אני כבר יודע מתי האוטובוס יבוא.

Breakdown of אני כבר יודע מתי האוטובוס יבוא.

אני
I
לדעת
to know
מתי
when
לבוא
to come
כבר
already
אוטובוס
bus
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Questions & Answers about אני כבר יודע מתי האוטובוס יבוא.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

A natural pronunciation is ani kvar yodéa matai ha-otobus yavó.

A rough word-by-word guide:

  • אני = ani
  • כבר = kvar
  • יודע = yodéa
  • מתי = matai
  • האוטובוס = ha-otobus
  • יבוא = yavó
Why is it יודע and not some other form?

יודע is the masculine singular present-tense form of לדעת (to know).

That matters because in Hebrew present tense, the verb agrees with gender and number, not with person the way English does. So:

  • אני יודע = I know if the speaker is male
  • אני יודעת = I know if the speaker is female

So this sentence implies that the speaker is male. A female speaker would say:

אני כבר יודעת מתי האוטובוס יבוא.

Why is אני included? Can Hebrew leave out subject pronouns?

Sometimes Hebrew can leave out subject pronouns, but here אני is very natural and usually expected.

One big reason is that יודע by itself does not tell you the person:

  • אני יודע = I know
  • אתה יודע = you know (to a male)
  • הוא יודע = he knows

All three use יודע, so the pronoun helps identify who the subject is. In context, people may drop אני, but in a normal standalone sentence, keeping it is the clearest choice.

What does כבר mean here, and where does it go in the sentence?

כבר means already.

In this sentence, it comes after the subject:

  • אני כבר יודע... = I already know...

That is a very common position for כבר. Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this placement sounds natural and neutral.

Why does the sentence end with a period and not a question mark?

Because the whole sentence is a statement, not a direct question.

The part מתי האוטובוס יבוא means when the bus will come, but it is an embedded question inside the larger sentence:

  • I already know when the bus will come.

So the speaker is not asking anything. They are telling you that they know the answer. That is why Hebrew uses a period.

What exactly is מתי doing here?

מתי means when.

Here it introduces an indirect question or embedded question:

  • מתי האוטובוס יבוא = when the bus will come

So the structure is:

  • אני כבר יודע = I already know
  • מתי האוטובוס יבוא = when the bus will come

Put together, it means I already know when the bus will come.

Why is it האוטובוס and not just אוטובוס?

The ה־ at the beginning is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

  • אוטובוס = a bus / bus
  • האוטובוס = the bus

This sentence is talking about a specific bus, so האוטובוס is the natural form.

Also, even though אוטובוס is a borrowed word, Hebrew still adds ה־ to it normally.

Why is the verb יבוא in the future tense?

יבוא means he/it will come and is the future form of לבוא (to come).

Hebrew uses the future here because the bus has not come yet. The event is still in the future.

This is important for English speakers because English often uses a present form after when, as in:

  • I know when the bus comes

But Hebrew normally keeps the real time reference:

  • מתי האוטובוס יבוא = literally when the bus will come

So the Hebrew future tense is completely normal here.

Why is it specifically יבוא?

יבוא is the third-person masculine singular future form of לבוא.

That matches האוטובוס, because אוטובוס is grammatically masculine singular.

So:

  • האוטובוס יבוא = the bus will come

If the subject were feminine singular, the verb would change. For example:

  • הרכבת תבוא = the train will come

So the verb form is chosen to match the noun.

Could I also say מתי יבוא האוטובוס?

Yes. מתי יבוא האוטובוס is also correct.

Both of these are possible:

  • מתי האוטובוס יבוא
  • מתי יבוא האוטובוס

The version in your sentence, מתי האוטובוס יבוא, sounds very natural in modern Hebrew. The version with the verb first, מתי יבוא האוטובוס, is also common and may sound a bit more formal or a bit more like the word order of a direct question.

So as a learner, you should recognize both.

Could I use יגיע instead of יבוא?

Yes, often you can.

  • יבוא = will come
  • יגיע = will arrive / will get there

So you could also say:

  • אני כבר יודע מתי האוטובוס יגיע.

That would sound very natural too. In many contexts, both are fine. יגיע can sound a little closer to arrive, while יבוא is the more basic come form.