צריך להרטיב את החימר קצת.

The clay needs to be moistened a little.

Breakdown of צריך להרטיב את החימר קצת.

• את: direct object marker
• להיות צריך: to need
• קצת: a little
• חימר: clay

Questions & Answers about צריך להרטיב את החימר קצת.

Why is there no explicit subject like you, we, or it in this sentence?

Hebrew often allows this kind of sentence without an explicit subject.

Here, צריך + infinitive can work in an impersonal way, meaning something like:

• you need to...
• one needs to...
• it is necessary to...

So צריך להרטיב את החימר קצת is a natural way to say that moistening the clay is necessary, without saying exactly who has to do it.

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What exactly is צריך doing here?

צריך is expressing need or necessity.

In this structure, צריך + ל־ + infinitive means need to / have to.

So:

• צריך להרטיב = need to wet / need to moisten

Depending on context, צריך can sound like:

• need to
• have to
• sometimes even should

In this sentence, it most naturally means need to.

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Why does להרטיב come after צריך?