אני שומע מוזיקה במחשב כשאני כותב אימייל.

I listen to music on the computer when I write an email.

Breakdown of אני שומע מוזיקה במחשב כשאני כותב אימייל.

• אני: I
• ב: on
• מחשב: computer
• לכתוב: to write
• אימייל: email
• לשמוע: to listen to
• מוזיקה: music
• כש: when

Questions & Answers about אני שומע מוזיקה במחשב כשאני כותב אימייל.

Why is it שומע and not שומעת?

Because שומע is the masculine singular form.

In Hebrew, the present tense changes for gender and number:

• שומע = he hears / I hear if the speaker is male
• שומעת = she hears / I hear if the speaker is female

So:

• A male speaker says: אני שומע מוזיקה
• A female speaker says: אני שומעת מוזיקה

The same thing happens later in the sentence:

• כותב = masculine singular
• כותבת = feminine singular

So a female speaker would say: אני שומעת מוזיקה במחשב כשאני כותבת אימייל.

Why does אני שומע mean I hear and not just he hears?

Hebrew present-tense verb forms do not have different endings for I, you, and he/she the way English does. Instead, Hebrew often relies on the subject pronoun.

So:

• שומע by itself usually means hearing or he hears
• אני שומע = I hear / I am listening
• הוא שומע = he hears
• אתה שומע = you hear (to a male)

The form tells you the gender and number, but not the person by itself. The pronoun אני is what tells you it means I.

Why is שומע used here if English would usually say I listen to music?

Hebrew often uses לשמוע (to hear) where English prefers to listen to.

So אני שומע מוזיקה is a very natural way to say:

• I listen to music
• literally, I hear music

In everyday Hebrew, this is normal and idiomatic. You do not need a separate verb meaning exactly listen in this sentence.

Why is there no word for to after שומע?

Because Hebrew does not use a preposition here the way English does in listen to music.

English says:

• listen to music

Hebrew says:

• לשמוע מוזיקה
• literally: to hear music

So מוזיקה is the direct object of the verb, with no equivalent of English to.

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

במחשב literally means in the computer, because:

• ב־ = in / at / on
• מחשב = computer

But in actual usage, Hebrew ב־ covers several meanings that English splits into different prepositions:

• in
• on
• at

So in this sentence, במחשב is best understood as on the computer or using the computer, depending on context.

Also notice the form:

• ב + ה + מחשב becomes במחשב
• literally: in/on the computer

Why is there a ב attached directly to מחשב instead of being written as a separate word?

Hebrew often attaches certain prepositions directly to the following word.

Common attached prepositions are:

• ב־ = in / at / on
• ל־ = to / for
• כ־ = as / like
• מ־ = from

So:

• במחשב = ב + מחשב = in/on a computer
• or, if definite, it can reflect ב + ה + מחשב = in/on the computer

This is completely normal in Hebrew spelling.

What does כשאני mean, and why is it one word?

כשאני means when I.

It is made from:

• כש־ = when
• אני = I

Hebrew often attaches small connecting words like this directly to the next word.

So:

• כשאני כותב = when I write / when I am writing

This is very common:

• כשהוא בא = when he comes
• כשאת בבית = when you are at home

Why is אני repeated in כשאני כותב? Could Hebrew leave it out?

In many cases, Hebrew can leave out subject pronouns, but here keeping אני is very natural and clear.

Compare:

• אני שומע מוזיקה כשאני כותב אימייל
• I listen to music when I write an email

The second אני helps clearly mark the new clause:

• when I write...

Without it, the sentence could sound less natural or less clear to a learner. Native speakers sometimes omit pronouns in some contexts, but with a clause like כשאני כותב, the pronoun is very standard.

Does כותב mean write or am writing?

It can mean both, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense usually covers both:

• I write
• I am writing

So:

• אני כותב אימייל can mean I write an email
• or I am writing an email

In this sentence, because of the context, English might translate it as:

• I listen to music on the computer when I write an email or
• ...when I am writing an email

Hebrew does not require a separate am + -ing form like English does.

Why is there no word for an before אימייל?

Because Hebrew has no indefinite article.

English distinguishes:

• a computer
• an email
• the computer

Hebrew only has a word for the, which is ה־ attached to the noun.

So:

• אימייל = an email / email
• המחשב = the computer

That means אימייל without ה־ is indefinite here: an email or just email, depending on context.

Why is there no את before מוזיקה or אימייל?

Hebrew uses את only before a definite direct object.

So:

• אני שומע מוזיקה has no את, because מוזיקה here is indefinite/general
• אני כותב אימייל has no את, because אימייל is also indefinite

But if the object were definite, you would use את:

• אני שומע את המוזיקה = I hear / am listening to the music
• אני כותב את האימייל = I am writing the email

So the absence of את tells you the objects are not definite.

Is אימייל a normal Hebrew word, or should it be something else?

אימייל is very common in everyday Hebrew. It is basically a borrowed word from English email.

You may also see:

• מייל = mail / email in casual speech
• דוא״ל = a more formal Hebrew term, short for דואר אלקטרוני (electronic mail)

So all of these may appear, but:

• אימייל is very natural
• דוא״ל is more formal or official

What is the basic word order of this sentence?

The sentence is:

אני שומע מוזיקה במחשב כשאני כותב אימייל.

A helpful breakdown is:

• אני = I
• שומע = hear / listen
• מוזיקה = music
• במחשב = on the computer
• כשאני כותב אימייל = when I write / am writing an email

So the structure is roughly:

subject + verb + object + place/context + time clause

This word order is very natural in Hebrew, even though in English you might sometimes move parts around:

• I listen to music on the computer when I write an email
• When I write an email, I listen to music on the computer

Both languages allow some flexibility, but the Hebrew sentence as given is completely normal.