היא נתנה לי מבט קצר.

נתנה is the past tense, third-person feminine singular form of the verb לתת (to give).

So:

• הוא נתן = he gave
• היא נתנה = she gave

In this sentence, it matches היא because the subject is feminine singular.

Yes. In Hebrew, the verb form already tells you the person, number, and in the past tense also the gender. So נתנה by itself can already mean she gave.

That means:

• נתנה לי מבט קצר is a complete sentence.
• היא נתנה לי מבט קצר is also correct.

Including היא can make the sentence clearer, more explicit, or slightly more emphatic.

Because לי means to me / for me, and with the verb לתת (to give), the receiver is usually marked with ל־.

So:

• נתנה לי = she gave me / literally she gave to me

By contrast:

• אותי means me as a direct object.

In English, gave me looks direct, but in Hebrew the person receiving the thing is expressed with ל־:

• נתנה לי ספר = she gave me a book
• literally: she gave a book to me

מבט is a noun meaning look, glance, or gaze, depending on context.

In this sentence, מבט קצר means something like:

• a brief look
• a quick glance

It is a fairly common noun in Hebrew, especially in expressions like:

• לתת מבט = to give a look / take a look
• מבט ראשון = first glance
• מבט אחרון = last look

Because in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• מבט קצר = literally look short
• natural English: a short look / a brief glance

This is the normal Hebrew word order for noun + adjective:

• בית גדול = a big house
• ילדה קטנה = a little girl
• מבט קצר = a short look

Because קצר has to agree with מבט, and מבט is masculine singular.

Hebrew adjectives agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

So here:

• מבט = masculine singular
• therefore: קצר = masculine singular

If the noun were feminine singular, you would usually get קצרה instead.

Because Hebrew has no separate word for a/an.

A bare noun is often indefinite by default:

• מבט קצר = a short look / a brief glance

Hebrew does have a definite article:

• ה־ = the

So:

• מבט קצר = a short look
• המבט הקצר = the short look

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

Here, מבט קצר is indefinite:

• a brief glance, not the brief glance

So:

• היא נתנה לי מבט קצר = no את

But if it were definite, you would use את:

• היא נתנה לי את המבט הקצר = she gave me the brief look

So the absence of את is completely normal here.

Yes, it is natural and understandable. It works much like English gave me a quick look or gave me a brief glance.

That said, Hebrew also has other very common ways to express similar ideas, for example:

• היא הסתכלה עליי לרגע = she looked at me for a moment
• היא נתנה לי מבט חטוף = she gave me a quick glance

So מבט קצר is fine, but depending on style and nuance, a native speaker might also use מבט חטוף for quick glance.

היא הסתכלה עליי means she looked at me. It is more neutral and straightforward.

היא נתנה לי מבט קצר is a bit more specific and expressive. It suggests:

• a brief look
• a directed glance
• sometimes a meaningful look

So the difference is mainly one of nuance:

• הסתכלה עליי = she looked at me
• נתנה לי מבט קצר = she gave me a quick/brief glance

A common pronunciation is:

hi natNA li maBAT kaTSAR

Rough breakdown:

• היא = hi
• נתנה = natNA
• לי = li
• מבט = maBAT
• קצר = kaTSAR

The stress is usually on the last syllable of נתנה, מבט, and קצר.

Yes:

• נתנה לי מבט קצר

This is still grammatical and natural, because נתנה already tells you the subject is she.

Adding היא is useful when:

• you want emphasis
• you want contrast, like she gave me that look, not someone else
• you want extra clarity in context

So both versions are correct.