קבלן השיפוצים ניקה את אבק הבנייה מהרצפה.

This is a very common Hebrew structure called סמיכות or the construct state. Instead of saying the contractor of the renovations, Hebrew often puts the two nouns together:

קבלן השיפוצים = the renovation contractor

In this structure, the first noun comes first, and the second noun specifies it. English often uses of or an adjective here, but Hebrew usually prefers this compact noun+noun pattern.

Because in a construct phrase, the first noun usually does not take ה־, even when the whole phrase is definite.

So:

• קבלן שיפוצים = a renovation contractor
• קבלן השיפוצים = the renovation contractor

The definiteness comes from the second word, השיפוצים, and it makes the whole phrase definite.

In Hebrew, שיפוצים literally means renovations, and that plural form is very commonly used to refer to renovation work in general.

So קבלן שיפוצים is the normal way to say renovation contractor or contractor who does renovations. Even if English might sometimes prefer singular renovation, Hebrew often uses the plural here.

ניקה is the past tense, third person masculine singular form of the verb לנקות, meaning to clean.

It matches the subject קבלן, which is masculine singular.

So the grammar is:

• קבלן = masculine singular subject
• ניקה = he cleaned

If the subject were feminine, you would expect ניקתה.

את marks a definite direct object in Hebrew.

Here, אבק הבנייה is the thing being cleaned, so it is the direct object. It is also definite, so Hebrew uses את:

ניקה את אבק הבנייה = cleaned the construction dust

A very important point: את does not mean with here. It is just a grammatical marker showing that the following noun phrase is a definite direct object.

For the same reason as קבלן השיפוצים: this is another construct phrase.

אבק הבנייה literally means the dust of the construction or more naturally the construction dust.

In construct phrases, the first noun often has no ה־, and the definiteness is carried by the second noun:

• אבק בנייה = construction dust / dust from construction
• אבק הבנייה = the construction dust

So even though אבק has no ה־, the whole phrase is definite because הבנייה is definite.

These two words are related, but they mean different things:

• בנייה = construction, building work, the process/activity
• בניין = a building, a structure

So אבק הבנייה means dust from construction work, not dust of the building. In this sentence, בנייה is the correct word because the idea is dust created by building or renovation work.

Because מ־ meaning from is usually attached directly to the noun in Hebrew.

So:

• מ־ = from
• הרצפה = the floor

Together they become:

• מהרצפה = from the floor

This is completely normal in Hebrew. Many prepositions are written as prefixes attached to the following word.

That is a good observation. מן is the fuller form, but in everyday Hebrew it is very often reduced to the prefix מ־.

So instead of a separate word, Hebrew usually just attaches מ־ to the noun:

• מן הרצפה = from the floor
• מהרצפה = from the floor

The second version is much more common in normal Modern Hebrew.

You could, and it would be understandable, but אבק הבנייה is more natural here.

Hebrew often prefers the construct state for compact noun relationships, especially in set expressions and formal or neutral writing. של is more common when the relationship is looser, more conversational, or when the phrase would otherwise become awkward.

So in this sentence, אבק הבנייה sounds smoother and more idiomatic than אבק של הבנייה.

Yes. This is a very normal Subject–Verb–Object order in Modern Hebrew:

• קבלן השיפוצים = subject
• ניקה = verb
• את אבק הבנייה = object
• מהרצפה = from the floor

Hebrew can be more flexible with word order than English, but this version is a very standard and neutral way to say it.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

kablan ha-shiputsim nika et avak ha-bniya meha-ritzpa

A more natural English-friendly approximation would be:

kahb-LAHN hah-shee-poo-TSEEM nee-KAH et AH-vahk hah-bnee-YAH meh-hah-REETS-pah

The stress is roughly on:

• kabLAN
• shipuTSIM
• niKA
• bniYA
• ritzPA