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אני מסיים את העבודה לאט, כי יש בעיה במחשב.

אני מסיים את העבודה לאט, כי יש בעיה במחשב.
I am finishing the work slowly, because there is a problem with the computer.
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Questions & Answers about אני מסיים את העבודה לאט, כי יש בעיה במחשב.

Why is the verb מסיים and not some other form?

מסיים is the masculine singular present-tense form of the verb לסיים (to finish).

So:

  • אני מסיים = I am finishing / I finish if the speaker is male
  • הוא מסיים = he is finishing / he finishes

In Hebrew, the present tense agrees with gender and number, but not clearly with person the way English does. That is one reason the pronoun אני is helpful here.

How would the sentence change if the speaker were female?

A female speaker would say:

אני מסיימת את העבודה לאט, כי יש בעיה במחשב.

The only change is:

  • מסיים → מסיימת

That is the feminine singular present-tense form.

Why is אני included? Can Hebrew drop it?

Yes, Hebrew can sometimes drop subject pronouns, but here אני is very natural and useful.

The form מסיים by itself only tells you:

  • present tense
  • masculine
  • singular

It does not by itself clearly tell you whether the subject is:

  • I
  • you
  • he

So אני is used to make it clear that the subject is I.

Without אני, מסיים את העבודה לאט could be understood from context, but it is less clear on its own.

What does את mean here?

את here is the direct object marker. It does not have a separate English translation.

It appears before a definite direct object, usually one with ה־ (the).

So:

  • את העבודה = the work as the direct object of the verb

Compare:

  • אני מסיים עבודה = I am finishing work / some work
  • אני מסיים את העבודה = I am finishing the work

English does not have a word like this, so it often feels strange to learners at first.

Why is it העבודה and not just עבודה?

העבודה means the work, with the definite article ה־.

So:

  • עבודה = work / a job / a piece of work
  • העבודה = the work

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific piece of work, so העבודה is natural.

Because the object is definite, Hebrew also uses את:

  • את העבודה
Does אני מסיים mean I finish or I am finishing?

It can mean either one, depending on context.

Hebrew does not have a separate tense like the English present continuous (I am finishing). The Hebrew present tense often covers both:

  • I finish
  • I am finishing

So אני מסיים את העבודה לאט can naturally mean:

  • I am finishing the work slowly or
  • I finish the work slowly

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Why is לאט used here, and where does it go in the sentence?

לאט means slowly.

In this sentence:

  • אני מסיים את העבודה לאט = I am finishing the work slowly

Hebrew adverbs like לאט are somewhat flexible in position, but this placement is very natural:

  • verb + object + adverb

So:

  • מסיים את העבודה לאט sounds normal and straightforward

A pronunciation note:

  • לאט is pronounced roughly le-AT
  • the stress is on the last syllable
Why does the sentence use כי?

כי means because.

It introduces the reason:

  • כי יש בעיה במחשב = because there is a problem with the computer

It is one of the most common and neutral ways to say because in everyday Hebrew.

Other ways exist, but כי is simple and very common in speech and writing.

How does יש work in Hebrew?

יש means there is or there are.

So:

  • יש בעיה = there is a problem
  • יש בעיות = there are problems

Hebrew uses יש for existence, where English uses there is / there are.

So in this sentence:

  • כי יש בעיה במחשב = because there is a problem in/with the computer
Why is it בעיה and not הבעיה after יש?

Because יש usually introduces something indefinite:

  • יש בעיה = there is a problem
  • יש ספר על השולחן = there is a book on the table

Using הבעיה after יש would usually not sound right in this basic existential pattern.

So:

  • יש בעיה = natural
  • יש הבעיה = not natural Hebrew

This matches the English meaning there is a problem, not there is the problem.

What does במחשב mean exactly? Is it in the computer, on the computer, or with the computer?

במחשב uses the preposition ב־, which often means in, on, or at, depending on context.

Here, יש בעיה במחשב is most naturally understood as:

  • there is a problem with the computer or
  • there is a problem in the computer

In natural English, with the computer is usually the best translation.

This is a good example of how Hebrew prepositions do not always match English one-to-one.

Why is במחשב written as one word?

In Hebrew, common prepositions are often attached directly to the following word.

Here:

  • ב־ = in / on / at / with
  • מחשב = computer

So:

  • במחשב = in/on/with the computer

This attached spelling is normal in Hebrew. Very common short prepositions such as ב־, ל־, and כ־ are usually written this way.

Is עבודה always work, or can it mean job too?

עבודה can mean several related things, including:

  • work
  • job
  • task
  • employment, depending on context

In this sentence, העבודה most likely means:

  • the work
  • the task
  • the assignment

It probably does not mean my job here, because the context is about finishing something slowly because of a computer problem.

How would you pronounce the whole sentence?

A common transliteration is:

Ani mesayem et ha-avoda le'at, ki yesh be'aya ba-makhshev.

A few pronunciation notes:

  • אני = a-NI
  • מסיים = me-sa-YEM
  • העבודה = ha-a-vo-DA
  • לאט = le-AT
  • יש = yesh
  • בעיה = be-a-YA
  • במחשב = ba-makh-SHEV / be-makh-SHEV depending on pronunciation tradition and how one analyzes the form

The main stresses are usually near the ends of these words, which is common in Modern Hebrew.