החימר דורש ייבוש לפני שריפת הביסק.

Here is the basic breakdown:

• החימר = the clay
• דורש = requires / needs
• ייבוש = drying
• לפני = before
• שריפת הביסק = the bisque firing or literally the firing of the bisque

So the structure is:

[subject] + [verb] + [thing required] + [time phrase]

That is very normal Hebrew word order.

The prefix ה־ is the definite article, like the in English.

So:

• חימר = clay
• החימר = the clay

In context, Hebrew often uses the definite form when talking about a specific material being discussed, or even a material in a general technical sense. So החימר can sound natural even where English might simply say clay.

Because the subject חימר is masculine singular.

In the present tense, Hebrew verbs agree with the subject:

• דורש = masculine singular
• דורשת = feminine singular
• דורשים = masculine plural
• דורשות = feminine plural

Since החימר is masculine singular, דורש is the correct form.

Both ideas are connected, but in this sentence דורש is best understood as requires.

The verb לדרוש can mean:

• to demand
• to require
• to call for

In technical or formal writing, דורש is very commonly used for requires:

• המכשיר דורש תיקון = the device requires repair
• המשטח דורש ניקוי = the surface requires cleaning

So here החימר דורש ייבוש is a natural technical-style way to say that the clay must undergo drying.

ייבוש is a verbal noun, meaning a noun derived from a verb.

It comes from the root connected with drying:

• לייבש = to dry something
• להתייבש = to become dry / to dry out
• ייבוש = drying

So ייבוש means the process of drying. In this sentence it functions much like English drying.

Hebrew often uses this kind of noun after דורש:

• דורש תיקון = requires repair
• דורש בדיקה = requires inspection
• דורש ייבוש = requires drying

Hebrew could use a verb here, but the style would be a little different.

This sentence uses a noun-based, formal structure:

• החימר דורש ייבוש = the clay requires drying

A more everyday verbal version would be:

• החימר צריך להתייבש = the clay needs to dry

The difference is mostly style and focus:

• דורש ייבוש sounds more technical and process-oriented
• צריך להתייבש sounds more direct and conversational

Because ייבוש here is being used in a general, indefinite sense: drying as a process.

So:

• ייבוש = drying
• הייבוש = the drying

In this sentence, the idea is not the specific drying already mentioned, but rather a drying step is required. That is why the indefinite form is natural.

לפני means before.

In this sentence it introduces a time expression:

• לפני שריפת הביסק = before the bisque firing

A useful pattern to remember:

• לפני + noun phrase = before something
• לפני ש־ + clause = before someone does something

For example:

• לפני השריפה = before the firing
• לפני ששורפים = before they fire

Because שריפת הביסק is a construct phrase in Hebrew, called סמיכות.

The basic noun is:

• שריפה = burning / firing

In the construct state, it becomes:

• שריפת = firing of ...

So:

• שריפת הביסק = the firing of the bisque / bisque firing

This change is very common with feminine nouns ending in ־ה:

• בדיקה → בדיקת
• שיטה → שיטת
• שריפה → שריפת

That is a normal feature of Hebrew construct phrases.

In a construct phrase, the first noun usually does not take the definite article. The definiteness is shown on the second noun.

So:

• שריפת ביסק = a bisque firing / bisque firing
• שריפת הביסק = the bisque firing

Even though שריפת itself has no ה־, the whole phrase is definite because הביסק is definite.

ביסק is a loanword used in ceramics. Grammatically, it behaves like a regular Hebrew noun.

In this sentence:

• it is singular
• it is treated as masculine
• with ה־, it becomes הביסק = the bisque

So you can analyze שריפת הביסק just like many other Hebrew noun combinations, even though ביסק itself is not an old native Hebrew word.

Yes, you could, and it would be understood.

But the two versions feel a little different:

• שריפת הביסק = more compact, more technical, more natural in formal written Hebrew
• השריפה של הביסק = more expanded, a bit less compact

Hebrew often prefers the construct form in technical expressions, so שריפת הביסק is the more idiomatic choice here.

A simple transliteration is:

ha-khimer doresh yibúsh lifné srefat ha-bisk

A few pronunciation notes:

• ח in חימר is the throaty kh sound
• דורש sounds roughly like do-RESH
• ייבוש sounds like yi-BOOSH
• לפני is lif-NE
• שריפת is roughly sre-FAT
• ביסק is bisk

So the full rhythm is roughly:

ha-KHI-mer do-RESH yi-BOOSH lif-NE sre-FAT ha-BISK