הארוחה של אמא קטנה יותר, אבל הארוחה של אבא גדולה יותר.

Mom's meal is smaller, but Dad's meal is bigger.

Breakdown of הארוחה של אמא קטנה יותר, אבל הארוחה של אבא גדולה יותר.

• גדול: big
• קטן: small
• אמא: mother
• אבא: father
• אבל: but
• ארוחה: meal
• של: of
• יותר: more

Questions & Answers about הארוחה של אמא קטנה יותר, אבל הארוחה של אבא גדולה יותר.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

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

So where English says:

• Mom’s meal is smaller
• Dad’s meal is bigger

Hebrew simply says:

• הארוחה של אמא קטנה יותר
• הארוחה של אבא גדולה יותר

This is completely normal. In past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be, but in the present it is usually left out.

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What does של mean here?

של means of and is very commonly used to show possession.

So:

• הארוחה של אמא = the meal of Mom / Mom’s meal
• הארוחה של אבא = the meal of Dad / Dad’s meal

For English speakers, it often helps to think of של as a very common way to say ’s.

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Why does הארוחה start with ה־?

The ה־ at the beginning is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• ארוחה = meal
• הארוחה = the meal

Since the sentence is talking about specific meals, Hebrew uses ה־.

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Why are the adjectives קטנה and גדולה feminine?

Because they describe ארוחה, and ארוחה is a feminine noun.

In Hebrew, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• ארוחה קטנה = a small meal
• ארוחה גדולה = a big meal

If the noun were masculine, you would usually use:

• קטן instead of קטנה
• גדול instead of גדולה

This agreement is one of the most important things to notice in Hebrew.

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How do you know that ארוחה is feminine?

A big clue is the ending ־ה. Many Hebrew feminine nouns end in ־ה or ־ת, though not all of them.

Also, the adjective confirms it:

• קטנה
• גדולה

Since those are feminine adjective forms, they show that ארוחה is feminine.

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How do you form smaller and bigger in Hebrew?

Hebrew usually forms the comparative with:

adjective + יותר

So:

• קטנה יותר = smaller
• גדולה יותר = bigger

Literally, יותר means something like more, so:

• קטנה יותר = more small
• גדולה יותר = more big

That is the normal Hebrew pattern for comparisons.

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Why is יותר after the adjective instead of before it?

That is just the normal Hebrew word order for comparatives.

Hebrew says:

• קטנה יותר
• גדולה יותר

not:

• יותר קטנה
• יותר גדולה

So unlike English more + adjective, Hebrew usually uses adjective + יותר.

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Where is the word than?

In this sentence, Hebrew does not need to say than, because the comparison is understood from the contrast between the two clauses:

• Mom’s meal is smaller
• but Dad’s meal is bigger

The sentence sets up the comparison naturally.

If you wanted to say bigger than explicitly in Hebrew, you would often use מ־:

• גדולה יותר מאשר... or more commonly גדולה יותר מ־...

For example:

• הארוחה של אבא גדולה יותר מהארוחה של אמא
  = Dad’s meal is bigger than Mom’s meal

So than is not missing by mistake; it is simply unnecessary here.

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Why is הארוחה של repeated twice? Could Hebrew leave it out the second time?

Yes, Hebrew can sometimes leave part of it out if the meaning is clear.

This full sentence:

• הארוחה של אמא קטנה יותר, אבל הארוחה של אבא גדולה יותר

is very clear and natural.

But you might also hear a shorter version like:

• הארוחה של אמא קטנה יותר, אבל של אבא גדולה יותר

That means essentially the same thing. Repeating הארוחה makes the sentence more explicit and balanced.

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Why do אמא and אבא not have ה־?

Because here they function more like names or family titles: Mom and Dad.

So Hebrew naturally says:

• של אמא
• של אבא

not usually:

• של האמא
• של האבא

Adding ה־ there would usually sound unnatural in this kind of sentence.

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Is the word order normal in this sentence?

Yes. The structure is very normal:

the noun phrase + adjective + יותר

So:

• הארוחה של אמא = subject
• קטנה יותר = predicate adjective, smaller

Then:

• אבל = but

Then the same pattern again:

• הארוחה של אבא
• גדולה יותר

This is a very useful sentence pattern to learn.

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What does אבל mean, and where does it go?

אבל means but.

It connects the two contrasting parts of the sentence:

• Mom’s meal is smaller
• but Dad’s meal is bigger

Its position here is exactly what an English speaker would expect: it comes between the two clauses.

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Could this sentence also mean Mother’s lunch or Father’s dinner instead of meal?

Yes, depending on context, ארוחה can mean meal in a general sense, and sometimes the specific kind of meal is understood from the situation.

By itself, ארוחה does not strictly mean only one particular meal like lunch or dinner. If Hebrew wants to be more specific, it can say:

• ארוחת בוקר = breakfast
• ארוחת צהריים = lunch
• ארוחת ערב = dinner

So in this sentence, meal is the safest general understanding.

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How would this sentence change if the noun were masculine instead of feminine?

The comparative pattern would stay the same, but the adjective would change to masculine form.

For example, with a masculine noun:

• התיק של אמא קטן יותר = Mom’s bag is smaller
• התיק של אבא גדול יותר = Dad’s bag is bigger

Compare that with the original feminine forms:

• קטנה יותר
• גדולה יותר

So the key thing that changes is adjective agreement.

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How is this sentence pronounced?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ha-aruKHA shel IMA ktana yoTER, aval ha-aruKHA shel ABA gdola yoTER

A few notes:

• הארוחה is stressed on the last syllable: aruKHA
• אמא is usually IMA
• אבא is usually ABA
• יותר is yoTER
• אבל is aval

You do not need a full English-like r here; Hebrew ר is different, but learners are usually understood even before mastering it.