כשהוא מתחיל לעבוד, הוא לא עונה לטלפון.

When he starts working, he does not answer the phone.

Breakdown of כשהוא מתחיל לעבוד, הוא לא עונה לטלפון.

• הוא: he
• לא: not
• לעבוד: to work
• ל: to
• לענות: to answer
• טלפון: phone
• להתחיל: to start
• כש: when

Questions & Answers about כשהוא מתחיל לעבוד, הוא לא עונה לטלפון.

What does כשהוא mean, and how is it built?

It is made of כש־ + הוא.

• כש־ means when or as
• הוא means he

So כשהוא literally means when he. In Hebrew, short prefixes like כש־ often attach directly to the next word.

Why is הוא written twice in the sentence?

Because there are really two clauses:

• כשהוא מתחיל לעבוד = when he starts working
• הוא לא עונה לטלפון = he doesn’t answer the phone

Each clause has its own subject, so Hebrew naturally repeats הוא. In present-tense Hebrew, this is especially common because the verb form does not always clearly show the person the way English does.

What form is מתחיל?

מתחיל is the masculine singular present form of להתחיל (to begin / to start).

It matches הוא because the subject is masculine singular. If the subject were feminine, it would be מתחילה.

Why is it מתחיל לעבוד and not מתחיל עובד?

After להתחיל (to start / begin), Hebrew normally uses an infinitive.

So:

• מתחיל לעבוד = starts working
• מתחיל לקרוא = starts reading
• מתחיל לאכול = starts eating

The form לעבוד is the infinitive to work.

Why is the second verb עונה also in the present tense if the English meaning is doesn’t answer?

Hebrew present tense often covers actions that are:

• happening now
• habitual
• generally true

So הוא לא עונה לטלפון can mean he isn’t answering the phone or he doesn’t answer the phone, depending on context. In this sentence, it is most naturally understood as a habitual action: whenever he starts working, he doesn’t answer the phone.

What form is עונה?

עונה is the masculine singular present form of לענות (to answer / respond).

Again, it matches הוא.
Related forms would be:

• עונה = he answers
• עונה = she answers in unpointed writing too, but context tells you
• עונים = they answer / answering (masculine or mixed group)
• עונות = they answer / answering (feminine group)

Why is the negative word לא used here?

לא is the normal Hebrew word for negating verbs in the past, present, and future.

So:

• הוא עונה = he answers
• הוא לא עונה = he does not answer

That is the standard everyday way to say it. A more formal style sometimes uses אינו, but לא is what learners should expect most often.

Why is it עונה לטלפון with ל־? In English we say answer the phone, not answer to the phone.

This is just how the Hebrew verb works. לענות usually takes the preposition ל־ before the thing or person being answered.

For example:

• לענות למישהו = answer someone
• לענות לשאלה = answer a question
• לענות לטלפון = answer the phone

So this is a verb pattern you need to memorize: לענות ל־...

Does לטלפון mean to the phone or to a phone?

In unpointed Hebrew writing, the spelling לטלפון can look the same in both cases. Context tells you what is meant.

In this sentence, the natural meaning is the idiomatic one: answer the phone. Hebrew often leaves this kind of definiteness less obvious in normal spelling than English does.

Why is there a comma in the sentence?

The comma separates the when-clause from the main clause:

• כשהוא מתחיל לעבוד, ...
• הוא לא עונה לטלפון.

This is similar to English: When he starts working, he doesn’t answer the phone.
The comma helps show that the first part is background information.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. You could also say:

הוא לא עונה לטלפון כשהוא מתחיל לעבוד.

That has basically the same meaning. The version with the when-clause first puts slightly more focus on the timing or condition.

Could כשהוא be replaced by a more formal word?

Yes. A more formal alternative is כאשר הוא.

So you could say:

כאשר הוא מתחיל לעבוד, הוא לא עונה לטלפון.

That means the same thing, but כשהוא is more everyday and conversational.

How would the sentence change if the subject were a woman?

It would become:

כשהיא מתחילה לעבוד, היא לא עונה לטלפון.

The changes are:

• הוא → היא
• מתחיל → מתחילה
• עונה can stay the same in ordinary unpointed writing, though with vowels the pronunciation would show feminine agreement

This is a good example of how Hebrew verbs in the present tense agree with gender and number.