ראינו זהב בחנות.

A common pronunciation is:

ra-EE-nu za-HAV ba-kha-NUT

More literally, word by word:

• ראינו — ra'inu / ra-ee-nu = we saw
• זהב — zahav = gold
• בחנות — ba-chanut = in the store / in a store

Notes:

• The ח in חנות is a throaty sound that English does not really have, like the ch in German Bach.
• In modern Israeli Hebrew, people often pronounce ראינו smoothly as ra'inu.

ראינו means we saw.

It comes from the verb לראות = to see.

Breakdown:

• ראי- / ראה is the root idea of seeing
• -נו at the end often means we in past-tense verbs

So ראינו is a past-tense verb meaning we saw.

Yes, it is completely normal.

Hebrew often allows more flexibility in word order than English.
This sentence is:

• ראינו — saw / we saw
• זהב — gold
• בחנות — in the store

So literally: Saw-we gold in-the-store.

In natural English, we must say We saw gold in the store, but in Hebrew, beginning with the verb is very common, especially in simple narrative statements.

You could also hear other word orders in different contexts, but ראינו זהב בחנות sounds natural.

Because Hebrew past-tense verbs already include the subject.

In ראינו, the ending -נו tells you the subject is we.

So Hebrew does not need a separate pronoun here:

• ראינו = we saw

You could add אנחנו (we) for emphasis, but normally it is unnecessary:

• אנחנו ראינו זהב בחנות = We saw gold in the store This sounds more emphatic, like we saw it.

Great question. את is used before a definite direct object in Hebrew.

Examples:

• ראינו את הזהב = We saw the gold
• ראינו זהב = We saw gold

In your sentence, זהב has no ה־ (the), so it is indefinite or generic: gold, not the gold.
Because of that, את is not used.

So:

• זהב = gold
• הזהב = the gold
• את הזהב = marks the gold as the direct object

As written, זהב means gold, not specifically the gold.

Hebrew uses ה־ as the definite article the:

• זהב = gold
• הזהב = the gold

So ראינו זהב בחנות most naturally means:

• We saw gold in a/the store
• or We saw some gold in the store

It sounds like the speaker noticed gold as a substance or some gold items, not a specific previously mentioned piece of gold.

They are both built into the word.

בחנות = ב + חנות

• ב־ = in
• חנות = store/shop

When ב־ is attached to a noun with ה־ (the), they often combine:

• ב + ה + חנות → בחנות

So בחנות can mean:

• in the store

In some contexts, especially without vowels written, it may also be understood more generally as in a store, but the form itself commonly corresponds to in the store.

Yes. חנות means store/shop, and it is a feminine singular noun.

You can tell it is feminine partly because many feminine nouns end in ־ות or ־ת, although not every word follows a simple pattern.

Examples:

• חנות = store
• החנות = the store
• בחנות = in the store

Its gender does not affect this sentence much, but it matters in other places, like adjectives or pronouns.

Primarily, זהב means gold, the metal.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

• the material itself
• gold objects
• gold jewelry
• something made of gold

So ראינו זהב בחנות could mean:

• we saw some gold in the store
• we saw gold jewelry in the store
• we saw gold items in the store

The exact meaning depends on the situation.

Yes, context matters.

Because everyday written Hebrew usually omits vowel marks, בחנות can sometimes be read in a broader way from context. In many learning contexts, it is glossed as in the store, because ב + ה often contracts into בַּ.

But in real usage, Hebrew often relies on context more than English does for definiteness, especially in short sentences.

So depending on context, an English translation might be:

• We saw gold in the store
• We saw some gold in a store

If the speaker has a specific store in mind, the store is the better translation.

You would say:

ראינו את הזהב בחנות

Why?

• הזהב = the gold
• את marks a definite direct object

So:

• ראינו זהב בחנות = We saw gold in the store
• ראינו את הזהב בחנות = We saw the gold in the store

That small change makes the object specific and definite.