Breakdown of גם סבתא ישבה ליד הבריכה, כי היא הייתה קצת עייפה.
Questions & Answers about גם סבתא ישבה ליד הבריכה, כי היא הייתה קצת עייפה.
גם means also, too, or sometimes even.
In this sentence, גם סבתא means Grandma too or Grandma also. Hebrew often places גם right before the word or phrase it is emphasizing.
So:
- גם סבתא ישבה... = Grandma also sat...
- The focus is on סבתא
If גם were moved, the emphasis could change.
סבתא can mean grandma without the definite article when the person is already understood from context, especially with family terms.
So סבתא here is natural if the speaker means Grandma as a known person.
By contrast:
- סבתא = Grandma / grandma
- הסבתא = the grandmother
English often requires the more differently than Hebrew does, so this can feel unusual at first.
ישבה is the third-person feminine singular past form of the verb לשבת, meaning to sit.
It matches סבתא, which is feminine singular.
So:
- הוא ישב = he sat
- היא ישבה = she sat
Because סבתא is grammatically feminine, the sentence uses ישבה and not ישב.
It can mean either, depending on context.
Hebrew often does not distinguish as sharply as English does between:
- sat
- was sitting
So סבתא ישבה ליד הבריכה could be understood as:
- Grandma sat by the pool
- Grandma was sitting by the pool
The surrounding context tells you which English wording sounds best.
ליד means next to, beside, or by.
So:
- ליד הבריכה = by the pool / next to the pool
It is best learned as a fixed preposition. You do not need to break it apart when reading normal Hebrew.
Because בריכה means pool, and הבריכה means the pool.
Hebrew adds the definite article as a prefix:
- בריכה = pool
- הבריכה = the pool
So unlike English, where the is a separate word, Hebrew attaches it to the beginning of the noun.
No. כי can have more than one meaning in Hebrew, depending on context.
Common meanings include:
- because
- that
- sometimes other uses in more formal or biblical language
In this sentence, כי clearly means because:
- כי היא הייתה קצת עייפה = because she was a little tired
So this is a good word to read by context, not by one single fixed translation.
Yes, Hebrew often can leave out subject pronouns, especially when the verb already shows the person, gender, and number.
So both of these are possible:
- כי היא הייתה קצת עייפה
- כי הייתה קצת עייפה
Including היא makes the subject more explicit and can sound clearer or more natural, especially after a previous clause.
Because they refer to היא / סבתא, which is feminine singular.
In Hebrew, both verbs and adjectives often agree with the subject in gender and number.
Here:
- הייתה = feminine singular was
- עייפה = feminine singular tired
Compare:
- הוא היה קצת עייף = he was a little tired
- היא הייתה קצת עייפה = she was a little tired
קצת means a little, a bit, or somewhat.
So:
- קצת עייפה = a little tired
It commonly comes before the adjective it modifies, just as in English:
- קצת גדול = a little big
- קצת קשה = a little difficult
It is a very common everyday word in spoken and written Hebrew.
That is because להיות, to be, is an irregular verb.
Its past-tense forms are built from היה rather than looking like the infinitive להיות in a simple, predictable way.
Important forms to memorize are:
- הוא היה = he was
- היא הייתה = she was
- הם היו = they were
So הייתה is simply the correct feminine singular past form, even though it may look surprising at first.
Yes. It is very natural Hebrew.
A simple way to see the structure is:
- גם סבתא = Grandma too
- ישבה ליד הבריכה = sat by the pool
- כי היא הייתה קצת עייפה = because she was a little tired
Hebrew word order is often flexible, but this sentence sounds straightforward and natural. The placement of גם at the front especially helps show that Grandma is being added to a list of people who were sitting.