אני צריך עשר דקות כדי להגיע למשרד.

I need ten minutes to get to the office.

Breakdown of אני צריך עשר דקות כדי להגיע למשרד.

• אני: I
• ל: to
• להיות צריך: to need
• משרד: office
• עשר: ten
• דקה: minute
• כדי: in order to
• להגיע: to get

Questions & Answers about אני צריך עשר דקות כדי להגיע למשרד.

Why is it צריך and not צריכה?

Because צריך agrees with the speaker’s gender.

• אני צריך = I need said by a male speaker
• אני צריכה = I need said by a female speaker

Hebrew adjectives and adjective-like words often change form depending on gender, and צריך / צריכה is one of them.

So:

• אני צריך עשר דקות... = said by a man
• אני צריכה עשר דקות... = said by a woman

Can אני be omitted?

Yes, very often.

Hebrew verbs in the present tense do not show person as clearly as past and future forms, so speakers sometimes include אני for clarity, but in many contexts you can say:

• צריך עשר דקות כדי להגיע למשרד.

This can still mean I need ten minutes to get to the office, especially if the context already makes it clear who is speaking.

Still, אני צריך is completely natural and often clearer for learners.

Why is it עשר דקות and not עשרה דקות?

Because דקה (minute) is a feminine noun, and Hebrew numbers from 3 to 10 show gender polarity.

That means:

• with feminine nouns, you use the form that may look masculine to English speakers: עשר
• with masculine nouns, you use עשרה

So:

• עשר דקות = ten minutes
• but עשרה ספרים = ten books

This is a very common point of confusion for learners, because Hebrew number agreement does not work the way many people first expect.

How do I know that דקות is feminine?

The singular form is דקה, which is a feminine noun.

• singular: דקה = minute
• plural: דקות = minutes

A lot of feminine nouns in Hebrew end in -ה in the singular and often become -ות in the plural, though there are exceptions.

Since דקה is feminine, the number must match the rules for feminine nouns, which is why you get עשר דקות.

What does כדי mean here?

כדי means something like in order to or so as to.

In this sentence:

• כדי להגיע למשרד = in order to get to the office

In natural English, we often do not translate כדי very explicitly. So the whole sentence may simply be translated as:

• I need ten minutes to get to the office.

But grammatically, כדי introduces the purpose or goal of the needed time.

Why is the verb להגיע in that form?

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

After כדי, Hebrew normally uses an infinitive:

• כדי להגיע = in order to get to / arrive at

So the structure is:

• כדי + infinitive

Examples:

• כדי ללמוד = in order to study
• כדי לעבוד = in order to work
• כדי להגיע = in order to arrive / get to

That is why you do not see a conjugated verb there.

Why is it למשרד and not אל המשרד?

למשרד is made from:

• ל־ = to
• המשרד = the office

When ל־ comes before ה־, they combine:

• ל + המשרד = למשרד

So למשרד literally means to the office.

You could sometimes use אל המשרד, but למשרד is the more common and natural choice here.

What is the base form of למשרד?

The base noun is משרד = office.

Then:

• משרד = office
• המשרד = the office
• למשרד = to the office

This is a useful pattern to remember:

• בית = house
• הבית = the house
• לבית = to the house

So the sentence uses the noun with both the preposition ל־ and the definite article ה־ combined into one word.

Is this the most natural way to say this in Hebrew?

It is grammatical and understandable, but many native speakers would also say:

• לוקח לי עשר דקות להגיע למשרד.

Literally, that means It takes me ten minutes to get to the office.

The sentence you were given, אני צריך עשר דקות כדי להגיע למשרד, is more literally I need ten minutes in order to get to the office. It is correct, but it can sound a bit more like emphasizing the amount of time required.

So both are possible, but לוקח לי... is often the more idiomatic way to talk about how long something takes.

Can the word order change?

Yes, but some orders sound more natural than others.

The basic sentence is:

• אני צריך עשר דקות כדי להגיע למשרד.

You can also say:

• כדי להגיע למשרד, אני צריך עשר דקות.

This puts more emphasis on getting to the office.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but not completely free. For learners, the original order is a very good standard pattern to follow.

Is צריך a verb or an adjective?

This is a great question because it behaves a bit differently from English.

In sentences like this, צריך is often described as an adjective-like predicate meaning in need of / needing. It agrees in gender and number:

• אני צריך = I need (male speaker)
• אני צריכה = I need (female speaker)
• אנחנו צריכים = we need (mixed or male group)
• אנחנו צריכות = we need (female group)

So even though in English need is clearly a verb, in Hebrew this construction behaves more like an adjective or predicate expression.

Why is there no word for it takes in this sentence?

Because Hebrew can express the idea in more than one way.

English often says:

• It takes me ten minutes...

But Hebrew can also say:

• I need ten minutes...
• It takes me ten minutes...

Your sentence uses the I need structure:

• אני צריך עשר דקות...

Another common Hebrew structure uses לוקח:

• לוקח לי עשר דקות...

So the meaning may be similar, but the grammar is different from the English wording. This is very common when learning Hebrew: the natural Hebrew structure does not always map directly onto the English one.