Questions & Answers about באיזו שעה הפגישה שלנו מתחילה?
Literally, באיזו שעה means at which hour or in which hour. In natural English, that becomes at what time.
It is the normal Hebrew way to ask for a specific clock time. So it is more specific than מתי, which just means when.
The ב־ is a prefix meaning in or at.
Hebrew often attaches short prepositions directly to the next word instead of writing them separately. So:
- איזו = which / what
- באיזו = in which / at which
In this sentence, that gives the sense of at what time.
Because שעה is a feminine singular noun, and איזו is the feminine singular form.
The basic forms are:
- איזה = masculine singular
- איזו = feminine singular
- אילו = plural
Since the sentence says שעה, which is feminine, standard Hebrew uses באיזו שעה.
In everyday spoken Hebrew, many people also say באיזה שעה, even though it does not match the gender as carefully. So באיזו שעה sounds a bit more standard or careful.
Because שעה means hour or o'clock, and that is the natural word when asking for a time on the clock.
- באיזו שעה...? = At what time...?
- זמן usually means time in a broader sense
So באיזו זמן would not sound natural here. Hebrew normally uses שעה for this kind of question.
In standard Hebrew, when a noun is followed by a possessive phrase with של or a possessive pronoun like שלנו, the noun is usually definite, so it normally takes ה־.
So:
- הפגישה שלנו = our meeting
- literally, something like the meeting of ours
This is the normal standard pattern, just like:
- הספר שלי = my book
- הבית שלהם = their house
You may sometimes hear פגישה שלנו in casual speech, but הפגישה שלנו is the standard form.
Because Hebrew usually expresses this kind of possession after the noun.
So instead of English our meeting, Hebrew says:
- הפגישה שלנו
- literally: the meeting of us / the meeting that is ours
This is a very common Hebrew pattern:
- החבר שלי = my friend
- המורה שלנו = our teacher
So the possessor normally comes after the thing possessed.
Because the subject, הפגישה, is feminine singular, and the verb has to agree with it.
The verb comes from להתחיל = to start / to begin.
In the present tense:
- מתחיל = masculine singular
- מתחילה = feminine singular
- מתחילים = masculine plural / mixed plural
- מתחילות = feminine plural
Since פגישה is feminine singular, the correct form is מתחילה.
Yes, מתחילה is formally a present-tense form.
But in Hebrew, just like in English, the present tense is often used for scheduled future events. Compare English:
- What time does our meeting start tomorrow?
That uses a present form, even though the event is in the future.
So הפגישה שלנו מתחילה can naturally mean our meeting starts in the sense of a planned upcoming event.
If you wanted to make the future more explicit, you could also say:
- באיזו שעה הפגישה שלנו תתחיל?
That is also correct, but the present-tense version sounds very natural for schedules.
Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, especially in questions.
The sentence you have is:
- באיזו שעה הפגישה שלנו מתחילה?
This is perfectly natural. But you could also hear:
- באיזו שעה מתחילה הפגישה שלנו?
That version puts the verb before the subject. It is also very common.
So the exact word order can vary. The version in your sentence is clear and natural, especially in everyday Modern Hebrew.
Yes, you could say:
- מתי הפגישה שלנו מתחילה?
That means When does our meeting start?
The difference is:
- מתי asks when in a general way
- באיזו שעה asks for the exact time on the clock
So if you specifically want an answer like at 3:00 or at 8:30, באיזו שעה is the more precise choice.
A simple transliteration is:
be-eizo sha'a ha-pgisha shelanu matchila?
A few pronunciation notes:
- באיזו = be-eizo
- שעה has a break between the two vowels: sha-a
- פגישה is pgisha, with the p and g close together
- מתחילה is matchila, with ch like the sound in German Bach or Scottish loch
So the full sentence is:
be-eizo sha'a ha-pgisha shelanu matchila?