העץ גדל מהר.

In modern Israeli Hebrew, it is roughly:

ha-ets gaDEL maHER

A word-by-word guide:

• העץ = ha-ets
• גדל = gadel
• מהר = maher

A few pronunciation notes:

• ע in העץ is usually not strongly pronounced in modern Hebrew.
• ץ at the end of עץ sounds like ts.
• Hebrew stress is usually toward the end of the word, so gaDEL and maHER.

עץ means tree.

The ה at the beginning is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to English the. So:

• עץ = tree
• העץ = the tree

In Hebrew, the word for the is usually attached directly to the noun, instead of standing as a separate word.

עץ is masculine.

Yes, that matters, because in Hebrew the present-tense verb form agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Here:

• העץ is masculine singular
• so the verb is גדל = masculine singular

If the subject were feminine singular, the form would be different:

• הילדה גדלה = the girl grows / is growing

If it were masculine plural:

• העצים גדלים = the trees grow / are growing

Here גדל is a verb, not an adjective.

It means grows or is growing.

It is related to גדול (big), because both come from the same root, ג-ד-ל, which has to do with growth and becoming big.

So:

• גדול = big (adjective)
• גדל = grows / is growing (verb)

That connection is very common in Hebrew: words from the same root often have related meanings.

Yes — without vowel marks, גדל can be ambiguous.

It can be read as:

• גָּדֵל = grows / is growing (present masculine singular)
• גָּדַל = grew (past, he grew or it grew, masculine singular)

So in unpointed Hebrew, you often need context to know which one is meant.

In this sentence, if the learner is already shown the meaning, then that meaning tells you the intended reading.

Because Hebrew does not usually make the same distinction that English does between:

• simple present = grows
• present progressive = is growing

In many cases, one Hebrew present form can cover both meanings.

So העץ גדל מהר can mean:

• The tree grows fast
• The tree is growing fast

The exact English translation depends on context.

Here מהר means fast / quickly.

In natural English, both of these can work:

• The tree grows fast
• The tree grows quickly

So מהר is functioning as an adverb here: it describes how the tree grows.

A useful comparison:

• מהיר = fast as an adjective
• מהר = fast / quickly in this kind of sentence

Because העץ is the subject, not a direct object.

In Hebrew, את is used before a definite direct object. But in this sentence, the tree is the thing doing the action:

• the tree = subject
• grows = verb

So no את is needed.

You would only use את if the tree were receiving the action, for example in a sentence like:

• אני רואה את העץ = I see the tree

Yes, this is a very normal word order.

The sentence is:

• העץ = subject
• גדל = verb
• מהר = adverb

So it follows a straightforward pattern: subject + verb + adverb

Hebrew word order can be flexible, but this version sounds neutral and natural.

If you changed the order, the sentence might still be understandable, but it could sound more marked or less natural depending on the context.

The main change would be in the form of גדל, because it has to agree with the subject.

Examples:

• העץ גדל מהר = masculine singular = The tree grows fast
• הילדה גדלה מהר = feminine singular = The girl grows fast
• העצים גדלים מהר = masculine plural = The trees grow fast
• הבנות גדלות מהר = feminine plural = The girls grow fast

So this sentence is a good example of how Hebrew present-tense forms change according to gender and number.