הילדים רצו לשחות, אבל רק אבא שחה בים.

The children wanted to swim, but only Dad swam in the sea.

Breakdown of הילדים רצו לשחות, אבל רק אבא שחה בים.

• לרצות: to want
• אבל: but
• ב: in
• רק: only
• ילד: child
• ים: sea
• לשחות: to swim
• אבא: dad

Questions & Answers about הילדים רצו לשחות, אבל רק אבא שחה בים.

What does רצו mean here? Doesn’t רצו also mean ran?

Yes. רצו can mean two different things, depending on context:

• from לרצות = to want → רצו = they wanted
• from לרוץ = to run → רצו = they ran

In this sentence, רצו לשחות means wanted to swim, not ran to swim.

Why? Because רצה / רוצה is commonly followed by an infinitive:

• רוצה לאכול = wants to eat
• רצו לשחות = wanted to swim

So the infinitive לשחות makes it clear that רצו here comes from לרצות.

Why is לשחות used after רצו?

Because Hebrew usually expresses want to do something with:

רצה / רוצה + infinitive

So:

• רצו לשחות = they wanted to swim

The ל־ at the beginning of לשחות is the normal marker of the infinitive in Hebrew, similar to to in English.

Examples:

• אני רוצה לאכול = I want to eat
• הם רצו ללכת = they wanted to go
• הילדים רצו לשחות = the children wanted to swim

What does הילדים mean exactly, and why does it start with ה־?

ילדים means children or boys, depending on context.
הילדים means the children.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to English the.

So:

• ילדים = children
• הילדים = the children

In this sentence, it refers to a specific group: the children.

What tense is the sentence in?

The sentence is in the past tense.

You can see that in:

• רצו = wanted
• שחה = swam

So the sentence describes something that happened in the past:

• The children wanted to swim
• but only Dad swam in the sea

Why is רצו plural, but שחה singular?

Because they have different subjects:

• הילדים רצו לשחות → the subject is הילדים (the children), which is plural, so the verb is plural: רצו
• אבל רק אבא שחה בים → the subject is אבא (Dad/Father), which is singular masculine, so the verb is singular masculine: שחה

So Hebrew verbs change to match the subject.

Why is it שחה and not שחו?

Because אבא is singular.

Compare:

• אבא שחה = Dad swam
• הם שחו = they swam

So:

• שחה = he swam
• שחו = they swam

Since the sentence says only Dad swam, the singular form שחה is required.

Why does it say אבא and not האבא?

In Hebrew, family words like אמא and אבא often appear without ה־ when they are used like names:

• אבא בא = Dad came
• רק אבא שחה = only Dad swam

This feels natural, just like English often says Dad rather than the dad.

If you say האבא, it usually sounds more like the father in a general/descriptive sense, not the familiar Dad.

What does בים mean, and why isn’t it written as ב הים?

בים means in the sea or at sea, depending on context.

It is made from:

• ב־ = in / at
• הים = the sea

In Hebrew, when ב־ comes before a word with ה־, they usually combine:

• ב + הים → בים

This is very common:

• בבית = in the house
• בשדה = in the field
• בים = in the sea

So שחה בים means swam in the sea.

What exactly does רק mean here?

רק means only.

So:

• אבל רק אבא שחה בים = but only Dad swam in the sea

It limits the subject אבא. In other words, maybe the children wanted to swim, but the one person who actually did swim was Dad.

Hebrew often places רק right before the word it emphasizes:

• רק אבא = only Dad
• אבא רק שחה would emphasize something different, more like Dad only swam

So its position matters.

Why is אבל used here?

אבל means but.

It connects two ideas that contrast with each other:

• the children wanted to swim
• but only Dad swam in the sea

So the contrast is between wanting to swim and actually swimming.

Could the word order be changed?

Yes, Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but the given sentence is very natural.

The basic sentence:

• הילדים רצו לשחות, אבל רק אבא שחה בים.

You might also hear other orders for emphasis, but they can slightly change the focus. For example:

• אבל אבא רק שחה בים does not mean exactly the same thing; it sounds more like Dad only swam in the sea
• רק אבא שחה בים clearly means only Dad swam

So while Hebrew allows flexibility, the placement of words like רק is important.

Is שחה בים literally swam in the sea, and is that the normal way to say it?

Yes. שחה בים literally means swam in the sea, and it is completely normal Hebrew.

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• swam in the sea
• went swimming in the sea
• sometimes even swam at the beach, if the situation makes that clear

But the Hebrew itself is straightforward:

• שחה = swam
• בים = in the sea