הבנק הזה לא רחוק; אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות.

This bank is not far; you can get there in ten minutes.

Breakdown of הבנק הזה לא רחוק; אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות.

• זה: this
• לא: not
• ב: in
• אפשר: possible
• רחוק: far
• בנק: bank
• להגיע: to get there
• עשר: ten
• דקה: minute

Questions & Answers about הבנק הזה לא רחוק; אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות.

Why is הזה after הבנק? I expected something like זה הבנק.

In Hebrew, when this modifies a noun, it usually comes after the noun:

• הבנק הזה = this bank
• הספר הזה = this book

By contrast, זה הבנק usually means this is the bank.

So:

• הבנק הזה = a noun phrase, this bank
• זה הבנק = a full sentence, this is the bank

Also notice that the noun is definite, so it normally takes ה־: הבנק הזה, not usually בנק הזה.

Why is there no word for is in הבנק הזה לא רחוק?

Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense.

So Hebrew says literally:

• הבנק הזה לא רחוק = this bank not far

But in natural English, we translate it as This bank is not far.

In other tenses, Hebrew does use forms of to be:

• הבנק הזה לא היה רחוק = This bank was not far
• הבנק הזה לא יהיה רחוק = This bank will not be far

Why is the adjective רחוק in this form?

Hebrew adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number.

בנק is a masculine singular noun, so the adjective is also masculine singular:

• בנק רחוק / הבנק הזה לא רחוק

Other possible forms would be:

• רחוקה = feminine singular
• רחוקים = masculine plural
• רחוקות = feminine plural

For example:

• העיר הזאת לא רחוקה = This city is not far
• הבנקים האלה לא רחוקים = These banks are not far

Why is לא used here? Is it the normal way to say not?

Yes. לא is the regular Hebrew word for not in sentences like this.

So:

• רחוק = far
• לא רחוק = not far

It comes before the word or phrase being negated.

A useful contrast:

• לא negates verbs, adjectives, and whole statements.
• אין is often used for there is no / there are no / do not have.

So here לא is exactly what you want, because the sentence is saying the bank is not far.

What does אפשר mean here?

אפשר literally means possible, but very often it is used impersonally to mean:

• it is possible
• one can
• you can

So:

• אפשר להגיע = it is possible to get there / one can get there / you can get there

This is a very common everyday Hebrew structure.

It does not refer to a specific person unless the context makes that clear. It is more general, like English you can meaning people can.

Why doesn’t the sentence say who can get there? Where is you?

Hebrew often uses an impersonal construction where English uses a general you.

So English might say:

• You can get there in ten minutes

But Hebrew often says:

• אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות
• literally: It is possible to arrive in ten minutes

This does not sound incomplete in Hebrew. The subject is intentionally general.

If you wanted to make the destination explicit, you could say:

• אפשר להגיע לשם בעשר דקות = You can get there in ten minutes
• אפשר להגיע לבנק הזה בעשר דקות = You can get to this bank in ten minutes

Why is להגיע used after אפשר?

After אפשר, Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive:

• אפשר + infinitive

So:

• אפשר להגיע = it is possible to arrive / to reach
• אפשר לראות = it is possible to see
• אפשר לעשות = it is possible to do

להגיע is the infinitive meaning to arrive / to reach / to get to.

In this sentence, the destination is understood from context, so Hebrew does not need to repeat to the bank or there.

Why is there no actual word for there in the Hebrew sentence?

Because Hebrew can leave the destination understood from context.

The sentence first mentions the bank, and then says:

• אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות

That naturally means it is possible to get there in ten minutes or to reach it in ten minutes.

English often adds there because it sounds more natural, but Hebrew does not always need it.

If you want to say it explicitly, you can add:

• לשם = there
• אליו = to it (masculine, less likely here in everyday speech)
• לבנק הזה = to this bank

What does ב־ mean in בעשר דקות?

Here ב־ means in / within, when talking about the amount of time needed to do something.

So:

• בעשר דקות = in ten minutes
• more literally: within ten minutes

This is a very common Hebrew use of ב־ with time expressions.

For example:

• אפשר לסיים בחמש דקות = It’s possible to finish in five minutes
• הוא הגיע בשעה = He arrived in an hour

So in this sentence, בעשר דקות expresses duration, not a clock time.

Why is it עשר דקות and not עשרה דקות?

Because דקה is a feminine noun, and with the numbers 3–10, Hebrew uses the opposite-gender form of the number.

So with a feminine noun like דקה, you use:

• עשר דקות

With a masculine noun, you would use:

• עשרה ספרים = ten books

This feels backwards to English speakers at first, but it is a normal Hebrew pattern.

So here:

• דקה = feminine
• therefore ten minutes = עשר דקות

Why is דקות plural?

Because after ten, the noun is plural in Hebrew:

• עשר דקות = ten minutes

This is normal. Hebrew does not say something like ten minute here.

Compare:

• דקה אחת = one minute
• שתי דקות = two minutes
• עשר דקות = ten minutes

So the plural דקות is exactly what you would expect after עשר.

Why is there a semicolon in the middle of the sentence?

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

• הבנק הזה לא רחוק = This bank is not far
• אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות = You can get there in ten minutes

The second clause explains or supports the first one.

In less formal writing, you might also see a comma or a dash instead. The semicolon simply gives a slightly stronger pause and shows that the two parts are connected.