הוא יפגוש חבר בעיר, ואני אפגוש חברה בתחנה.

He will meet a male friend in the city, and I will meet a female friend at the station.

Breakdown of הוא יפגוש חבר בעיר, ואני אפגוש חברה בתחנה.

• אני: I
• הוא: he
• ו: and
• חברה: female friend
• חבר: male friend
• ב: in
• עיר: city
• ב: at
• תחנה: station
• לפגוש: to meet

Questions & Answers about הוא יפגוש חבר בעיר, ואני אפגוש חברה בתחנה.

Why does יפגוש mean he will meet, but אפגוש means I will meet?

Both forms come from the verb לפגוש = to meet.

In the Hebrew future tense, a prefix is added to show the subject:

• א־ = I
• י־ = he
• ת־ = you / she
• נ־ = we

So:

• הוא יפגוש = he will meet
• אני אפגוש = I will meet

The subject pronouns הוא and אני are also written here, but the verb form already tells you who the subject is.

What is the basic dictionary form of יפגוש and אפגוש?

The dictionary form is לפגוש = to meet.

This is the infinitive. From that verb, you get forms like:

• אפגוש = I will meet
• תפגוש = you will meet / she will meet
• יפגוש = he will meet
• נפגוש = we will meet

So if you want to look the verb up, look for לפגוש.

Why is it חבר in one clause and חברה in the other?

Because Hebrew nouns have grammatical gender, and these two words refer to different genders:

• חבר = a male friend
• חברה = a female friend

So:

• הוא יפגוש חבר = he will meet a male friend
• אני אפגוש חברה = I will meet a female friend

This is one of the most basic masculine/feminine pairs in Hebrew.

Does חברה mean only female friend, or can it also mean girlfriend?

It can mean either female friend or girlfriend, depending on context.

Likewise:

• חבר can mean male friend or boyfriend

In everyday Hebrew, context usually makes it clear. If the meaning shown to the learner says female friend, then that is the intended meaning here.

Also, חברה can mean company or society in other contexts, but not in this sentence.

Why is there no Hebrew word for a before friend?

Hebrew does not have an indefinite article like English a/an.

So:

• חבר can mean a friend
• חברה can mean a female friend

Hebrew only has a definite article, ה־, which means the.

So:

• חבר = a friend
• החבר = the friend

Why is there no את before חבר or חברה?

Because את is used before a definite direct object, not an indefinite one.

Here the objects are indefinite:

• חבר = a friend
• חברה = a female friend

So you do not use את.

Compare:

• הוא יפגוש חבר = he will meet a friend
• הוא יפגוש את החבר = he will meet the friend

That is a very common rule in Hebrew.

Why are בעיר and בתחנה written as one word?

Because the preposition ב־ = in / at / on is attached directly to the noun.

So:

• ב + עיר → בעיר
• ב + תחנה → בתחנה

This is normal in Hebrew. Short prepositions like ב־ (in/at), ל־ (to), and כ־ (as/like) are usually attached to the following word.

How do we know that בעיר means in the city and בתחנה means at the station, not just in a city and at a station?

In unpointed modern Hebrew, the spelling is often the same.

With vowels marked, there is a difference:

• בְּעִיר = in a city
• בָּעִיר = in the city
• בְּתַחֲנָה = at a station
• בַּתַּחֲנָה = at the station

But in normal everyday writing without vowel marks, both versions are written:

• בעיר
• בתחנה

So you usually know from context or from the translation already given. In this sentence, the intended meaning is in the city and at the station.

Why is the same preposition ב־ translated as in in one place and at in another?

Because Hebrew ב־ is broader than English in.

It can mean:

• in
• at
• sometimes on

depending on the noun and the situation.

So:

• בעיר = in the city
• בתחנה = at the station

English chooses the most natural preposition, but Hebrew uses the same basic prefix ב־ in both places.

Could Hebrew leave out הוא and אני here?

Yes, very often.

Hebrew frequently drops subject pronouns because the verb already shows the person.

So these are possible:

• יפגוש חבר בעיר = he will meet a friend in the city
• ואפגוש חברה בתחנה = and I will meet a female friend at the station

However, including הוא and אני can make the sentence clearer or more contrastive:

• He will meet a friend..., and I will meet a female friend...

So the pronouns are not required, but they are perfectly natural here.

How is the sentence pronounced?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Hu yifgósh khavér ba'ír, va'aní efgósh khaverá batachaná.

A few notes:

• ח is a throaty sound, often written kh
• stress is usually near the end:
  • yifgósh
  • khavér
  • ba'ír
  • va'aní
  • khaverá
  • batachaná

If you pronounce it with a clear rhythm, it will sound natural.

Is the word order here the same as in English?

Mostly yes.

The sentence is built like this:

• הוא = he
• יפגוש = will meet
• חבר = a friend
• בעיר = in the city

and then:

• ואני = and I
• אפגוש = will meet
• חברה = a female friend
• בתחנה = at the station

So the pattern is basically:

subject + verb + object + place

That is very natural in Hebrew, although Hebrew word order is somewhat more flexible than English.