הגלזורה משנה את המרקם של כלי החרס.

The glaze changes the texture of the earthenware vessel.

Breakdown of הגלזורה משנה את המרקם של כלי החרס.

• את: direct object marker
• של: of
• לשנות: to change
• כלי חרס: earthenware vessel

Questions & Answers about הגלזורה משנה את המרקם של כלי החרס.

How do I pronounce this sentence?

A natural broad transliteration is:

ha-glazura meshane et ha-markam shel kli / klei ha-kheres

A few notes:

• את here is pronounced et
• ח in החרס is the throaty kh sound, like Scottish loch or German Bach
• כלי is ambiguous in unpointed Hebrew:
  • kli = singular
  • klei = construct/plural form, depending on context

So the exact pronunciation of כלי depends on the meaning you were shown.

Does את here mean with?

No. Here את is not the preposition with.

In this sentence, את is the direct object marker. Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object, usually one with ה־ or another definite form.

So in:

הגלזורה משנה את המרקם

המרקם is the definite direct object, so Hebrew marks it with את.

Important contrast:

• את = direct object marker
• אִתּ־ / עם = with

You usually do not translate this את into English as a separate word.