Breakdown of שמנו את הארגזים על משטח עץ בשביל שלא יעמדו על הרצפה.
לא
not
את
direct object marker
על
on
לעמוד
to stand
Questions & Answers about שמנו את הארגזים על משטח עץ בשביל שלא יעמדו על הרצפה.
What does שמנו mean, and why isn’t אנחנו written?
שמנו is the 1st person plural past form of לשים — to put / to place.
So שמנו means we put or we placed.
Hebrew often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already shows who is doing the action. Since שמנו already means we put, there is no need to add אנחנו unless you want emphasis.
What is את doing before הארגזים?
את is the marker of a definite direct object.
In this sentence, הארגזים means the boxes / the crates, so it is definite because of ה־.
That is why Hebrew says:
שמנו את הארגזים
and not just:
שמנו הארגזים
Important: את usually is not translated into English. It is a grammatical marker, not a separate meaning word here.
What is the singular of הארגזים, and why does that matter?