היא ראתה נחש ליד הבית.

Because the subject is היא (she), and in the Hebrew past tense, verbs agree with the subject in person, number, and gender.

• ראה = he saw
• ראתה = she saw

So היא ראתה means she saw.

Yes. Hebrew often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So all of these are possible:

• היא ראתה נחש ליד הבית
• ראתה נחש ליד הבית

Both can mean she saw a snake near the house.

Including היא can add clarity, contrast, or emphasis.

Because את is only used before a definite direct object.

Here, נחש means a snake, not the snake, so it is indefinite. That is why there is no את.

Compare:

• היא ראתה נחש = she saw a snake
• היא ראתה את הנחש = she saw the snake

Because נחש by itself means a snake / snake. It is indefinite.

If you want to say the snake, you add ה־:

• נחש = a snake
• הנחש = the snake

So the sentence uses the indefinite form.

ליד means near, next to, or beside, depending on context.

In this sentence, ליד הבית means near the house or next to the house.

It is a very common preposition in Hebrew.

Because הבית means the house, while בית by itself usually means a house or appears in construct phrases.

So:

• ליד בית would sound incomplete in normal Hebrew unless something follows, such as ליד בית ספר
• ליד הבית = near the house

Here the sentence is talking about a specific house, so הבית is natural.

In practice, it usually gives the location of the event: she saw a snake near the house.

That can naturally imply either:

• the snake was near the house, or
• the sighting happened near the house

In most everyday contexts, listeners understand it easily without worrying about the distinction.

This is a very normal word order in Hebrew:

subject + verb + object + place

• היא = subject
• ראתה = verb
• נחש = object
• ליד הבית = place phrase

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is neutral and natural.

A simple transliteration is:

hi ra'ata nakhásh leyad habáyit

Approximate stress:

• ra'Ata
• naCHASH
• haBÁyit

A more natural flow is:

hi ra'ata nakhásh leyad habáyit

Because most modern Hebrew is written without niqqud (vowel points).

Native readers usually read unpointed Hebrew easily from context. Learners often see vowel marks in textbooks, children's materials, dictionaries, or beginner resources, but everyday Hebrew normally leaves them out.

With vowel marks, parts of the sentence would look something like:

• הִיא
• רָאֲתָה
• נָחָשׁ
• לְיַד הַבַּיִת

נחש is a masculine noun in Hebrew.

That does not affect the verb here, because the verb agrees with the subject (היא), not with the object.

So even though נחש is masculine, the verb is feminine singular because she is the one doing the seeing.

You would make the object definite and add את:

היא ראתה את הנחש ליד הבית.

That means She saw the snake near the house.

The changes are:

• נחש → הנחש
• add את before the definite direct object

No, not in the same way as prepositions like ב, ל, or כ, which can attach directly to ה.

For example:

• ב + הבית → בבית / בבית
• ל + הבית → לבית
• כ + הבית → כבית in theory, though less common in this kind of use

But ליד stays a separate word:

• ליד הבית

So you do not merge ליד with הבית.