Questions & Answers about הוא לפעמים שותה חלב, אבל היא לפעמים שותה קפה.
Why is שותה used for both he and she here?
In unpointed Hebrew, שותה is spelled the same for both the masculine singular and feminine singular present tense form of to drink.
- הוא שותה = he drinks / he is drinking
- היא שותה = she drinks / she is drinking
The difference is mainly in pronunciation:
- masculine: shoTE
- feminine: shoTA
If vowel marks were added, they would be written differently, but in everyday Hebrew they are usually omitted, so you learn the correct form from context.
Why do we need הוא and היא? Doesn’t the verb already tell us who is doing the action?
In the Hebrew present tense, the verb usually shows gender and number, but not person clearly enough to replace the subject every time.
So:
- שותה by itself can mean drinking in a masculine singular context
- it does not clearly mean I drink, you drink, or he drinks without context
Because of that, Hebrew often uses explicit subject pronouns in the present tense:
- הוא שותה = he drinks
- היא שותה = she drinks
In past and future tense, Hebrew verbs usually show person more clearly, so subject pronouns are often omitted more easily.
What does לפעמים mean exactly?