עכשיו אנחנו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.

Now we get the bill and pay.

Breakdown of עכשיו אנחנו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.

• עכשיו: now
• ו: and
• את: direct object marker
• אנחנו: we
• לשלם: to pay
• לקבל: to get
• חשבון: bill

Questions & Answers about עכשיו אנחנו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.

What does עכשיו mean here, and does it have to be at the beginning?

עכשיו means now or right now. It sets the time frame for the whole sentence.

It does not have to be first, but putting it first is very common in Hebrew:

• עכשיו אנחנו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.
• אנחנו עכשיו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.

Both are possible, but the version with עכשיו first sounds very natural.

Why is אנחנו written explicitly? Don’t the verbs already mean we?

In Hebrew present tense, the verb usually shows gender and number, but not person.

So מקבלים and משלמים by themselves could mean:

• we receive/pay
• you all receive/pay
• they receive/pay

Because of that, אנחנו is useful here to make it clear that the subject is we.

Why are מקבלים and משלמים in masculine plural form?

These are present-tense masculine plural forms. With אנחנו, that is the normal form for:

• a group of men
• a mixed-gender group

If the speakers were an all-female group, Hebrew would usually use:

• מקבלות
• משלמות

So the sentence would become: עכשיו אנחנו מקבלות את החשבון ומשלמות.

What tense are מקבלים and משלמים?

They are present-tense forms.

In Hebrew, the present tense can cover both:

• simple present: we get / we pay
• progressive present: we are getting / we are paying

The context decides which English translation sounds best. Because the sentence starts with עכשיו, the sense we are getting the bill and paying now is especially natural.

Why do both verbs begin with מ־?

That מ־ is just part of the present-tense verb form here. It is not a separate word and does not mean anything by itself in translation.

If you study Hebrew verb patterns, both מקבלים and משלמים belong to a common pattern called pi'el, whose present-tense forms often begin with מ־.

So:

• מקבלים = receiving / getting
• משלמים = paying

What is את doing in את החשבון?

את marks a definite direct object. It usually has no direct English equivalent.

Hebrew uses את before a direct object that is definite, such as:

• a noun with ה־
• a proper name
• a word like this, that, my, etc.

So here:

• החשבון = the bill
• therefore Hebrew says את החשבון

Why is it החשבון and not just חשבון?

The prefix ה־ means the.

So:

• חשבון = a bill / an account / a calculation
• החשבון = the bill

In this situation, it is a specific bill that the speakers are talking about, so the bill is the natural form.

Also, חשבון has several meanings in Hebrew. In a restaurant context, it usually means the bill or the check.

What does מקבלים mean exactly here? Is it receive, get, or accept?

The basic meaning of מקבלים is receive or get. In some contexts it can also mean accept.

Here, because the object is החשבון, the natural meaning is:

• get the bill
• receive the bill

So even if you were shown an English translation with get, the Hebrew verb is still perfectly normal.

Why is ו attached to משלמים instead of being a separate word?

In Hebrew, and is usually written as a prefix: ו־.

So:

• משלמים = paying
• ומשלמים = and paying

That is completely normal Hebrew spelling.

In careful pronunciation, this ו־ is often pronounced u- here, so ומשלמים is often pronounced something like u-meshalmim.

Why doesn’t the sentence repeat את החשבון after משלמים?

Because the object is already clear from the context.

Hebrew often leaves out repeated information when it is obvious. So ומשלמים can naturally mean and pay.

You could also say: עכשיו אנחנו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים את החשבון but that sounds more repetitive.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Hebrew word order is fairly flexible.

For example, these are all possible:

• עכשיו אנחנו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.
• אנחנו עכשיו מקבלים את החשבון ומשלמים.

Putting עכשיו first is a very common way to frame the sentence with the time word. It gives now a little extra emphasis.