צריך לסובב את האובניים לאט.

צריך means need, needs, or must / have to, depending on context.

In this sentence, צריך לסובב... means something like:

• It is necessary to turn...
• One needs to turn...
• You have to turn...

So yes, it can overlap with both need and must / have to in English.

A useful thing to know is that צריך can work:

• personally: אני צריך = I need / I have to
• impersonally: צריך לעשות = it is necessary to do / one should do

Here it feels a bit impersonal or instructional, like a general direction.

Hebrew often leaves out the subject when it is clear from context or when the sentence is meant as a general instruction.

So צריך לסובב את האובניים לאט can sound like:

• You need to turn the wheel slowly
• One should turn the wheel slowly
• It’s necessary to turn the wheel slowly

If the speaker wanted to be more explicit, they could say:

• אתה צריך לסובב את האובניים לאט = You (masc.) need to turn the wheel slowly
• את צריכה לסובב את האובניים לאט = You (fem.) need to turn the wheel slowly

Without a subject, it sounds more like an instruction or general rule.

Because צריך is commonly followed by an infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• צריך + infinitive

Examples:

• צריך ללכת = need to go
• צריך ללמוד = need to study
• צריך לסובב = need to turn

So לסובב means to turn / to rotate / to spin.

This is very similar to English need to + verb.

לסובב comes from the root ס־ב־ב, which has to do with turning, going around, or causing something to rotate.

In this sentence, לסובב means:

• to turn
• to rotate
• to spin

The best English translation depends on context. If האובניים is a potter’s wheel, then to turn or to spin works well.

So the sentence suggests rotating the wheel slowly.

את marks a definite direct object.

In Hebrew, when the object of a verb is specific or definite, you usually put את before it.

Here:

• לסובב = to turn
• את האובניים = the wheel

So את does not mean you here. It is a grammar marker.

Compare:

• אני רואה ספר = I see a book
• אני רואה את הספר = I see the book

Because האובניים has ה־ (the), it is definite, so את is needed.

אובניים means potter’s wheel.

The ending ־יים often looks like a dual ending in Hebrew. Historically, this ending was used for things that come in pairs or have two parts, and some nouns kept that form even when their meaning became more fixed.

So אובניים is one of those nouns that appears in this special form.

With the definite article, it becomes:

• האובניים = the potter’s wheel

Even though the form looks plural or dual, the meaning is a single object: a potter’s wheel.

In meaning, it refers to one object: the potter’s wheel.

But in form, it looks like a word with the ending ־יים, which is associated with the dual and sometimes behaves somewhat like a plural form.

For a learner, the most practical thing is:

• learn אובניים as a fixed noun
• understand האובניים as the potter’s wheel

So even if the form looks unusual, the meaning here is singular in English.

לאט means slowly.

In Hebrew, adverbs like לאט often come after the verb and object, especially in neutral word order.

So:

• לסובב את האובניים לאט = to turn the wheel slowly

That placement is very natural.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this version sounds normal and straightforward.

Here it is an adverb, because it describes how the turning should be done.

• לאט = slowly

It does not change for gender or number.

Examples:

• הוא הולך לאט = He walks slowly
• היא מדברת לאט = She speaks slowly

So in this sentence, לאט tells you the manner of the action.

Yes. באיטיות also means slowly, but it is a bit more formal or literary than לאט.

Compare:

• לאט = common, everyday slowly
• באיטיות = slowly, but somewhat more formal

So:

• צריך לסובב את האובניים לאט sounds natural and ordinary.
• צריך לסובב את האובניים באיטיות is also correct, but less conversational.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

tsa-RIKH le-so-VEV et ha-of-NA-yim le-AT

A few notes:

• צריך = tsa-RIKH
• לסובב = le-so-VEV
• את = et
• האובניים = ha-of-NA-yim
• לאט = le-AT

The main stresses are usually on the last syllable in לסובב, האובניים, and לאט.

Because the sentence is not really talking about a plural group as the grammatical subject.

If you said:

• הם צריכים לסובב את האובניים לאט = They need to turn the wheel slowly

then you would use צריכים.

But in the sentence you gave, צריך is being used in a more general, instruction-like way, without an explicit subject. In that kind of use, singular צריך is very common.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Possible natural English readings are:

• You need to turn the wheel slowly
• You have to turn the wheel slowly
• One should turn the wheel slowly
• It’s necessary to turn the wheel slowly

If this appears in instructions, a lesson, or a demonstration, English would often translate it as You need to turn the wheel slowly even though Hebrew does not explicitly say you.

The structure is:

צריך + infinitive + את + definite object + adverb

Breaking it down:

• צריך = need / must
• לסובב = to turn
• את = marker of a definite direct object
• האובניים = the potter’s wheel
• לאט = slowly

So the sentence is built very logically:

[need to] [turn] [the wheel] [slowly]