אתמול היא הייתה בבית כל היום.

Yesterday she was at home all day.

Breakdown of אתמול היא הייתה בבית כל היום.

• היא: she
• בית: home
• ב: at
• יום: day
• אתמול: yesterday
• להיות: to be
• כל: all

Questions & Answers about אתמול היא הייתה בבית כל היום.

Why is the verb הייתה and not היה?

Because the subject is היא, which is she, so the verb has to be feminine singular.

In the past tense, Hebrew verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

• הוא היה = he was
• היא הייתה = she was
• הם היו = they were

So in this sentence, הייתה matches היא.

I thought Hebrew often leaves out the verb to be. Why is הייתה here at all?

Hebrew leaves out to be only in the present tense.

So:

• היא בבית = she is at home
• היא הייתה בבית = she was at home
• היא תהיה בבית = she will be at home

In the past and future, you normally do need a form of היה.

Is the pronoun היא necessary, or could the sentence leave it out?

It can often be left out if the context is clear.

Because הייתה already tells you the subject is 3rd person singular feminine, Hebrew can say:

• אתמול הייתה בבית כל היום

That still means Yesterday she was at home all day.

Including היא makes the sentence clearer or slightly more explicit, especially if the speaker wants to emphasize she.

Why is בבית written as one word?

Because ב־ is a prefix preposition meaning in / at, and Hebrew usually attaches these short prepositions directly to the following word.

So:

• ב־ = in / at
• בית = house / home

Together: בבית

In this sentence it is understood as at home.

There is also an important detail: when ב־ combines with the definite article ה־, the forms merge. So underlyingly this is related to ב + ה + בית, and in normal spelling that appears as בבית.

Does בבית mean in the house or at home?

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is at home. That is a very common use of בבית in Hebrew.

So even though the literal idea is something like in the house, the normal English translation here is at home.

Why does Hebrew say כל היום for all day?

Because כל means all / whole / every, and it comes before the noun:

• כל היום = all day / the whole day
• literally: all the day

This is a normal Hebrew pattern:

• כל הזמן = all the time
• כל הלילה = all night
• כל השבוע = all week

So כל היום is the standard way to say all day.

Why is אתמול at the beginning of the sentence?

Putting אתמול at the beginning sets the time right away: yesterday.

Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, so other orders are possible, but this one is very natural:

• אתמול היא הייתה בבית כל היום

It is similar to starting an English sentence with Yesterday, ...

You could also hear something like:

• היא הייתה בבית כל היום אתמול

but that usually sounds less neutral here. Beginning with אתמול is the most straightforward way to frame the sentence.

Could the sentence also be אתמול היא הייתה כל היום בבית?

Yes, that is also grammatical.

Both of these are natural:

• אתמול היא הייתה בבית כל היום
• אתמול היא הייתה כל היום בבית

The difference is mostly about focus and rhythm, not basic meaning.

• בבית כל היום puts at home first, then adds all day
• כל היום בבית puts all day first, then says where

In many everyday contexts, the meaning is effectively the same.

How is the sentence pronounced?

A common pronunciation guide is:

etmol hi hayta babayit kol hayom

A more stress-marked version would be:

etmól hi haytá babáyit kol hayóm

Very roughly:

• אתמול = et-MOL
• היא = hee
• הייתה = hai-TA
• בבית = ba-BA-yit
• כל היום = kol ha-YOM

Why is the past form built from היה? Is that the Hebrew verb to be?

Yes. The verb היה is the Hebrew verb used for to be in past and future forms.

Its base dictionary form is usually given as היה. From it you get forms like:

• הייתי = I was
• היית = you were
• היה = he was
• הייתה = she was
• היינו = we were
• היו = they were

So הייתה is simply the correct past-tense form of to be for she.