את רוצה חלב?

Do you want milk?

Breakdown of את רוצה חלב?

• לרצות: to want
• את: you
• חלב: milk

Questions & Answers about את רוצה חלב?

What does each word in את רוצה חלב? mean?

Word by word:

• את = you (addressing one female)
• רוצה = want / wants
• חלב = milk

So the structure is basically you want milk?

Why is את used here instead of אתה?

Because את is the pronoun for you when speaking to one woman or girl.

Compare:

• את רוצה חלב? = speaking to one female
• אתה רוצה חלב? = speaking to one male

Hebrew changes words depending on gender much more often than English does.

Why does רוצה look the same for masculine and feminine here?

Because this sentence is written without vowel marks. In everyday Hebrew, that is normal.

With vowel marks, the forms are different:

• masculine: רוֹצֶה
• feminine: רוֹצָה

But without vowel marks, both are usually written רוצה.

So how do you know which one it is? From context, especially the pronoun:

• את רוצה = feminine
• אתה רוצה = masculine

Why is there no separate word for do, as in Do you want milk?

Hebrew does not use an auxiliary verb like English do for this kind of question.

English says:

• You want milk.
• Do you want milk?

Hebrew usually keeps the same basic wording and shows the question by:

• intonation in speech
• a question mark in writing

So:

• את רוצה חלב. = You want milk.
• את רוצה חלב? = Do you want milk?

In more formal Hebrew, you can add האם at the beginning:

• האם את רוצה חלב?

That is more formal or written-style, not necessary in normal conversation.

Is the word order normal in Hebrew?

Yes. This is a very normal way to say it.

The order is:

• את = subject
• רוצה = verb-like predicate
• חלב = object

So Hebrew here is close to:

• You want milk?

That is perfectly natural in spoken Hebrew.

How do you pronounce את רוצה חלב?

A common pronunciation guide is:

at rotsa khalav?

A few notes:

• את = at
• רוצה = rotsa
• חלב = khalav

The letter ח in חלב is a throaty sound that English does not really have. It is often written as kh in transliteration.

Is את here the pronoun you, or the direct object marker את?

Here it is the pronoun you.

That is a very common beginner question, because Hebrew also has another word spelled את, which marks a definite direct object.

Why is this one the pronoun?

• It is at the beginning of the sentence
• It clearly refers to the person being addressed
• The sentence means You want milk?

Also, the object-marker את is used before a definite direct object, but חלב here is just milk, not the milk.

So in this sentence:

• את = you, not the object marker

Why is there no the before milk?

Because חלב here means just milk in a general sense.

In Hebrew, mass nouns like milk, water, bread, and so on often appear without the when you mean them generally.

So:

• חלב = milk
• החלב = the milk

If you were talking about a specific milk already known in the conversation, you might use החלב.

How would I say this to a man, or to more than one person?

Here are the main versions:

• to one woman: את רוצה חלב?
• to one man: אתה רוצה חלב?
• to more than one man / mixed group: אתם רוצים חלב?
• to more than one woman: אתן רוצות חלב?

So Hebrew changes both the pronoun and often the form of want to match gender and number.

Can the pronoun את be omitted?

Sometimes, yes, especially in conversation.

You may hear:

• רוצה חלב?

This can mean Do you want milk?, depending on context.

But in the present tense, Hebrew verbs do not always clearly show person by themselves, so keeping the pronoun often makes the sentence clearer:

• את רוצה חלב?

That is a very normal, clear, natural sentence.