התכולה בארגז הזה שבירה.

תכולה means contents in the sense of what is inside a container, box, bag, bottle, and so on.

In this sentence, התכולה is the contents. Even though English often uses a plural word, in Hebrew תכולה is a feminine singular noun.

Because Hebrew adjectives agree with the Hebrew noun, not with the English translation.

Here, the noun is תכולה, and תכולה is grammatically feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• שביר = masculine singular
• שבירה = feminine singular
• שבירים = masculine plural
• שבירות = feminine plural

So התכולה ... שבירה is grammatically correct even though English uses the plural word contents.

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So a sentence like:

התכולה שבירה

literally looks like the contents fragile, but it means the contents are fragile.

This is very normal in Hebrew.

Not in this kind of sentence.

Here, שבירה is a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly attached to the noun inside one noun phrase.

• התכולה שבירה = the contents are fragile
• התכולה השבירה = the fragile contents

So when the adjective is part of the statement about the subject, it normally does not take ה־.

ב־ means in, and Hebrew prepositions like ב־, ל־, and כ־ are usually attached directly to the following word.

So:

• ב + ארגז = בארגז = in a box
• ב + הארגז = בארגז = in the box

In unpointed Hebrew, those two can look the same in writing. In this sentence, the rest of the phrase tells you the meaning is in this box.

Because in Hebrew, demonstratives like this usually come after the noun.

So Hebrew says:

• הארגז הזה = this box

not the equivalent of this the-box before the noun.

That word order is completely standard.

Because it agrees with ארגז, and ארגז is a masculine singular noun.

So:

• הארגז הזה = this box
• if the noun were feminine singular, you would use הזאת or sometimes זו

For example:

• הקופסה הזאת = this box / this case for a feminine noun

The basic structure is:

התכולה | בארגז הזה | שבירה
subject | location phrase | predicate adjective

So it works like:

The contents | in this box | are fragile

Hebrew often places a location phrase in the middle like this.

It can suggest either idea depending on context.

In a sentence about the contents of a box, שבירה is very naturally understood as fragile.

The word comes from the root ש־ב־ר, which is connected to breaking, so the underlying idea is that something can easily break.

Usually תכולה is the better word here.

• תכולה = the contents of a physical container
• תוכן = content in a more general or abstract sense, such as the content of a book, message, speech, or website

So for a box, תכולה sounds more natural.

A rough pronunciation is:

ha-tkhu-LA ba-ar-GAZ ha-ZE shvi-RA

A slightly more careful transliteration would be:

hatkhulá ba'argáz hazé shvirá

The stress is mainly on the last syllable of התכולה, בארגז, and שבירה, and on -ze in הזה.