Questions & Answers about את רואה את החתול בתמונה?
Why does את appear twice in this sentence?
They are two different words that just happen to be spelled the same.
- The first את = you when speaking to one female.
- The second את is the direct object marker. It comes before a definite direct object, here החתול = the cat.
So:
- את רואה = you see
- את החתול = marks the cat as the direct object
This is a very common thing for learners to notice.
How are the two את words pronounced?
They are pronounced differently:
- first את (you, feminine singular) = at
- second את (direct object marker) = et
So the sentence is pronounced roughly:
At ro'ah et ha-khatul ba-tmuna?
Why is the verb רואה used here?
רואה is the present-tense form of the verb לראות (to see).
In this sentence it agrees with the subject את (you, feminine singular), so it means you see / are seeing when speaking to one woman or girl.
Hebrew present tense agrees with gender and number, so the form of the verb matters.
How do I know רואה is feminine here? It looks like the masculine form too.