אני לא רוצה להפחיד את הילדים.

Yes and no.

רוצה means want, but in Hebrew it agrees with the speaker’s gender in the present tense:

• masculine: רוֹצֶה = rotze
• feminine: רוֹצָה = rotzah

In normal unpointed writing, both are written the same: רוצה.

So this sentence could be said by either:

• a male speaker: אני לא רוצה... = ani lo rotze...
• a female speaker: אני לא רוצה... = ani lo rotzah...

The spelling stays the same; only the pronunciation changes.

Because לא is the standard Hebrew word for not, and it usually comes directly before the verb or predicate it negates.

So:

• אני רוצה = I want
• אני לא רוצה = I do not want / I don’t want

That word order is completely normal in Hebrew.

After רוצה (want), Hebrew normally uses the infinitive, just like English uses to + verb.

So:

• רוצה = want
• להפחיד = to frighten / to scare

Together:

• רוצה להפחיד = want to frighten

You would not normally use a present-tense form here such as מפחיד.

להפחיד means to frighten, to scare, or to make someone afraid.

It comes from the root פ-ח-ד, which is connected with fear.

A useful distinction:

• לפחד = to be afraid
• להפחיד = to frighten someone / to make someone afraid

So this sentence is not saying I don’t want to be afraid. It is saying I don’t want to scare the children.

את is the marker of a definite direct object.

It usually does not get translated into English, but it tells you that the noun after it is the direct object of the verb and that it is definite.

Here:

• להפחיד את הילדים = to frighten the children

A very important pattern:

• אני רואה ילד = I see a child
• אני רואה את הילד = I see the child

So in your sentence, את appears because הילדים is definite.

Because ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• ילדים = children / kids
• הילדים = the children / the kids

Since the sentence refers to a specific group, Hebrew uses הילדים.

And because the object is definite, that is also why you need את before it:

• את הילדים

Grammatically, ילדים is masculine plural, but it can often refer to:

• boys
• a mixed group of children
• children in general

If you specifically mean only girls, you would say ילדות.

So in this sentence, הילדים could mean the children in a general sense, not necessarily only boys. Context decides.

Sometimes, yes.

In spoken Hebrew, people often say:

• לא רוצה להפחיד את הילדים

and the אני is understood from context.

However, אני לא רוצה להפחיד את הילדים is perfectly natural and complete, especially:

• out of context
• when you want to be clear
• when you want slight emphasis on I

So both are possible, but the full sentence with אני is very standard.

The sentence follows a very common Hebrew pattern:

subject + לא + verb + infinitive + את + object

Breakdown:

• אני = I
• לא = not
• רוצה = want
• להפחיד = to frighten
• את הילדים = the children

So literally, it is something like:

I not want to-frighten the children

That is normal Hebrew word order.

A common pronunciation would be:

• male speaker: ani lo rotze lehafkhid et hayeladim
• female speaker: ani lo rotzah lehafkhid et hayeladim

A few pronunciation notes:

• ח in להפחיד is a throaty kh sound
• הילדים is ha-ye-la-DIM
• stress in להפחיד is at the end: le-haf-KHID

So the sentence sounds roughly like:

ah-NEE lo ro-TSEH leh-haf-KHEED et ha-yeh-la-DEEM or ah-NEE lo ro-TSAH leh-haf-KHEED et ha-yeh-la-DEEM

Yes, this is natural and correct Hebrew.

It sounds like standard, everyday Hebrew for I don’t want to scare the children.

A speaker might choose a different verb in some contexts, such as להבהיל (to alarm/startle), but להפחיד את הילדים is completely normal and idiomatic.