היא מדברת עברית, אבל הוא מדבר אנגלית.

She speaks Hebrew, but he speaks English.

Breakdown of היא מדברת עברית, אבל הוא מדבר אנגלית.

• הוא: he
• היא: she
• אבל: but
• לדבר: to speak
• עברית: Hebrew
• אנגלית: English

Questions & Answers about היא מדברת עברית, אבל הוא מדבר אנגלית.

How do you pronounce this sentence?

A common pronunciation is:

Hi medabéret ivrít, aval hu medabér anglít.

A word-by-word guide:

• היא = hi = she
• מדברת = medabéret = speaks / is speaking (feminine singular)
• עברית = ivrít = Hebrew
• אבל = aval = but
• הוא = hu = he
• מדבר = medabér = speaks / is speaking (masculine singular)
• אנגלית = anglít = English

The stress is usually near the end: medaBERet, ivRIT, medaBER, angLIT.

Why are there two different forms, מדברת and מדבר, if both mean speaks?

Because Hebrew verbs in the present tense agree with gender and number.

• היא מדברת = she speaks → feminine singular
• הוא מדבר = he speaks → masculine singular

So:

• מדברת is the feminine singular form
• מדבר is the masculine singular form

This is very normal in Hebrew and is one of the first things English speakers notice, because English verbs usually do not change for gender.

Does this mean she speaks / he speaks, or she is speaking / he is speaking?

It can mean either one, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• simple present: she speaks Hebrew
• present progressive: she is speaking Hebrew

So היא מדברת עברית can mean:

• She speaks Hebrew
  or
• She is speaking Hebrew

Usually the situation tells you which meaning is intended.

Do I have to include היא and הוא, or could I just say מדברת עברית, אבל מדבר אנגלית?

In this sentence, the pronouns are very helpful and normally expected.

Hebrew present-tense forms like מדברת and מדבר show gender and number, but they do not clearly show person the way English pronouns do. For example, מדבר could mean:

• I speak (if the speaker is male)
• he speaks

So the pronouns היא and הוא make the sentence clear:

• היא מדברת עברית
• הוא מדבר אנגלית

In context, Hebrew sometimes drops pronouns, but here keeping them is the most natural choice.

Why isn’t there את before עברית or אנגלית?

Because את is used before a definite direct object, and עברית and אנגלית here are not definite.

In this sentence, the languages are being named in a general way:

• מדברת עברית
• מדבר אנגלית

Not:

• מדברת את העברית
• מדבר את האנגלית

English speakers often expect some marker before the object, but Hebrew only uses את with definite objects, usually ones that have ה־ or are otherwise definite.

Why is there no preposition before the language names? Why not something like speaks in Hebrew?

In Hebrew, the usual way to say that someone knows or speaks a language is:

לדבר + language

So:

• מדברת עברית
• מדבר אנגלית

This is the normal equivalent of speak Hebrew / speak English.

Hebrew can also use ב־ in some contexts, especially when emphasizing the language being used in a particular situation:

• הוא מדבר בעברית = He is speaking in Hebrew

But in a simple statement about what language someone speaks, מדבר עברית / אנגלית is the standard pattern.

Why do עברית and אנגלית both end in ־ית?

Many language names in Hebrew are feminine nouns, and a lot of them have the ending ־ית.

For example:

• עברית = Hebrew
• אנגלית = English
• צרפתית = French
• ספרדית = Spanish

So the ending ־ית is very common for language names. It does not mean the speaker is feminine. It is just part of the word for the language.

What does אבל mean, and is the comma necessary?

אבל means but.

So the sentence is structured like this:

• היא מדברת עברית = She speaks Hebrew
• אבל = but
• הוא מדבר אנגלית = he speaks English

About the comma:

• In modern Hebrew writing, putting a comma before אבל is very common.
• It works a lot like English punctuation in this kind of sentence.

So היא מדברת עברית, אבל הוא מדבר אנגלית. looks completely natural.

Is the word order special here, or is it the normal Hebrew order?

This is a very normal word order.

The sentence follows:

• subject + verb + object

So:

• היא
  • מדברת
    • עברית
• הוא
  • מדבר
    • אנגלית

Hebrew word order can be flexible, but this is one of the most common and neutral ways to say it, especially in everyday speech.

Why does מדבר sometimes mean desert in other places?

Because Hebrew writing usually leaves out most vowels, so different words can look identical in writing.

מדבר can be:

• medabér = speaks
• midbár = desert

They are different words, but without vowel marks they are written the same way:

• מדבר

Context tells you which one is meant. In your sentence, after הוא and before אנגלית, it clearly means speaks, not desert.