So instead of saying something like The boy he wants to grow up, Hebrew simply says:

הילד רוצה לגדול

That is completely normal.

Yes. The subject הילד is masculine singular, so the verb form must match it.

In unpointed Hebrew, רוצה is spelled the same for masculine singular and feminine singular, but the pronunciation differs:

• masculine: rotze
• feminine: rotzah

So in this sentence, because הילד is masculine, it is understood as rotze.

You would say:

הילדה רוצה לגדול

This means The girl wants to grow up.

A useful detail:

• In normal unpointed spelling, רוצה looks the same as in the masculine sentence.
• But with הילדה, it is pronounced rotzah, not rotze.

So:

• הילד רוצה לגדול = ha-yeled rotze ligdol
• הילדה רוצה לגדול = ha-yaldah rotzah ligdol

Yes. ילד can mean:

• boy
• child (male)

So הילד רוצה לגדול could sometimes be understood as:

• The boy wants to grow up or
• The child wants to grow up

But in many beginner contexts, the boy is the most straightforward translation.

No. Hebrew present-tense sentences often do not use a separate word like English is in this kind of structure.

English says:

• The boy wants to grow up

Hebrew simply says:

• הילד רוצה לגדול

There is no extra auxiliary verb needed.

The dictionary forms are:

• לרצות = to want
• לגדול = to grow / to grow up

In the sentence:

• רוצה is a conjugated present-tense form of לרצות
• לגדול stays in the infinitive after רוצה

So a very useful pattern is:

[someone] רוצה + infinitive

For example:

• הילד רוצה לאכול = The boy wants to eat
• הילד רוצה לשחק = The boy wants to play
• הילד רוצה לגדול = The boy wants to grow up