אלה אנשים בתחנה, והם מחכים לאוטובוס.

These are people at the station, and they are waiting for the bus.

Breakdown of אלה אנשים בתחנה, והם מחכים לאוטובוס.

• ו: and
• ב: at
• אוטובוס: bus
• לחכות: to wait
• תחנה: station
• אלה: these
• הם: they
• איש: person
• ל: for

Questions & Answers about אלה אנשים בתחנה, והם מחכים לאוטובוס.

Does אלה אנשים mean these people or these are people?

In this sentence, אלה אנשים means these are people.

That is because אלה is standing as the subject of a full sentence, not just modifying the noun.

If you wanted to say these people as one noun phrase, standard Hebrew would usually be:

האנשים האלה

So:

• אלה אנשים = These are people
• האנשים האלה = these people

Why is there no word for are in אלה אנשים?

Because Hebrew usually leaves out the verb to be in the present tense.

So Hebrew says:

אלה אנשים
literally: these people
but meaning: these are people

This is very normal in Hebrew. In the past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be, but not usually in simple present-tense sentences like this one.

Why doesn’t the sentence say אלה הם אנשים?

It could. אלה הם אנשים is also grammatical.

But Hebrew often prefers the shorter version:

אלה אנשים

Adding הם can make the sentence a little more explicit or emphatic, but it is not required here.

So both are possible, but the version in your sentence is very natural.

What does אלה mean, and is it masculine or feminine?

אלה means these.

In the plural, אלה is used for both masculine and feminine nouns. So unlike English learners might expect, you do not need separate masculine and feminine plural forms here.

Compare:

• זה = this / that (masculine singular)
• זאת or זו = this / that (feminine singular)
• אלה = these (plural, any gender)

What does אנשים mean? Does it refer only to men?

אנשים usually means people.

It is historically related to איש (man / person), but in modern Hebrew אנשים often refers to people in general, especially a mixed group or an unspecified group.

So in this sentence, it does not have to mean only men.

Also, אנשים is grammatically masculine plural, and Hebrew normally uses masculine plural agreement for mixed groups.

How does בתחנה mean at the station?

בתחנה is made from:

• ב־ = in / at
• תחנה = station

When ב־ combines with ה־ (the), the article is absorbed into the preposition.

So:

• בתחנה can be read as be-tachana = at a station
• or ba-tachana = at the station

In normal unpointed Hebrew writing, both look the same: בתחנה.

So the meaning at the station comes from context (and in your case, from the translation already given).

Why does the second clause begin with והם?

ו־ means and, and הם means they.

So והם = and they.

Hebrew often repeats the subject when starting a new clause, especially when it helps keep the sentence clear:

אלה אנשים בתחנה, והם מחכים לאוטובוס.
These are people at the station, and they are waiting for the bus.

Could Hebrew sometimes leave the pronoun out? Yes, in some contexts. But here והם sounds very natural and makes the second clause clear.

Why is the verb מחכים?

Because the subject is plural and grammatically masculine: אנשים / הם.

מחכים is the present-tense masculine plural form of לחכות (to wait).

Some related forms are:

• מחכה = waiting (masculine singular)
• מחכה = waiting (feminine singular)
• מחכים = waiting (masculine plural)
• מחכות = waiting (feminine plural)

Since אנשים is masculine plural, מחכים is the correct agreement.

Does מחכים mean wait or are waiting?

It can correspond to either one in English.

Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• they wait
• they are waiting

English makes a stronger distinction between simple present and present progressive. Hebrew usually does not.

So here מחכים is best understood from context as are waiting.

Why is it לאוטובוס, and why don’t I see a separate word for the?

Because the verb לחכות takes the preposition ל־:

לחכות ל־... = to wait for ...

So לאוטובוס is ל־ + אוטובוס.

Also, when ל־ combines with ה־ (the), the article is absorbed, just like with ב־.

That means in unpointed writing:

• לאוטובוס can mean for a bus
• or for the bus

Both are written the same way without vowel marks.

In this sentence, from context, it means for the bus.

Why isn’t there את before אוטובוס?

Because אוטובוס is not a direct object here.

The verb לחכות does not take a direct object with את. Instead, it uses ל־:

• מחכים לאוטובוס = waiting for the bus

So this is a prepositional phrase, not a direct object phrase.

That is why את does not appear.

How is the whole sentence pronounced?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Ele anashim ba-tachana, ve-hem mekhakim la-otobus.

A few helpful notes:

• אלה = EH-leh
• אנשים = a-na-SHEEM
• בתחנה = ba-ta-kha-NA
• והם = ve-HEM
• מחכים = me-kha-KEEM
• לאוטובוס = la-o-to-BOOS

The sound written here as kh is the throaty sound heard in words like Scottish loch or German Bach.