הוא עצוב היום, אבל אנחנו רוצים ארוחה טובה ביחד.

He is sad today, but we want a good meal together.

Breakdown of הוא עצוב היום, אבל אנחנו רוצים ארוחה טובה ביחד.

• הוא: he
• טוב: good
• לרצות: to want
• אבל: but
• היום: today
• אנחנו: we
• ביחד: together
• עצוב: sad
• ארוחה: meal

Questions & Answers about הוא עצוב היום, אבל אנחנו רוצים ארוחה טובה ביחד.

How do you pronounce this sentence?

A common pronunciation is:

Hu atzuv hayom, aval anáchnu rotsím aruchá tová beyáchad.

A rough sound guide:

• הוא = hu = hoo
• עצוב = atzuv = ah-tSOOV
• היום = hayom = ha-YOM
• אבל = aval = ah-VAL
• אנחנו = anachnu = a-NAKH-nu
• רוצים = rotsim = ro-TSEEM
• ארוחה = arucha = a-ru-KHA
• טובה = tova = to-VA
• ביחד = beyachad = be-YA-khad

The kh sound in anachnu, arucha, and beyachad is the throaty Hebrew sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch.

Why is there no word for is in הוא עצוב היום?

Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense.

So:

• הוא עצוב = He is sad
• literally: He sad

This is completely normal in Hebrew.

But in other tenses, Hebrew does use forms of to be:

• הוא היה עצוב = He was sad
• הוא יהיה עצוב = He will be sad

So the missing is is not an omission by accident; it is a basic rule of Hebrew grammar.

Why is it עצוב and not עצובה?

Because עצוב is the masculine singular form, and it matches הוא (he).

Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun or pronoun they describe in gender and number.

Here:

• הוא = he → masculine singular
• so the adjective is עצוב = masculine singular

If the subject were feminine, it would change:

• היא עצובה היום = She is sad today

So this is adjective agreement.

What exactly does היום mean here?

Here, היום means today.

Even though it looks like the day literally, in everyday Hebrew היום is very commonly used as the adverb today.

So:

• הוא עצוב היום = He is sad today

Context tells you which meaning is intended:

• היום יפה could mean The day is יפה in some contexts, but usually sentence context makes the meaning clear.
• In your sentence, after an adjective phrase, היום is clearly today.

Why does היום come after עצוב? Could it come somewhere else?

Yes, it could come somewhere else. Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, especially with time words like היום.

Your sentence:

• הוא עצוב היום

This is very natural and means He is sad today.

You could also hear:

• היום הוא עצוב = Today he is sad

That puts more emphasis on today.

So the word order in your sentence is normal; it just places today after the adjective phrase.

Why is אנחנו included? Doesn’t רוצים already mean we want?

Not exactly. In the present tense, Hebrew verbs often show gender and number, but not person clearly enough by themselves.

רוצים can mean:

• we want
• you want (masculine plural)
• they want (masculine plural or mixed group)

So the pronoun אנחנו is important because it tells you the subject is we.

That is why אנחנו רוצים is very natural and often necessary unless the context already makes the subject obvious.

Why is it רוצים and not רוצות?

Because רוצים is the masculine plural form, and Hebrew uses the masculine plural for:

• a group of males
• a mixed-gender group
• sometimes plural groups when gender is not specified

So:

• אנחנו רוצים = we want if the speakers are male or mixed
• אנחנו רוצות = we want if the speakers are all female

This is a very common pattern in Hebrew.

Why is there no word for a before ארוחה?

Because Hebrew has no separate indefinite article like English a/an.

So:

• ארוחה can mean a meal
• ארוחה טובה = a good meal

If you want to say the meal, Hebrew uses the prefix ה־:

• הארוחה = the meal
• הארוחה הטובה = the good meal

So the absence of ה־ usually means the noun is indefinite: a meal, not the meal.

Why is it ארוחה טובה and not טובה ארוחה?

Because in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• ארוחה טובה = a good meal
• literally: meal good

This is the normal order in Hebrew noun phrases.

English says:

• good meal

Hebrew says:

• meal good

So the position of טובה after ארוחה is exactly what you should expect.

Why is it טובה and not טוב?

Because ארוחה is a feminine singular noun, and the adjective must agree with it.

Here:

• ארוחה = feminine singular
• so good must also be feminine singular: טובה

Compare:

• אוכל טוב = good food or food that is good
  (אוכל is masculine)
• ארוחה טובה = a good meal
  (ארוחה is feminine)

So this is another example of adjective agreement.

What does ביחד mean, and why is it at the end?

ביחד means together.

In this sentence:

• אנחנו רוצים ארוחה טובה ביחד = We want a good meal together

Putting ביחד at the end is very natural. It modifies the whole idea of having or wanting the meal together.

Hebrew often places words like together, today, and other adverb-like expressions in flexible positions, but the sentence-final position here sounds natural and clear.

What does אבל do in the sentence?

אבל means but.

It connects the two parts:

• הוא עצוב היום = He is sad today
• אבל אנחנו רוצים ארוחה טובה ביחד = but we want a good meal together

So it works very much like English but.

Its pronunciation is usually aval.

Why does the second part say we want a good meal together instead of using a verb like eat or have?

Hebrew often expresses ideas a little more directly than English.

So אנחנו רוצים ארוחה טובה ביחד literally means:

• We want a good meal together

In natural English, you might often say:

• We want to have a good meal together
• We want to eat a good meal together

Hebrew can add a verb like לאכול (to eat) if the speaker wants to be more explicit:

• אנחנו רוצים לאכול ארוחה טובה ביחד

But the original sentence is still understandable and natural as written. The exact nuance depends on context.