הוא פחות צמא, אבל היא צמאה ורוצה מים.

He is less thirsty, but she is thirsty and wants water.

Breakdown of הוא פחות צמא, אבל היא צמאה ורוצה מים.

• הוא: he
• מים: water
• לרצות: to want
• היא: she
• ו: and
• אבל: but
• צמא: thirsty
• פחות: less

Questions & Answers about הוא פחות צמא, אבל היא צמאה ורוצה מים.

Why is there no Hebrew word for is in this sentence?

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

So:

• הוא פחות צמא = literally he less thirsty
• היא צמאה = literally she thirsty

But in natural English, we translate those as:

• he is less thirsty
• she is thirsty

This is completely normal in Hebrew.
If you wanted past or future, Hebrew would use forms of היה:

• הוא היה צמא = he was thirsty
• היא תהיה צמאה = she will be thirsty

Why do we have צמא with הוא, but צמאה with היא?

Because צמא / צמאה is an adjective, and Hebrew adjectives agree in gender with the person or thing they describe.

Here:

• הוא צמא = he is thirsty
  masculine singular
• היא צמאה = she is thirsty
  feminine singular

This kind of agreement is very common in Hebrew:

• הוא עייף = he is tired
• היא עייפה = she is tired

So the ending changes because the subject changes from masculine to feminine.

What does פחות mean here exactly?

פחות means less.

So הוא פחות צמא means:

• he is less thirsty
• or, depending on context, he is not as thirsty

Hebrew often leaves the comparison unstated if it is clear from context.
If you wanted to say less thirsty than her, you could say:

• הוא פחות צמא ממנה

where ממנה means than her / from her in this comparison structure.

Why is רוצה spelled the same for masculine and feminine here?

This is a very common beginner question. In unpointed Hebrew spelling, the masculine singular and feminine singular forms of some present-tense verbs can look identical.

So:

• הוא רוצה = he wants
• היא רוצה = she wants

They are spelled the same, but traditionally pronounced differently:

• masculine: רוֹצֶה = rotse
• feminine: רוֹצָה = rotsa

Since everyday Hebrew usually leaves out vowel marks, you figure it out from the subject:

• הוא tells you it is masculine
• היא tells you it is feminine

How would I pronounce the whole sentence?

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

hu pa-KHOT tsa-ME, a-VAL hi tsme-AH ve-rot-SA MA-yim

A more detailed breakdown:

• הוא = hu
• פחות = pa-KHOT
• צמא = tsa-ME
• אבל = a-VAL
• היא = hi
• צמאה = tsme-AH
• ורוצה = ve-rot-SA
• מים = MA-yim

Notes:

• kh represents the throaty Hebrew sound of ח / כ without dagesh.
• The final א in words like צמא is usually not strongly pronounced as a full consonant in modern speech, but it affects the vowel pattern.

Is צמא a verb or an adjective?

Here, צמא is an adjective, meaning thirsty.

So:

• הוא צמא = he is thirsty
• היא צמאה = she is thirsty

By contrast, רוצה is the present-tense form of a verb, from לרצות = to want.

So the sentence combines:

• an adjective: צמאה = thirsty
• a verb: רוצה = wants

That gives:

• she is thirsty and wants water

One important thing to notice is that Hebrew present-tense verb forms often look a bit like adjectives and also agree in gender and number, which is why this can feel confusing at first.

Why is there only one היא before both צמאה and רוצה?

Because both words describe the same subject.

So:

• היא צמאה ורוצה מים

means:

• she is thirsty and wants water

Hebrew does not need to repeat the subject before the second predicate if it is still the same person.

You could think of it as:

• she is thirsty and [she] wants water

The second she is simply understood.

Why doesn’t מים have את before it?

Because את is only used before a definite direct object.

Here, מים means water in a general, indefinite sense:

• היא רוצה מים = she wants water

That is why there is no את.

But if you meant the water or some specific water, you would say:

• היא רוצה את המים = she wants the water

So the difference is:

• רוצה מים = wants water
• רוצה את המים = wants the water

Why does מים look plural?

Because מים is one of those Hebrew nouns that is grammatically plural in form, even though in English we usually translate it as the mass noun water.

The word is:

• מים = water

It ends in -ים, which is the usual masculine plural ending, and in Hebrew it often behaves grammatically like a plural word.

For example:

• מים קרים = cold water
  literally, the adjective is in the masculine plural form

But in English, we still normally say water, not waters, unless we mean something special or poetic.

So yes, it looks plural because, in Hebrew grammar, it essentially is.

Why are the pronouns הוא and היא included? Could they be left out?

In this sentence, they are very helpful and natural because they make the contrast clear:

• he is less thirsty
• but she is thirsty and wants water

Hebrew often uses pronouns in this kind of sentence, especially because:

1. there is no present-tense is
2. present-tense verbs do not clearly mark person the way past tense does
3. the sentence is contrasting he and she

If you removed the pronouns, the sentence would become unclear or incomplete in most contexts.

So here, הוא and היא are doing important work.

What does אבל do, and where does it go in the sentence?

אבל means but.

So the sentence is divided into two contrasting parts:

• הוא פחות צמא = he is less thirsty
• אבל היא צמאה ורוצה מים = but she is thirsty and wants water

Hebrew uses אבל much like English uses but: it connects two ideas that contrast with each other.

Its position here is very natural:

• statement 1
• אבל
• contrasting statement 2

Does הוא פחות צמא sound unfinished without saying than someone?

Not necessarily. Hebrew, like English, often leaves the comparison implicit when the listener can understand it from context.

So הוא פחות צמא can mean:

• he is less thirsty
• he is not as thirsty

The sentence then continues with אבל היא צמאה..., which makes the contrast clear. The idea is basically:

• He is less thirsty, but she is thirsty and wants water.

If you wanted to make the comparison explicit, you could say:

• הוא פחות צמא ממנה = he is less thirsty than she is / than her
• הוא פחות צמא ממני = he is less thirsty than me

So the shorter version is normal when the comparison is obvious from the situation.