אני לא שחיתי בים; ישבתי ליד הבריכה עם קפה.

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Breakdown of אני לא שחיתי בים; ישבתי ליד הבריכה עם קפה.

• קפה: coffee
• לא: not
• ב: in

Questions & Answers about אני לא שחיתי בים; ישבתי ליד הבריכה עם קפה.

Why is אני included? Could the sentence just start with לא שחיתי?

Yes. Hebrew often drops subject pronouns because the verb already shows who is doing the action.

So both of these are possible:

• אני לא שחיתי בים
• לא שחיתי בים

Both mean I didn’t swim in the sea.

In this sentence, אני is probably included for clarity, emphasis, or a more natural contrast with the second clause. It can feel a bit like:

• As for me, I didn’t swim...

So אני is not strictly necessary, but it is completely normal.

What does לא do here, and where does it go?

לא means not. It is the standard way to negate a verb in past, present, and future Hebrew.

In this sentence:

• אני לא שחיתי = I did not swim

The usual position is:

• subject + לא + verb

Examples:

• אני לא אכלתי = I didn’t eat
• הוא לא בא = He didn’t come
• אנחנו לא נלך = We won’t go

So לא comes before the verb it negates.

What form is שחיתי, and how do we know it means I swam?