מצאנו אבן קטנה.

small

Breakdown of מצאנו אבן קטנה.

• למצוא: to find
• אבן: stone

Questions & Answers about מצאנו אבן קטנה.

How do you break down מצאנו?

מצאנו means we found.

It breaks down like this:

• מצא = the verb stem found
• ־נו = the ending we

So מצאנו is the past tense, first person plural form of the verb למצוא (to find).

A useful pattern to notice:

• מצאתי = I found
• מצאת = you found
• מצאנו = we found

Why isn’t there a separate word for we in the sentence?

In Hebrew, the verb itself often already tells you who the subject is.

So in מצאנו, the ending ־נו already means we, which is why Hebrew does not need a separate pronoun here.

Hebrew can add אנחנו for emphasis, but it is not necessary:

• אנחנו מצאנו אבן קטנה = we found a small stone

Without אנחנו, the sentence is still complete and natural.

Why does קטנה come after אבן instead of before it?

Because in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• אבן קטנה = a small stone
• literally: stone small

This is normal Hebrew word order.
English says small stone, but Hebrew says stone small.

More examples:

• בית גדול = big house
• ילדה חכמה = smart girl