המשפחה שלי גדולה, אבל עכשיו רק סבא וסבתא בבית.

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Breakdown of המשפחה שלי גדולה, אבל עכשיו רק סבא וסבתא בבית.

• עכשיו: now
• ו: and
• אבל: but

Questions & Answers about המשפחה שלי גדולה, אבל עכשיו רק סבא וסבתא בבית.

Why is it המשפחה שלי and not שלי המשפחה?

In Hebrew, possessive words like שלי (my) usually come after the noun.

So:

• המשפחה שלי = my family
• literally: the family of mine

This is the normal Hebrew pattern for this kind of possession.
English says my family, but Hebrew often says the family my.

Also, because משפחה has ה־ (the), the whole phrase means my family, not a family of mine.

Why does משפחה have ה־ if English just says my family and not the my family?

This is a very common question. In Hebrew, when you use שלי / שלך / שלו and similar forms after a noun, the noun is often definite, so ה־ is commonly used.

So:

• המשפחה שלי = my family
• not literally translated word-for-word into natural English

Hebrew and English handle possession differently. English usually does not use the with my, but Hebrew often does.

Why is it גדולה and not גדול?