למה הוא לא יכול לבוא? כי הוא עובד.

Why can't he come? Because he is working.

Breakdown of למה הוא לא יכול לבוא? כי הוא עובד.

• הוא: he
• לא: not
• לעבוד: to work
• למה: why
• לבוא: to come
• להיות יכול: to be able
• כי: because

Questions & Answers about למה הוא לא יכול לבוא? כי הוא עובד.

What does למה mean, and is it made of smaller parts?

למה means why.

Historically, it comes from ל־ + מה, literally something like for what / to what, but in modern Hebrew you usually just learn למה as the normal word for why.

It is pronounced roughly la-MA.

Why is the word order למה הוא לא יכול לבוא and not something closer to English word order?

This is normal Hebrew word order for this kind of question:

• למה = why
• הוא = he
• לא = not
• יכול = able/can
• לבוא = to come

So Hebrew is basically saying:

• Why he not can to come?

That sounds wrong in English, but it is perfectly natural in Hebrew.

Why is לא placed before יכול?

Because לא negates what comes after it. Here, what is being negated is יכול — can / is able.

So:

• הוא יכול לבוא = he can come
• הוא לא יכול לבוא = he cannot come

This is the standard way to make a sentence negative in Hebrew.

What exactly is יכול here?

יכול means able / can and is the masculine singular form.

In this sentence it agrees with הוא (he), so you get:

• הוא יכול = he can

Other forms would change depending on gender and number, for example:

• היא יכולה = she can
• הם יכולים = they can (masculine or mixed group)
• הן יכולות = they can (feminine)

Why is it לבוא and not just בוא?

Because לבוא is the infinitive form, meaning to come.

In Hebrew, infinitives usually begin with ל־.

So:

• בוא! = come! (command, masculine singular)
• לבוא = to come

After יכול (can / able to), Hebrew normally uses the infinitive:

• הוא יכול לבוא = he can come

Why is הוא repeated in the second sentence: כי הוא עובד?

Hebrew often includes the subject pronoun in present-tense sentences because the present-tense verb form does not always clearly show the person by itself.

So:

• עובד means working / works, but by itself it does not specifically mean he the way an English verb form might.
• הוא עובד clearly means he works / he is working.

In context, native speakers may sometimes omit pronouns, but including הוא is very normal and clear.

What does עובד mean exactly — works or is working?

It can mean both.

In modern Hebrew, the present tense often covers both:

• he works
• he is working

So כי הוא עובד can mean either:

• because he works
• because he is working

The exact meaning depends on context.

Why is it עובד and not another form?

Because עובד is the masculine singular present-tense form, matching הוא.

Compare:

• הוא עובד = he works / he is working
• היא עובדת = she works / she is working
• הם עובדים = they work / they are working
• הן עובדות = they work / they are working

So the form changes to match gender and number.

Is כי the normal word for because?

Yes. כי is a very common and standard way to say because in sentences like this.

So:

• כי הוא עובד = because he is working / because he works

You may also encounter other ways to express reason in Hebrew, but כי is one of the most basic and common connectors to learn.

Can the second sentence be said without כי, or joined into one sentence?

Yes. Hebrew often allows a few natural options.

You can keep it as two sentences:

• למה הוא לא יכול לבוא? כי הוא עובד.

Or make it one sentence:

• למה הוא לא יכול לבוא? כי הוא עובד.
  This is already very natural as written.

You could also say something like:

• הוא לא יכול לבוא כי הוא עובד.
  = He can’t come because he is working.

So the structure is flexible, but the original version is completely normal.

How is the whole sentence pronounced?

A common pronunciation guide is:

Lama hu lo yakhol lavo? Ki hu oved.

Roughly:

• למה = la-MA
• הוא = hu
• לא = lo
• יכול = ya-KHOL
• לבוא = la-VO
• כי = ki
• עובד = o-VED

The main stresses are usually on the last syllable of these words.

Could I translate יכול as a real verb like English can?

Yes, in meaning that works well: יכול often corresponds to English can.

But grammatically, it behaves a bit differently from English can. English can is a modal verb, while Hebrew יכול is more like able in form and agrees with gender and number:

• הוא יכול = he can
• היא יכולה = she can

So for learners, it is fine to think יכול = can, while also remembering that Hebrew changes its form more than English does.

If the subject were feminine, how would the sentence change?

You would change the words that agree with the subject:

• למה היא לא יכולה לבוא? כי היא עובדת.

Changes:

• הוא → היא = he → she
• יכול → יכולה
• עובד → עובדת

So Hebrew agreement is important: adjectives and present-tense verb forms often change for gender and number.