אתה מדבר עברית?

you

Breakdown of אתה מדבר עברית?

• לדבר: to speak
• עברית: Hebrew

Questions & Answers about אתה מדבר עברית?

How do you pronounce אתה מדבר עברית?

A common pronunciation is ata medaber ivrit?

A rough breakdown:

• אתה = a-TA
• מדבר = me-da-BER
• עברית = iv-RIT

In everyday Israeli Hebrew, the ע at the start of עברית is often not strongly pronounced by learners, and many native speakers pronounce it very lightly too.

What does each word in the sentence do?

Word by word:

• אתה = you (addressing one male)
• מדבר = speak / speaking
• עברית = Hebrew

So the structure is basically:

• you + speak + Hebrew?

Even though the meaning is already known, this breakdown helps show how Hebrew builds the sentence.

Why is there no word for do, like in Do you speak Hebrew?

Hebrew does not use a helping verb like do for simple present questions.

English:

• You speak Hebrew.
• Do you speak Hebrew?

Hebrew:

• אתה מדבר עברית. = You speak Hebrew.