נישואין דורשים סבלנות.

Because נישואין is one of those Hebrew nouns that is usually treated as a plural form, even when English would use a singular abstract noun like marriage.

So:

• נישואין = marriage / married life / matrimony
• grammatically, it behaves like a plural noun
• that is why the verb is also plural: דורשים

This is similar to how some nouns in other languages are grammatically plural even when their meaning is more collective or abstract.

It is plural because it agrees with נישואין.

Hebrew verbs in the present tense agree with the subject in gender and number. Since נישואין is treated as masculine plural, the verb also appears in the masculine plural form:

• דורש = requiring / demands (masculine singular)
• דורשים = requiring / demand (masculine plural)

So נישואין דורשים is grammatically plural + plural, even though the natural English translation may be singular: marriage requires.

Here דורשים means require, demand, or call for.

It comes from the verb לדרוש. That verb can have several meanings depending on context, including:

• to demand
• to require
• to seek
• sometimes to lecture/preach in other contexts

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly require:

• נישואין דורשים סבלנות = Marriage requires patience

Because in Hebrew, לדרוש takes a direct object.

So סבלנות is simply the object of the verb:

• דורשים סבלנות = require patience

There is no preposition like to here.

Also, there is no את before סבלנות because את is only used before a definite direct object. Since סבלנות here means patience in a general sense, it is indefinite, so no את appears.

Compare:

• הם דורשים סבלנות = They require patience
• הם דורשים את הסבלנות שלך = They require your patience

סבלנות is the object, not the subject.

The subject is נישואין because that is what the sentence is about, and it is the word the verb agrees with.

Structure:

• נישואין = subject
• דורשים = verb
• סבלנות = object

So literally the sentence is:

• Marriage / marriage life
  • requires
    • patience

Yes, סבלנות is a feminine singular noun.

But in this sentence, that does not affect the verb, because סבלנות is the object, not the subject. The verb agrees with נישואין, not with סבלנות.

So even though סבלנות is feminine, the verb stays דורשים because the subject נישואין is grammatically masculine plural.

Yes, in principle it could.

Because נישואין is grammatically plural, context matters. Depending on the situation, it can refer to:

• marriage as an institution or state
• married life
• sometimes marriages in a more literal plural sense

In this sentence, though, the most natural English translation is usually:

• Marriage requires patience

That is the idiomatic way to express the general idea in English.

Because this sentence is making a general statement:

• Marriage requires patience

In Hebrew, general truths often appear without the definite article.

So:

• נישואין דורשים סבלנות = Marriage requires patience / Marriage takes patience

If you added ה to נישואין:

• הנישואין דורשים סבלנות

that would usually sound more like the marriage or marriage in general with a slightly more definite or rhetorical feel, depending on context.

And סבלנות is also indefinite here because it means patience as a quality, not some specific patience.

A careful pronunciation would be:

ni-su-ÍN dor-SHÍM sav-la-NÚT

A rough English-friendly breakdown:

• נישואין = nee-soo-EEN
• דורשים = dor-SHEEM
• סבלנות = sav-lah-NOOT

The main stress is usually near the end of each word, especially:

• נישואין
• דורשים
• סבלנות

Yes, that would be understandable, but it is a little different in tone.

• דורשים סבלנות = require patience
• צריכים סבלנות = need patience

Both are possible, but דורשים sounds a bit stronger or more formal, like call for or demand.
צריכים sounds more everyday and direct.

So:

• נישואין דורשים סבלנות = a bit more polished or formal
• נישואין צריכים סבלנות = more conversational

The word order here is the normal Hebrew pattern:

• subject + verb + object

So:

• נישואין = subject
• דורשים = verb
• סבלנות = object

That makes the sentence straightforward and neutral.

Hebrew can sometimes move things around for emphasis, but this version is the most standard and natural way to say it.