האחות כאן עם האבא.

The sister is here with the father.

Breakdown of האחות כאן עם האבא.

• כאן: here
• אבא: father
• עם: with
• אחות: sister

Questions & Answers about האחות כאן עם האבא.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense.

So instead of saying:

• The sister is here with the father

Hebrew simply says:

• האחות כאן עם האבא

This is completely normal. If you want was or will be, then Hebrew does use forms of to be.

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What does the ה־ at the beginning of האחות and האבא mean?

The prefix ה־ means the.

So:

• אחות = sister / nurse
• האחות = the sister / the nurse

and

• אבא = dad / father
• האבא = the dad / the father

Hebrew usually adds ה־ directly to the beginning of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

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Why does the sentence say עם האבא and not attach the preposition to the noun?

Because עם is an independent preposition meaning with.

So Hebrew says:

• עם האבא = with the father

Some Hebrew prepositions often attach to the next word, such as:

• ב־ = in
• ל־ = to
• כ־ = like/as

But עם stays separate, so you write it as its own word.

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How should I pronounce האחות כאן עם האבא?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• ha-aKHOT kan im ha-ABA

Notes:

• ח in אחות is the rough throaty sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch
• כאן sounds like kahn
• עם is im
• אבא is aba

If saying it naturally, האחות often sounds like ha-khot or ha-a-khot, depending on accent and speed.

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Is אחות always sister, or can it mean something else?

It can mean sister or nurse.

Hebrew uses the same word:

• אחות = sister
• אחות = nurse

Usually the intended meaning is clear from context. Since you already know the meaning in your example, that removes the ambiguity.

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Why is כאן placed in the middle of the sentence?

כאן means here, and Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible.

Your sentence:

• האחות כאן עם האבא

literally feels like:

• The sister, here, with the father

This is a normal way to build a simple present-tense sentence in Hebrew.

You may also hear slightly different word orders depending on emphasis, but this version is very natural.

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How do I know that אחות is feminine?

אחות is a feminine noun. It refers to a female sibling or a female nurse.

In this sentence, there is no adjective or past/future verb showing feminine agreement, so the gender does not visibly affect other words here very much.

But in other sentences, it would matter. For example:

• האחות יפה = The sister is יפה / The nurse is יפה
• האחות הלכה = The sister went

The forms around it often change to match feminine gender.

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Why is it אבא and not אב?

Both relate to father, but they are used differently.

• אבא = dad / father, very common in everyday speech
• אב = more formal, literary, or used in set expressions

So האבא sounds natural in ordinary spoken-style Hebrew. It often corresponds more closely to the dad or the father, depending on context.

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Could Hebrew also use פה instead of כאן?

Yes. Both כאן and פה can mean here.

So you might hear:

• האחות כאן עם האבא
• האחות פה עם האבא

Both are natural. Very roughly:

• כאן can sound a little more neutral or formal
• פה is extremely common in everyday speech

In many situations, they are interchangeable.

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Does האבא sound natural? I thought family words sometimes do not take the in English.

Yes, האבא is perfectly possible in Hebrew.

English often says just Dad or Father without the, depending on how the word is being used. Hebrew works differently. If the noun is definite, Hebrew commonly adds ה־:

• אבא = a dad / dad
• האבא = the dad / the father

So in this sentence, Hebrew explicitly marks the father as definite.

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Can this sentence be transliterated word by word?

Yes:

• האחות = ha-achot
• כאן = kan
• עם = im
• האבא = ha-aba

So the full sentence can be written:

• ha-achot kan im ha-aba

Different transliteration systems may write achot as akhot to show the ח sound more clearly.