הכלב התקרב לדלת.

A natural pronunciation is ha-kelev hitkarev la-delet.

A few stress notes:

• keLEV? No — KE-lev (stress on the first syllable is common in modern Hebrew here)
• hitkaREV (stress at the end)
• deLET (stress at the end)

If you added vowel marks, it would typically be: הַכֶּלֶב הִתְקָרֵב לַדֶּלֶת

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

• כלב = dog
• הכלב = the dog

So הכלב is just dog with the attached to the front.

התקרב is past tense.

More specifically, it is:

• 3rd person
• masculine
• singular

So it matches הכלב because dog here is treated as masculine singular.

Yes. It comes from the root ק-ר-ב, which has to do with nearness or closeness.

Related ideas from this root include:

• קרוב = near / close
• להתקרב = to get closer / to approach

So התקרב means approached or came closer.

That הת־ is part of the verb pattern called Hitpa'el.

Many learners first meet Hitpa'el as a pattern that is often reflexive, but it is not always best translated with himself in English. Here, התקרב does not need to be translated literally as brought himself near. In normal English, approached is the natural translation.

So:

• Hebrew form: התקרב
• Natural English meaning: approached / came closer

Because the preposition ל־ meaning to attaches directly to the following noun.

So:

• ל־ = to
• דלת = door
• לדלת = to door / to the door depending on context and vowel marking

This is very common in Hebrew. Short prepositions are usually attached to the next word.

In unpointed Hebrew writing, לדלת can represent either one.

With vowel marks, the difference is clear:

• לְדֶלֶת = to a door
• לַדֶּלֶת = to the door

Why? Because ל־ plus the definite article ה־ combine together.

So ל + הדלת becomes לַדֶּלֶת in pointed Hebrew, but without vowel marks both are written simply as לדלת.

In your sentence, since the meaning is already given, it is understood as to the door.

Because Hebrew normally contracts ל־ + ה־.

So:

• ל = to
• הדלת = the door
• together: לדלת

This is similar to how some languages merge a preposition and an article into one form. Hebrew does this very often with ב־, כ־, and ל־.

Because את marks a definite direct object, and דלת here is not a direct object.

In this sentence:

• התקרב is an intransitive verb: approached / came near
• לדלת is a prepositional phrase: to the door

So the dog is not doing something to the door as a direct object. It is simply moving toward it. That is why את is not used.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are natural:

• הכלב התקרב לדלת
• הכלב התקרב אל הדלת

Both mean the dog approached the door.

A rough difference:

• ל־ is very common and compact
• אל can sound a bit more explicit, sometimes slightly more formal or literary depending on context

In everyday Hebrew, התקרב לדלת sounds completely normal.

Not especially. This is a very normal word order in modern Hebrew:

• הכלב = subject
• התקרב = verb
• לדלת = prepositional phrase

So the sentence is built in a straightforward way: The dog approached the door.

Hebrew can sometimes use other word orders, including verb-first order, but this version is simple, neutral, and very common.

Yes, דלת is a feminine noun.

In this particular sentence, that does not change much visibly, because the verb agrees with the dog, not with the door. But it would matter if you added adjectives or pronouns referring to the door.

For example, a learner should know:

• דלת גדולה = a big door
• הדלת סגורה = the door is closed

So it is useful to remember דלת as feminine, even though the sentence itself does not highlight that strongly.