Questions & Answers about התכולה בארגז הזה שבירה.
What exactly does התכולה mean here?
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.
Why is שבירה feminine singular if English says contents are?
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.
Why is there no word for is/are in the sentence?
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.
Why doesn’t שבירה have ה־ on it? Shouldn’t it be definite too?